weekend update - Tahoe and the snow

It's been a hot minute since I last wrote a weekend update entry...in part cuz I haven't gotten away for a weekend out of town in a while [aside from a Vegas trip in October that I really don't want to discuss...hahaha].  Anyway, a big part of this blog used to be me writing about weekends up in the Bay that I used and needed as getaways during my time living in LA.  I realize now that those weekends were crucial to me at the time and that they were even more important that I realized.  I left LA and a job behind, a decision I kno some don't fully understand or appreciate [which is fine] and at the time a lot of my talk focused on being unhappy with the job.  But the truth of the matter is, I needed to be back in the 'Sco...it's where I belong.  I needed to be closed to the friends I have here and begin to live the life that was right for me at that time and continues to be right to this day.  I'm not knocking LA or anyone I knew there...I truly enjoyed my time there and am happy about the decision to move there after law school.  I don't have any regrets about it...but it came time to move on and move back to the City that speaks to me.  So as much as the job situation frustrated me and truly did get me down in big ways, it was also important and vital that I get back to living the right life for me and doing what was best for myself.

Enough rambling about feelings re: the move back to the 'Sco and some personal realizations of late...on to the topic at hand:  the weekend.  Actually, back to the past for a second....the reason the trips to City from LA began was very specific and the simple fact was I needed to get away and get my mind of things.  As time wore on and I grew accustomed to changed circumstances, I continued to need to come up to get away from other things and just be close to the largest group of close friends I have in any one place.  Well, it's probably clear from the past few entries on this blog that stuff again weighs on me in life and so I really needed a weekend away.  A few weeks back some good friends of mine and I discussed going snowboarding and they all said this weekend they were free...so I shot out and email and we managed to arrange for 9 of us to meet in Tahoe [with a bunch of us crashing in Ed's awesome cabin] for a weekend of boarding, eating, and hanging out.

It was great to get away from the City and what troubles me for a minute.  Spending time with my friends is probably my favorite thing in the world [along with spending time with family].  It helped to just be away and get my mind off things and to just have a genuinely good time.  There are times in life where you simply have to distract yourself to avoid getting down.  I think my last post indicated I was getting past that point and I really do feel I am...and so it was good to simply and genuinely enjoy time with people I love.

It was also great to get in my second and third days of my boarding career.  Day 1 last February was not particularly amazing on my part but the two days this weekend were a huge improvement.  I'm definitely hooked on boarding and already can't wait to get back up to the mountain.  I'm still not great but it's nice to see some improvement and begin to get a feel for things.  There's some funny video of me boarding out there after this weekend...I'm looking forward to the laughs it will provide.  Now it's time to continue to accumulate the full compliment of gear so I can stop borrowing from peeps.

Boarding was great, the time with friends was fantastic, and it's also nice to be home...especially since I can barely move now and can't wait to just pass out in my own bed for the nite.  On the ride home I was worried that I'd simply come back to what troubles me and that the weekend away was just a temporary respite.  But it's times like this weekend where you get to be with people you love and who love you back and appreciate you that are what life is all about, at least for me.  I'm no island and I'd be lost without the important people in my life...I'm thankful and lucky to have them.  And while what weighs on me is obviously still something that matters to me...well, life's got its good and bad parts.  It's pretty much as simple as that.  Too much fun to be had...

Anyway, as tradition dictates, here are just a few of the highlights from the weekend [far too many good times and laughs were had to recap it all]...

