check out the cruise pics, guys
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
cruise
So last friday i left at around 7 with Matt Aaron and Jeremy and we headed off to Fullerton so that we could stay with our friend Erin, who we affectionately refer to as #2. We arrived in fullerton at like 2 or 3 am. Matt gets on the phone and wanders off to find out where erin lives, jeremy aaron and i hear a man screaming for help and we run toward the noise and see a security guard holding a man by his ankle. The man was hanging upside down by his knee, which was wedged between to wrought iron bars on a security fence. The security guard told us that he caught the guy smashing car windows to steal stereos. He apprehended him thusly. Aaron called the cops for the security guard and they showed up within minutes. Followed later by a helicopter. We got into Erin's appt. and chatted a bit before falling asleep at around 5 am.
Saturday we got up bright and early at around 11am and drove to the local frozen yogurt place to have some breakfast. We came back and got ready and headed off to Ventura for Will and Stef's wedding. We got there around 3:30pm and saw Will writing his vows in his car. We helped set up chairs and floral arrangements and sat around for like an hour or so before the wedding started. The guests were a mix of family and friends. It was nice to see such a veritable high school reunion seeing how many of will's friends were kids from our High school Arroyo. The wedding was very nice and I'm glad Will found someone as great as Stefanie to marry. She has a baby on the way so my best thoughts go to them while Will is deployed to Kuwait. The reception was a pot luck and turned out very well. After the wedding we helped clean up and went and stayed at will's house on the naval base. A decent amount of drinking took place (mostly between shawn and DC). Danny was both an angry and funny drunk. He was discussing how he hated the myspace phenomena saying that it was too here and now. To further illustrate his point he says "there's nothing more here and now than biting another man's garment!" at that point he bites shawn's suspenders. Anyway, no one got any sleep because as soon as shawn laid his head down he started snoring like a freight train keeping everyone awake.
In the morning we got up and ate leftover reception food and headed to Long Beach. At this point i had switched cars because neither matt aaron nor jeremy were going on the cruise. So i was now riding with Jarrod, Amy, Shawn, and Jill. We arrived in Long Beach checked into our hotel and met up with Jon and Andrew and had dinner and the Belmont Brewery. We headed back to the hotel and chilled out for the rest of the night and waited for Danny and Brian to show up. We watched some TV and shared the room with 9 people.
The next morning we ate our continental breakfast and headed to the ship. We got into it about 1:30 took a posed photo and had some drinks. Our first night at sea we had to a mandatory evacuation rehearsal and we spent the rest of the day just hanging out and enjoying the boat. The dinner that night was fantastic we were introduced to our highly amusing waiter and to the delicious foods that the ship had to offer. Once we got to international water the casinos opened and Brian got to gambling with jon and andrew. I ended up going to bed at like 1 or so.
Day two was our "relaxing day at sea" which pretty much consisted of eating food and hanging out in the hot tub and milling about the boat. While chilling outside at the pool we saw dolphins swimming behind the boat. At lunch Jill saw a whale spout off in the distance. The dinner that night was the captain's dinner, so we were obligated to dress up in what was called Cruise Elegant. Our waiter got comfortable with us and eventually it became so that as soon as he handed us menus he'd recommend something immediately. He had good tastes in food haha. I believe this was the night that they served lobster. Anyway we checked out some of the classy bars around the place and played some games in the arcade it was generally a pretty awesome time.
Day three was our stop in Catalina Island. Jill, Brian, Danny, Jon and i got up at the asscrack of dawn and got on a shuttle boat out onto the island to go scuba diving. We spent at least an hour filling out paper work in order to actually scuba dive. Then we spent another thirty minutes learning how to use the equipment. I got strapped into the 50+ pounds of equipment and got into the water. i noticed that water kept getting into my mouthpiece no matter what i did to try and prevent it. At that point i started feeling claustrophobic and decided that it'd be best if i opted out so i went back to shore and took all the shit off and waited for everyone else. Danny came back shortly after because he felt the symptoms of an asthma attack coming on. So at least i didnt feel as lame. After the scuba dive we went back to the boat and got cleaned up and came back out to the island and went shopping. After dinner that night i ended up going to bed rather early.
