Long dAy

I thought about just not posting tonight. I'm looking at the clock at the bottom of my screen and it says 3:22am. That's eastern time. Which I'm definitely feeling. Do the math, where I am, it's 12:22am. So still, technically, it's Saturday. Which means I missed my Friday post. That's why I did two on Thursday, just in case.

But here are a few highlights from my trip out west...

A quick thank you again to Kevin for the Bojangle's breakfast and the ride to the airport. My first flight was somewhat uneventful. When I checked in, I had the option to upgrade my ticket to first class for $135. I thought about it. But then figured I could be in a better position to make that kind of call after the trip. So if I get the option on the way back, I might take the upgrade. Assuming I still have some disposable income at the end of my journey.

I say the first flight was uneventful, but the landing was a little rough. Well, not so much rough, but really quick. Apparently it gets windy in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I got to the terminal with about 90 minutes to kill. Which was good, 'cause I was pretty hungry. A quick stop at the McFood Court and I was ready to wait for my next flight.

This flight was better. The head flight attendant must have fancied himself a comedian. He kept throwing in all kinds of cheesy lines for a cheap laugh. He ended his final speech with, "My name is Bill and I approve this message." Everybody wants to get in on the act.

As I was in the air, I kept thinking about how confusing it was to look down and see nothing. No landmarks to tell me what state I was high above. No major highways or rivers that I could identify. It would be really convenient if we could look down and see blue or yellow and know that we had crossed from one state or country to the next. You know, like on a map. What if we got farmers to carve huge letters into their crops? Spelling out the state they're in... that's very helpful for airline passengers.

I finally arrived at LAX after what seemed like an entire day of traveling. Amazingly though, it was only 2:30 when I got of the plane. Yeah, local time. But what do I do now?

Jen was working, so my ride was a shuttle to the FlyAway station in Van Nuys. This is where I spent a great deal of my afternoon/evening. Eventually she got around to picking me up. Seriously though, I don't begrudge her for having to work. It was a work day after all. And I did choose a flight that would get me here in the early afternoon.

But anyway, she picked me up, we got some pizza at a place called Shakey's. The pizza wasn't bad, but the entertainment was top notch. We didn't know it when we chose the restaurant, but apparently it was Spanish karaoke night. I told her that I should pack it up and fly back home tonight. There's no way we can top that.

Jen informed me of the jam-packed weekend that she's got planned for us. As she described it, as I let the awesomeness of it all wash over me, it felt like we were cramming over a week of vacation into two days. And that was before she even got to what we're doing Monday. And, so you know, we're toying with the idea of doing a video blog. If I can work the technological magic just right, I think it would be pretty cool.

The eventful weekend officially kicked off with Point Break Live. To be totally honest, I was a little unsure of what this would be like. But it was great. Very funny. It's a group that acts out the entire movie (Point Break) on the stage. But there's audience participation. And they pick an audience member to play Johnny Utah, the role immortalized by Keanu Reeves. The guy that was picked did a great job of acting badly. Key for a Keanu role. As we went in, we purchased survival kits, which included a poncho. The poncho was an excellent idea. Remember the scene near the end when there's a huge shoot-out? Well, the actors used real squibs. Which meant fake blood flying all over the place. And it was sticky. And a little gross. But it was a lot of fun.

Day one is finished. Jen said Saturday will be a 24 hour day. So I better get as much sleep as I can. Beginning right now... Good night kids...

LAst ditch effort

Last week, Jen told me I should get a tan before coming out there. The logic was that if I had a tan, I wouldn't automatically fry myself when I hit the beach in LA. So for the first time in my life, I want to a tanning bed.

I know, I waited too long to begin the tanning process. So between last Thursday and today, I visited the place a total of four times. During my initial visit, I sat under the heat lamps for six minutes. It didn't seem too bad. And then that night I turned a little red. Not bad, but enough to keep me from going back on Friday.

On Saturday, I was still red, so I decided to skip it. On Monday, I had planned to go back, but since I took a sick day at work, I felt it would be a little tacky to be seen trying to get a tan. So I went Tuesday. Another six minutes.

This time it seemed like my skin was rejecting the ultraviolet radiation. No effect whatsoever. So I went again Wednesday after work. This time, the girl suggested eight minutes. It seemed that this too offered little to no effect. So I went again today. It was my last ditch effort to get a tan before going west.

She asked if I wanted to do nine or ten minutes. I figured, what the heck, it's my last try, so I went with ten. It was too much. At this moment, as I prepare to get some sleep, I am in a considerable amount of pain.

Let's recap: in my effort to tan, in order to avoid burning in California, I burned, instead, in North Carolina. Should make tomorrow's flight all kinds of uncomfortable.

LeAving on a jet pLAne

For years I've told Jen I would fly out to Los Angeles to pay her a visit. It's been a lot of talk. Even a couple months ago, when I finally paid for my flight, it still felt like this hypothetical future event that would never actually arrive. That hypothetical future is quickly becoming the present.