• playing the parent to Ed & Swiyyah
• eating far too many Doritos [as planned]
• "When u're sliding into home and u feel ur butt foam, diarrhea."
• Me: "I will punch u in the face."
• Swiyyah in response: "I will punch YOU in the face."
• farting spiders and "aracnacrap"
• funny Ed
• singing along to Enrique when we didn't kno the words
• the constipated voice
• bunk beds
• Lethal Weapon
• actually riding down the mountain on the first run of the day
• me getting progressively worse throughout the day...at least until lunch
• Julie's words of snowboarding wisdom and actually getting better
• finally leafing
• the possible concussion [we're still not sure, hahaha]
• continually asking John to order more and more foood for us since he was already in line
• a fun post lunch set of runs with Dianna, each of which involved being exhausted riding up the lift and talking about how we could barely do another run and then getting to the bottom of the run and immediately deciding to go again
• hurting basically every part of my body
• the hot tub [AH-mazing!!!]
• tacos tacos tacos!!!
• playing a decent game of pool
• making a comeback against Ed in doing the Soulja Boy dance in Dance Central
• getting skooled by Swiyyah in Dance Central
• homemade ice cream sammiches
• randomly watching a bit of Crank
• waking up to fresh snow and Ed & I deciding we needed to board more
• putting chains on John's car [snowchains still don't make a lot of sense to a kid from Michigan]
• Doritos being the breakfast of champions
• riding on a little bit of powder
• the "Pure Jams" sing-a-long, especially Enrique round 2
• Kaskade
• road trippin' 
• meeting some new people
• all the pics, videos, and laughs
• quality time with some of my best and closest friends

Look for another weekend update in March at the latest as I plan on driving to LA for a good friend's wedding.  I miss that drive and the decompression and thought time it provides.

hello again...

Ha...it's been a long time.  I think this is probably the longest absence from personal blogging since I started this foolish endeavor.  I spent a few minutes the other day looking back at some old posts on here and was left with the feeling that my writing really seemed somewhat self-important.  Maybe that's just what blogging of this nature is about, it really is like an open journal.  At the very lest, I can admit that some of the writing on this space included topics and feelings I should have kept to myself...but oh well.  Even so, as with other times, looking back at what I write tends to make me feel somewhat foolish.  Haha.

And so, faced with this grand absence and odd feeling, I'm left with the question of where does this blog go from here?

I considered shutting this thing down completely.  My food blog is the primary place for my writing these days, aside from my journal.  The music blog is also getting severely neglected.  And to be honest, it's a bit terrifying [if not sometimes embarrassing] to be as open here as I am at times.  But even with these considerations, I don't want to close this space.

Somewhat ironically, I started working on this post in the middle of a long weekend, one in which I made a road trip back to Los Angeles, the place where I did most of my writing on this blog.  And so my plan is to  return to this blog with a combination post of me rambling about my life while also providing one of the many weekend updates I used to provide from my weekend jaunts to the City.  On to my ramblings...

I'm tired.  I spend too much time and energy thinking about something I can't really do much about.  Working 10+ hour days reviewing documents is tiring in its own way, but the amount of energy that goes into the thinking I'm doing on top of it leads me to come home and collapse some days...with epic naps ensuing.  I'm sure this sounds stupid, but things weighing on the mind can be exhausting because I tend to devote a lot of energy to the thinking and feelings associated with it. 

I think part of the problem is that I've lacked a chance to just decompress and work through some of the thoughts and emotions.  When I lived in LA I used to just completely shut down and stay home when I needed it.  I'd veg out, eat, sleep, do whatever I really needed to get right...living in SF with so many friends and such great roommates it's a lot easier to keep busy and occupy my time.  This is a total blessing and I am in no way complaining about it.  I feel so lucky to have the friends I do and I'm so happy I'm living with and near so many of them.  But I do realize that sometimes we all need a little time to ourselves.  The ability to spend time on my own and be very comfortable with it was probably the greatest lesson I learned during my second stint in Los Angeles.  What I'm learning now is that not only do I need to be capable of spending time in that way, it's something I need to do at times.  Ironically, a road trip back down to LA provided me with the time and space I really needed to decompress a bit and hopefully start to get past some of what weighed my mind down recently.

Speaking of Los Angeles and irony, I continue to find something appealing about the place.  I feel the city is like some of the women who have been a part of my life in one way or another: it's something I'm drawn to and really enjoy but at the end of the day isn't right for me.  I'm sure that sounds bad but it's really just a simple case of two things not fitting together properly and is not a shot at Los Angeles or any woman who has played any role in my life.  It's more a shot at me and my inability to really figure myself and my life out.

anyway, the traditional list of weekend highlights...