Day four we docked in Ensenada at 8 am. So again we got up super early and Jill, Brian, Danny, and I boarded a bus to travel to La Bufadora to see the blowhole. which is a crevice in the rocks that makes a geyser when the pressure builds up. It was pretty cool. After that we walked through the flea market area and went shopping. I bought some Pan De Leche that was freshly made, and needless to say it was delicious. We took a tour of a building that was used as a casino for the noblemen of the 20's and such. Then we went back to the boat and put all our shit away and came back out to explore the town. That night was our final night on the boat and it just so happened that it was the choppiest night on the boat as well. So that sucked. I watched a pretty awesome comedy show in one of the lounges at like midnight and i went to bed shortly after.
We left the next morning at about 8am and prepped for the long drive home. However Jon ended up getting called over for a search and i had to go with him as well. since neither of us had brought any drugs or food with us we were golden so we left and got in Andrew's car and headed home. Surprisingly enough we got home in five hours. Pics should be up soon.
Today my sister and mom and grandma went out for a drive and i stayed home with my grandpa. He said he was going to go in the backyard and sit in the sun. I was hanging out in my room uploading pics and stuff and all of a sudden i heard a loud thud and my grandpa yell out loud. so i bolt to the back of the house to see him face down in the stair way with his knees on the bottom stair. the man is 90 years old and i thought for sure he'd at the very least broken something so I touch his shoulder and he didnt respond. so i touched him again and he woke up and asked what happened. i told him that he fell and i had to lift him up onto his feet. I walked him to the living room and sat him in the chair and cleaned the blood off of his nose and forehead. I got him an advil and a glass of water. When my mom got home i suggested we take him to the hospital. We did and they did an xray an ekg and a ct scan apparently he's fine save for the cuts on his face and bruise on his chest. The doctor says his brain looks great so i'm thankful for that. he was at the hospital from 3 till now which is 8:32pm. He should be home within a few minutes. I'm glad he's ok.
Saturday we got up bright and early at around 11am and drove to the local frozen yogurt place to have some breakfast. We came back and got ready and headed off to Ventura for Will and Stef's wedding. We got there around 3:30pm and saw Will writing his vows in his car. We helped set up chairs and floral arrangements and sat around for like an hour or so before the wedding started. The guests were a mix of family and friends. It was nice to see such a veritable high school reunion seeing how many of will's friends were kids from our High school Arroyo. The wedding was very nice and I'm glad Will found someone as great as Stefanie to marry. She has a baby on the way so my best thoughts go to them while Will is deployed to Kuwait. The reception was a pot luck and turned out very well. After the wedding we helped clean up and went and stayed at will's house on the naval base. A decent amount of drinking took place (mostly between shawn and DC). Danny was both an angry and funny drunk. He was discussing how he hated the myspace phenomena saying that it was too here and now. To further illustrate his point he says "there's nothing more here and now than biting another man's garment!" at that point he bites shawn's suspenders. Anyway, no one got any sleep because as soon as shawn laid his head down he started snoring like a freight train keeping everyone awake.
In the morning we got up and ate leftover reception food and headed to Long Beach. At this point i had switched cars because neither matt aaron nor jeremy were going on the cruise. So i was now riding with Jarrod, Amy, Shawn, and Jill. We arrived in Long Beach checked into our hotel and met up with Jon and Andrew and had dinner and the Belmont Brewery. We headed back to the hotel and chilled out for the rest of the night and waited for Danny and Brian to show up. We watched some TV and shared the room with 9 people.
The next morning we ate our continental breakfast and headed to the ship. We got into it about 1:30 took a posed photo and had some drinks. Our first night at sea we had to a mandatory evacuation rehearsal and we spent the rest of the day just hanging out and enjoying the boat. The dinner that night was fantastic we were introduced to our highly amusing waiter and to the delicious foods that the ship had to offer. Once we got to international water the casinos opened and Brian got to gambling with jon and andrew. I ended up going to bed at like 1 or so.
Day two was our "relaxing day at sea" which pretty much consisted of eating food and hanging out in the hot tub and milling about the boat. While chilling outside at the pool we saw dolphins swimming behind the boat. At lunch Jill saw a whale spout off in the distance. The dinner that night was the captain's dinner, so we were obligated to dress up in what was called Cruise Elegant. Our waiter got comfortable with us and eventually it became so that as soon as he handed us menus he'd recommend something immediately. He had good tastes in food haha. I believe this was the night that they served lobster. Anyway we checked out some of the classy bars around the place and played some games in the arcade it was generally a pretty awesome time.