• cutting out of work early
• the King of Thai prediction
• Rockit Room and Hastings friends
• Ed & Ed
• picking songs on the jukebox
• free Jose Cuervo shots & shot glasses
• the reserved sign
• King of Thai late nite leftovers
• going back to Rockit to close Ed's tab
• I Love You, Man
• sleeping in
• catching some of the highlights of what I was missing at work on Saturday
• USA soccer
• perfect weather in SF
• sitting outside du soleil
• eating tomato on my sandwich for the first time
• a beer with friends at du soleil
• the funny parking wait near AT&T park
• going to a Giants game with friends
• going to a Giants game for free
• going to a Giants game and upgrading our seats for free
• going to a baseball game and eating a hot dog
• red velvet cupcakes with no frosting
• eating a bacon wrapped hot dog after eating a hot dog at the Giants game
• the drive to LA
• McDonald's road trip food
• Audrey & Ken's wedding [congrats!]
• getting a full nite's sleep
• the triumphant return to La Taquiza and the new 10 taco record
• meeting up with old friends on the way out of town
• company via phone during the road trip back to the 'Sco
• some more King of Thai
• time to decompress on the road

weekend up [north]

I guess it's only fitting that my first post since the big move [which went quite well a couple weeks ago for those wondering] is a weekend recap from me heading out of town and away from SF. Ironic in a way, but fitting too. I headed back to Meeeeeechigan for a close friend's wedding this past weekend...which involved 4 flights in 6 days, as well as a road trip to Glend Arbor from the A2. On with the highlights..

• an ironic return to LA
• McDonald's at the airport
• a very brief nap
• forgetting 2 cameras
• stealing cheese bread
• the road trip north
• "I've got a question..."
• Pasties
• friends noticing that i wasn't as lame after the change in circumstances
  
• "Control yourself, take only what you need from it"
• "It was all a dream, I used to read word up magazine!"
• getting us everywhere we were going
• the bomb ass cabin
• the mugs
• so many of the homies all together again
• Roth getting busted sans ID
• the server
  
• stupid wrestling
• beer down Deefs' pants
  
• late nite pizza
• Al's uncharacteristic jokes
• roaming Glen Arbor for a bit
• cherry wine tasting
• the hot tub...in the rain
• suiting up
• the wedding itself
• the sweet live band
  
• Crown & Coke and the cool bartender
• crappy pizza
• the after party
• someone coming thru with the clutch auxiliary cable
  
• the MJ glove
• tearing a hole in my pants
• boom-dizzle's adorable kids
• stumbling around in the morning
• brunch
• laughs with good friends
• doing a little driving on the way home
  
• so many random, funny comments and remarks that i didn't memorize but know were said
• getting to spend some time with my parents
• bday dinners
  
• jalapeno chicken and green beans with pork
• bday brunch
• a nite in LA with Ted Maroon
• going overboard at the Habit
• something like 4 burgers in 6 days
• the movie hook up on the plane
• the awesome weather in SF
  
• the crazy old ladies who lost a cellphone
• getting back to the pad

It was a big weekend that was epic and much needed. It was great to spend time with family and old friends [but who are still some of my closest friends]. A funny little escape from what really is an escape already. More words need to be written here...hopefully I'll make that happen.

weekending

Over the past 2+ years, I traveled to San Francisco for the weekend on many, many occasions. At some point, I began to document these travels as they were a great escape from the daily grind and also true highlights for me. Many of my closest friends live in SF and it's a City I love as much as any other in the world that I've had the opportunity to experience. During the many weekends up there I made a lot or great memories and have also made some new friends to add to the amazing collection of established friends I already had up there. I was often asked, "when are you going to move to SF?" To which I responded: as soon as I get a job.

A couple months back I was talking with a good friend about the whole moving deal. We were discussing a joking desire of mine to get laid off, as then with the allotted amounts of unemployment checks I'd happily move to SF. He pointed out that there's a point where that $475 a week or so doesn't matter and it's just time to move.

Well...that time has come. This past week I informed my office that I was going to be leaving the firm and Thursday ended up being my last day. So...I'm moving on up to the City where I belong.

And now I can explain the delay in posting the list of highlights from my most recent trip to SF. It was the end of an era as we celebrated my good friend Peter moving out of San Francisco (for the second time) to New York for grad school. But, knowing what I did at the time, this last weekend trip was also the end of the era of me traveling to SF for simply a weekend jaunt. The next time I'm there, it will be on the permanent...and I can't wait.