Day three was our stop in Catalina Island. Jill, Brian, Danny, Jon and i got up at the asscrack of dawn and got on a shuttle boat out onto the island to go scuba diving. We spent at least an hour filling out paper work in order to actually scuba dive. Then we spent another thirty minutes learning how to use the equipment. I got strapped into the 50+ pounds of equipment and got into the water. i noticed that water kept getting into my mouthpiece no matter what i did to try and prevent it. At that point i started feeling claustrophobic and decided that it'd be best if i opted out so i went back to shore and took all the shit off and waited for everyone else. Danny came back shortly after because he felt the symptoms of an asthma attack coming on. So at least i didnt feel as lame. After the scuba dive we went back to the boat and got cleaned up and came back out to the island and went shopping. After dinner that night i ended up going to bed rather early.
Day four we docked in Ensenada at 8 am. So again we got up super early and Jill, Brian, Danny, and I boarded a bus to travel to La Bufadora to see the blowhole. which is a crevice in the rocks that makes a geyser when the pressure builds up. It was pretty cool. After that we walked through the flea market area and went shopping. I bought some Pan De Leche that was freshly made, and needless to say it was delicious. We took a tour of a building that was used as a casino for the noblemen of the 20's and such. Then we went back to the boat and put all our shit away and came back out to explore the town. That night was our final night on the boat and it just so happened that it was the choppiest night on the boat as well. So that sucked. I watched a pretty awesome comedy show in one of the lounges at like midnight and i went to bed shortly after.
We left the next morning at about 8am and prepped for the long drive home. However Jon ended up getting called over for a search and i had to go with him as well. since neither of us had brought any drugs or food with us we were golden so we left and got in Andrew's car and headed home. Surprisingly enough we got home in five hours. Pics should be up soon.
Today my sister and mom and grandma went out for a drive and i stayed home with my grandpa. He said he was going to go in the backyard and sit in the sun. I was hanging out in my room uploading pics and stuff and all of a sudden i heard a loud thud and my grandpa yell out loud. so i bolt to the back of the house to see him face down in the stair way with his knees on the bottom stair. the man is 90 years old and i thought for sure he'd at the very least broken something so I touch his shoulder and he didnt respond. so i touched him again and he woke up and asked what happened. i told him that he fell and i had to lift him up onto his feet. I walked him to the living room and sat him in the chair and cleaned the blood off of his nose and forehead. I got him an advil and a glass of water. When my mom got home i suggested we take him to the hospital. We did and they did an xray an ekg and a ct scan apparently he's fine save for the cuts on his face and bruise on his chest. The doctor says his brain looks great so i'm thankful for that. he was at the hospital from 3 till now which is 8:32pm. He should be home within a few minutes. I'm glad he's ok.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
pre cruise cold, and other goings on.
ugh i caught this cold or whatever the hell this is. I think courtney gave it to me. for like a day my head was pounding and i had a sore throat and a cough. sunday morning my head hurt so i went back to bed. got up at like 2 still hurt. so i ate some soup and went back to bed. got back up at like 7. ate more food and went back to bed. I woke up monday congested and my throat still hurt. I got a call from a secretary at denevi's telling me that my workstation is going to be in use from monday-thursday so that prevents me from getting any work done. my cousin paul came up from socal that day with his GF. I was feeling well enough so after dinner we 3 went to Shelleys bar down the street from my house had some beers and played some pool then we came back home and called it a night.
tuesday my voice was all but gone and my cough was being a pain in the ass. We 3 again decided to head out to berkeley and i made them come with me to the comic shop cuz i had to make a return. we got sushi and walked back to the car and went home. that night they went to the city to meet up with a friend. I just ended up going to my friend courtneys where a bunch of us ate pizza and watched movies.
Today i got up, still with cough, and hung around for most of the day. i'm just hoping this cold goes away before saturday when i leave for my cruise. Cuz thatd suck to be on a cruise with a cough and sore throat. Oh going back to the Denevi thing WTF, i mean i know its not their fault im going on a cruise for a week. but since i got this week taken from me. i dont get a paycheck the next pay period. so that means ill be without money for like 3 weeks. lame.
I'm also pretty excited cuz i got this lens i ordered in the mail the other day. it's a fixed 50 mm lens with a 1.8 fstop and the pics it takes are so crisp. i dig it.
here are some pics with the lens. click the pic.
tuesday my voice was all but gone and my cough was being a pain in the ass. We 3 again decided to head out to berkeley and i made them come with me to the comic shop cuz i had to make a return. we got sushi and walked back to the car and went home. that night they went to the city to meet up with a friend. I just ended up going to my friend courtneys where a bunch of us ate pizza and watched movies.
Today i got up, still with cough, and hung around for most of the day. i'm just hoping this cold goes away before saturday when i leave for my cruise. Cuz thatd suck to be on a cruise with a cough and sore throat. Oh going back to the Denevi thing WTF, i mean i know its not their fault im going on a cruise for a week. but since i got this week taken from me. i dont get a paycheck the next pay period. so that means ill be without money for like 3 weeks. lame.
I'm also pretty excited cuz i got this lens i ordered in the mail the other day. it's a fixed 50 mm lens with a 1.8 fstop and the pics it takes are so crisp. i dig it.
here are some pics with the lens. click the pic.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
business time
Grandma is home finally. Although i don't things are really gonna be any easier. She's still not sleeping the entire night through. Apparently she didn't fall asleep until about 4am last night, keeping my grandpa (who is 90) up with her. Her diet has also drastically changed. No salt, No sugar, No caffeine. It's going to be difficult not only to find things to eat that are "grandma-friendly" but also difficult to prevent her from eating said foods, since she is definitely a headstrong woman. But I I'm sure we'll be ok. it is most definitely better to have her here at home, than in a hospital.
This past sunday Arvin, his friend Mikey, and I went to San Francisco and attended the Wondercon. It wasn't the most exciting convention that i've ever been to, but pretty fun none the less. We missed the Watchmen panel that they were holding but we did get into the DC panel. I saw a few people that i knew namely my friend Jessika and pals Jordan and Jen. I purchased a Batman graphic novel The Long Halloween. It's really good. You should read it. i also bought a collection of all of the Tales from the Crypt compiled into one hard back book for mi madre. I spent roughly 70 bucks on those two items. Mark Hammill and Carrie Fisher were there, but i didnt wanna wait in line and pay $50 to have them sign something. So i walked by the line and all i saw was Carrie Fisher. Jessika says that she cut the line and yelled "ccock knocker!" at Mark Hammill. So that's cool. After the con we three ventured across the bridge and frequented an In n' Out were we dined, verily, on such meals that would only be fit for a king. I then visited my grandmother for a few hours and went home.
Tuesday consisted of me staying home in preparation for grandma coming home. Marilynn and I cleaned for a majority of the day and Trisha's friend Marena helped me fold clothes. i cooked a dinner of fish with onion, lemon, tomatoes, and pepper and put it in the oven. Technically all i really did was the prep work my aunt made sure it didn't burn. She had me go to the store to get balsamic vinegar so she could make a saltless salad dressing. But since my car was a bitch and wouldn't start i said i'd walk. My cousin rosette who was over for dinner was like "i'll drive." and my aunt so nicely says, "no it's ok, he can walk." So i go out with a rain coat on and wallk my happy ass in the drizzle to the corner store. They didn't have balsamic vinegar so i got low sodium Balsamic vinegarette. I walk back home and come inside and give it to her and she says "this isn't what i wanted." my grandpa asks me to get 3 cases of soda out of the car so i do, one is for us, and the other two are theirs. so i get them set the two on the floor in the kitchen and walk to my room to put the other ones in my fridge and take off my coat. As soon as i turn around i hear "can you put these downstairs?" so i'm like....one second please! So i walk into the kitchen to put the sodas downstairs and i notice that there is no more fish for me to eat. So i put the sodas away and go to my room to watch tv. My grandpa, the kind soul he is, comes in and gives me a few bucks to get me something to eat.
I borrowed my grandpa's van and go get me some food. I also visited matt who had just had his retina removed. He seemed to be alright albeit annoyed because he had to have "anal medicine" as he put it. We watched a bit of hockey and then put on Encino Man. I stayed for half of that then came back home.
As we all know my car is a piece of shit. The other day i was on my way out of the house and i stopped at 7-11 to get a beverage. I get back in the car and it wont start. i thought my battery was dead so i had someone try to jump me. It didn't work. It so happened that my friend who goes by Super Gook was also at the 7-11. He showed me that my battery terminal was loose. Long story short it got worse and it got to the point where i had to have someone hold the wire while i started the car. Today i decided that i had to take it to shawn today to see what he could do for me. Jim and DC were at the shop when i got there. They fixed the battery terminal problem and also took a look at my oil and showed me all the milky sludge that formed due to what turns out is a blown head gasket. After that shawn, jarrod, and i went to the englander and had food.