With all that in mind...let's do this one more time:

• yet another delay...but not as long of a delay as the earlier flight i tried to get on
• good talk with the oldest of friends
• playlisting up
• buying a buckeye a beer
• good company on the plane
• a ride from the airport
• rice and chinese sausage - the meal of the weekend
• drinks, good conversation, and old friends
• LBP
• glimpses of the future
• jowling
• Farmer Brown's brunch and bottomless mimosas
• getting hooked up
• Peter in love
• buying some beer for the partay
• a brief chill out session
• beer pong & regaining my form
• 2 bounce shots
• hearing from Los
  
• the greatest pong shot ever
• metro burger and tots
• the house party
• Sam and friends coming out!
• a capella
• the soul pole
• dancing the nite away...and the legs hurting the next day
  
• rick rolling the party [again]
• all the greenhills kids
• entouraging up
• Ed's porridge-like late nite rice [don't trying making rice in a rice cooker whilst drunk]
• the day of 3 drunks
• watching some awful soccer
• napping up
• chasing down muni buses
• hanging out watching movies
• a ride to the airport
  
• a fitting end to an era

I can't put into words how much the weekends away have meant to me over the past couple of years. They were necessary and help me keep my sanity. I can't wait to get up to the Bay and actually be around those I am close to and in the place where I feel I belong. I also can't believe it's happening. All I know is that I'm thankful for all the good times and good friends. I'm also thankful for the warm reception the news of my LA departure has gotten and the welcoming feeling I'm getting from those up in the City. See u soon, SFC.

a weekend later

whoooooops...so this one managed to slip by until it was, well, the next weekend. a good long holiday weekend up in the Bay, altho i missed out on meatfest '09 due to yet another southwest airlines delayed flight...ughhh. aside from that, it was an overall good time with some especially good, meaningful, and important conversations had over the days. on to the highlights...

• avoiding the major delay, sorta
• Oakland
• eye contact
• dancing on BART platforms for the first time in a long time
  
• BART weirdness
• muni'ing all around town
  
• Nick letting me in
  
• more King of Thai
• being the mysterious guy drinking at the bar by himself
• the dj dropping "I Want You Back" & "Axel F"
  
• old cubans
  
• one of the homies rolling out
• the "I don't have time to make your drink" bartender
• law school homies
• sudoku while sitting in the bus stop at like 2:30 am
• Ed's early arrival
• friday feeling like sunday
  
• the Pork Store Cafe and sitting with strangers
• the stranger's French Toast
  
• all the old school sweet rides
• the idea of rolling in an 80s Ferrari Testarossa while listening to 80s music and dressed in 80s clothes
• parking next to a Nissan GTR
• getting some keys [hopefully symbolic]
  
• a stupid amount of sushi
• Ed rolling out b4 heading to Mexico
• the Marina, Circa, soup
• the dj at Circa
  
• getting bought a round of shots by a girl
  
• of course heading to Gravity
  
• free round of beers since the guy [temporarily] lost Deefs' card
  
• owning the stage at Gravity...simply because no one else was
  
• a last round at not Gravity and another free shot
  
• chocolate-glazed donuts & getting used for donut holes
• leftover sushi
• BART'ing out to Richmond
• meeting some new ppl
• the great food at Al & Hank's
• a great talk with Hank
  
• winning my only game of beer pong/beirut
• getting in some dancing
• the crazy lady who stopped us from getting to the roof
• grabbing dim sum to go solo-style
• nap time
• Popeye's & the pigeon
• another good talk
  
• being the option that doesn't suck
• the extra day
  
• the support for what some may think is a stupid idea

a longer lists of highlights than i was anticipating, a sign of a good weekend. as with every other weekend up in the Bay, i'm sure there are things that have been omitted...impossible to remember it all i guess. the weekend provided some topics i'd like to explore but i'm a bit too lazy right now. and i'm craving dessert in some form [like those chocolate-glazed donuts].

but, i leave you all with this:

why don't girls approach guys more often?

classin' it up a bit

My brother was singing with the SF Symphony this past weekend and as is customary i made the short trip north to attend one of the performances and also spend whatever free time he had with him. it's been really nice over the past couple years having him come out to the West Coast much more often than he did during my first 7 or 8years out here. it's allowed me to see much more of him than i did those earlier years. it's allowed us to grow closer and be more of a part of each others' lives and simply know more of what's going on in each of our lives. growing up we weren't the closest but it's been nice to feel that change with time and age.

anyway...

• boozing at the airport
  
• getting a ride from the airport
• "How many hot girls are we missing out on because they're fat?"
  
• meetin' Ed's parents
• a bombtastic home cooked meal [thanks again for having me over Ed's parents!]
• the decision to simply chill on friday nite
• late nite run to King of Thai
• movie'ing up with the boys
  
• breakfast with Nick and Ed
• getting asked how i would like my bacon: medium or well done [i'm so happy i was asked this]
• big ass biscuits [no, that is not a euphemism...for once]
• window shopping
• actually shopping [cufflinks - woohoo!]
• the ridiculous search for parking
• North Beach Street Fair
• bomb ass gyros!
• trouble deciding on dinner
• suiting up!
• Belden Place
• taking in the symphony and getting to see my brother perform
• Jardinière for drinks
• "Are you still with what's his nuts?"
  
• curbside stripshow
• bootie mashups!
• the approach
• dancing it up
• Little WT dancing it up
• shirts off
• white pants
• a solo slice of Seibel's
• dim sum
• a little golf [hitting the golf shop and the range]
• pong shots
• more King of Thai
• Ed's filming his pong shots
• biting it on the stairs
• a ride to BART
• BART arriving at the perfect time
• finally ending the run of 5 flights in 8 days

all in all, a great weekend full of a variety of events and activities. anyway...such a good weekend is always tiring as well. off to get some rest i go...with still plenty of thoughts on the mind.

reunion weekend...takin' it back to the old skool

Apparently 10 years has passed. Funny to think about for a variety of reasons. One, it kinda totally makes sense. Two, while much has changed, much hasn't. Three, well...i don't have a 3 right now but i'm sure i could come up with some more reasons.

1999 - when many of my still closest friends and i graduated high school together. This past weekend was our 10 year high school reunion (along with reunions for the classes of 1989 and 1984) back at the old stomping grounds, as they say. altho there wasn't a lot of hubbub to the event and only a small number of us actually made it, it was a fantastic time getting to see old friends [many of whom i am still close to after all these years] and just kick it.

the weekend was a reminder of how important those high school years were for me (and i'm sure many of those close friends) and the wonderful opportunity it was to get to go to school with all those individuals. it's great to see these old friends and have things just continue in a natural manner, much like they never skipped a beat.

anyway...the weekend got me thinking more and more about the things that are already on mind and some of those thoughts will get explored here as there is a serious need for such writing. but, i've spent enough time blabbering...a weekend of travel means a list of highlights...

• the airplane with not enough rows [OK...this turned into a lowlight because of the guy who ended up getting seated next to me and smelled like he hadn't showered in days]
• rediscovering the joys of the PSP
• being home
• sleeping in my new old room
• sleeping in
• the perfect weather
  
• Treasure Mart
• a belated Mother's day dinner
• Kilwins ice cream
  
• driving the old van
• jalapeno Krunchers
  
• darts and beer at Arbor Brew Co.
• California kids kickin' it in the Ace Deuce
• heading out to Greenhills and seeing some old friends and teachers
• kickin' it at Alexa's
• ChrisT. and Julie providing musical entertainment
• Alexa's old creative writing materials
• hoops in the old room
• yet another gathering at Meditterano
• Corky still asking for gum, 10 years later
  
• everyone rolling out to Skeepers
• 5-0
• a change of venue to a place somewhat classier
• dancing it up in Ann Arbor
• late nite grub at the Fleetwood Diner
• a call out West on the walk to the van
• moving furniture
• the Sunday visitor from South Bend
  
• an early father's day dinner with the family

a fantastic weekend that, as previously mentioned, has spurred many a thought in my mind prompting me to continue realize how much i still need to figure out in life. but as a good friend reminded me today, it's not all supposed to planned out...

anyway...i'm too tired to get into all that now. i'm just ready to kick back and veg.