(side note: rewind a year or more. Billy has his collar bone broken for him by a very angry guy. pays hospital bills etc. Court case is filed. It is first scheduled for october, and then is pushed to december, then pushed to february, and then to march 2nd. yesterday march third Rob calls me and asks me when the court case is, cuz he forgot. i look at the subpoena that is posted on my fridge. and i say "fucking yesterday is when it was." so i call the DA and it turned out that it didnt matter that i wasnt there cuz the guy plead guilty. so he gets jail time, anger management classes, and an order to stay away from me, and the englander. alas, no money in it for me. )
I drove to Pep boys to pick up some Head gasket Stop Leak, oil, and an oil filter cuz tomorrow we're gonna put that shit in there and flush the system and i'm gonna put that car up on craigslist to sell. Here's to me.
This past sunday Arvin, his friend Mikey, and I went to San Francisco and attended the Wondercon. It wasn't the most exciting convention that i've ever been to, but pretty fun none the less. We missed the Watchmen panel that they were holding but we did get into the DC panel. I saw a few people that i knew namely my friend Jessika and pals Jordan and Jen. I purchased a Batman graphic novel The Long Halloween. It's really good. You should read it. i also bought a collection of all of the Tales from the Crypt compiled into one hard back book for mi madre. I spent roughly 70 bucks on those two items. Mark Hammill and Carrie Fisher were there, but i didnt wanna wait in line and pay $50 to have them sign something. So i walked by the line and all i saw was Carrie Fisher. Jessika says that she cut the line and yelled "ccock knocker!" at Mark Hammill. So that's cool. After the con we three ventured across the bridge and frequented an In n' Out were we dined, verily, on such meals that would only be fit for a king. I then visited my grandmother for a few hours and went home.
Tuesday consisted of me staying home in preparation for grandma coming home. Marilynn and I cleaned for a majority of the day and Trisha's friend Marena helped me fold clothes. i cooked a dinner of fish with onion, lemon, tomatoes, and pepper and put it in the oven. Technically all i really did was the prep work my aunt made sure it didn't burn. She had me go to the store to get balsamic vinegar so she could make a saltless salad dressing. But since my car was a bitch and wouldn't start i said i'd walk. My cousin rosette who was over for dinner was like "i'll drive." and my aunt so nicely says, "no it's ok, he can walk." So i go out with a rain coat on and wallk my happy ass in the drizzle to the corner store. They didn't have balsamic vinegar so i got low sodium Balsamic vinegarette. I walk back home and come inside and give it to her and she says "this isn't what i wanted." my grandpa asks me to get 3 cases of soda out of the car so i do, one is for us, and the other two are theirs. so i get them set the two on the floor in the kitchen and walk to my room to put the other ones in my fridge and take off my coat. As soon as i turn around i hear "can you put these downstairs?" so i'm like....one second please! So i walk into the kitchen to put the sodas downstairs and i notice that there is no more fish for me to eat. So i put the sodas away and go to my room to watch tv. My grandpa, the kind soul he is, comes in and gives me a few bucks to get me something to eat.
I borrowed my grandpa's van and go get me some food. I also visited matt who had just had his retina removed. He seemed to be alright albeit annoyed because he had to have "anal medicine" as he put it. We watched a bit of hockey and then put on Encino Man. I stayed for half of that then came back home.
As we all know my car is a piece of shit. The other day i was on my way out of the house and i stopped at 7-11 to get a beverage. I get back in the car and it wont start. i thought my battery was dead so i had someone try to jump me. It didn't work. It so happened that my friend who goes by Super Gook was also at the 7-11. He showed me that my battery terminal was loose. Long story short it got worse and it got to the point where i had to have someone hold the wire while i started the car. Today i decided that i had to take it to shawn today to see what he could do for me. Jim and DC were at the shop when i got there. They fixed the battery terminal problem and also took a look at my oil and showed me all the milky sludge that formed due to what turns out is a blown head gasket. After that shawn, jarrod, and i went to the englander and had food.
(side note: rewind a year or more. Billy has his collar bone broken for him by a very angry guy. pays hospital bills etc. Court case is filed. It is first scheduled for october, and then is pushed to december, then pushed to february, and then to march 2nd. yesterday march third Rob calls me and asks me when the court case is, cuz he forgot. i look at the subpoena that is posted on my fridge. and i say "fucking yesterday is when it was." so i call the DA and it turned out that it didnt matter that i wasnt there cuz the guy plead guilty. so he gets jail time, anger management classes, and an order to stay away from me, and the englander. alas, no money in it for me. )
I drove to Pep boys to pick up some Head gasket Stop Leak, oil, and an oil filter cuz tomorrow we're gonna put that shit in there and flush the system and i'm gonna put that car up on craigslist to sell. Here's to me.