Tomorrow morning I'll board a plane and fly far, far, far away from here. Here's what I know for sure: Tomorrow night we're going to see Point Break Live. Saturday night we're going to the 10:30pm show of The Dark Knight (which will feel like 1:30am to me). At some time we're going to the beach (which I hear is a prevalent resource there). Other than that, my fate is in Jen's hands.

I'll be taking my camera. I'll be taking the Greenes' video camera. I'll be taking my laptop. So expect regular updates from the west coast.

Life's Playlist

Nicole sent this to me the other day. I’ve seen something like this before. One of those MySpace bulletin things. But I’ve never actually had the guts to pull the trigger. Never sat down and determined what the soundtrack to my biopic would be like. According to the directions, I pulled out my iPod, hit shuffle, pressed play, and then listed the songs accordingly. These are all going to be great songs. Because I put nothing but great songs on my iPod.

Opening Credits:
“You Don’t Know Me” by Ray Charles

Waking Up:
“She Loves You” by The Beatles

First Day at School:
“Redeemer” by Nicole C. Mullen

Falling in Love:
“Copperline” by James Taylor

Fight Song:
“I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick

Breaking Up:
“Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera

Prom:
“What I Like About You” by The Ramones

Life:
“Time That Is Left” by Mark Schultz

Mental Breakdown:
“All or Nothing” by O-Town

Driving:
“A Home” by The Dixie Chicks

Flashback:
“It’s About You” by Rachael Lampa

Wedding:
“You’re Glowing” by The Elms

Birth of Child:
“Upside Down” by Barenaked Ladies

Final Battle:
“Holding Out for a Hero” by the fairy godmother from Shrek 2

Death Scene:
“The Star Spangled Banner”

Funeral Song:
“Wake Up” by Andy Gullahorn

End Credit:
“No Such Thing” by John Mayer

I take it back… they’re not all great. And some of them really just don’t make sense at all.

Stadium Drive

Around eleven this morning, I began hearing loud noises outside my house. That's right, I'm finally back in my own place. Last night was my first night back here in over two weeks. In some ways it was strange. In others it was quiet. Again.

Anyway, I was greeted today to the sound of road work right outside my door. There was no warning. Just the sights and sounds of heavy machinery chewing up asphalt about three feet from my car. For a stretch of nearly a mile of one of the busiest streets in town, they've ripped up the road, preparing to repave it.

Why?

That is a question to which I haven't the answer. There was no note left on my front door, or under a windshield wiper. Several months ago, March I think, I got a windshield leaflet saying that there would be some work being done on gas lines. It would be done by the end of April. And it was. So what is this today?

Not only have they torn up the road (and are now taking a break) but there is an abyss in front of my neighbors house. Okay, I exaggerate, it's more of a pit. I don't remember seeing anyone digging it out and I don't know what it's there for. But there were several men standing around looking quite proud of themselves.

It's a good thing I don't need to go anywhere right now. But I'm gonna be in trouble when I get hungry later on. See, I don't have any groceries to speak of. Since I've been at the Greenehouse for the last two weeks, I emptied my kitchen out. And I really don't see the point in buying stuff if I'm only here for another 2 days before I fly out to LA. So, come dinnertime, I'm gonna really be hoping they're finished with the street. Really.

Angry Cat

Maybe I'm just being lazy. Maybe I just don't have any good ideas today. Whatever the case may be, I'm not writing anything again. Here's another clip from our good friends at YouTube. This one's a really angry feline. That's cat, to the layperson.



I'm pretty sure that if evil made a noise, that would be it.

Multiple Personalities

I've spent the last couple weeks posting a lot of original stuff. I'm taking a break today. When I was unable to sleep last night, I got on YouTube and was stumbling around and found this clip. It's from Inside the Actor's Studio, the episode with Kevin Spacey. Now, I've thought for some time that Spacey is a very good actor, but I had no idea he was so phenomenal at doing impersonations. The following clip is rated PG. Viewer discretion is advised.

Request

Ladies and gentlemen, I've said it before, I like getting comments on my blog. And in the past, I haven't minded if they came anonymously. But now people are beginning to lie about who they are when they leave these anonymous comments.

Just to let the general public know, I have ways of tracking who is looking at my site. I may not know who you are by name, but I am able to see the times that people click into the blog. I can see how long they are there. I can see where they click to get out. And I can see the IP address unless it's been blocked. This means that I can go in and see what time you leave your anonymous comment, then I can go back and find the corresponding IP address.

Please, feel free to continue leaving your comments, anonymously or otherwise. But do not insult my intelligence by using a fake name when signing your comments. I'm about to call an "anonymous" commenter out. This morning, someone hit my site at approximately 8:23am. The next person to click over to my blog was at 9:13. What does this tell me? It tells me that the three comments that were made between those times were made by the same person.

However, the three comments were supposedly left by different people. One was left without any kind of signature. One was signed "Bill." The other was signed simply "J." On that last one, were you trying to make me think you were Jen? Because she often signs her comments "j" (notice that's lower-case, 'cause that's how she rolls). But you know how I really know it wasn't Jen? Because the IP address came from North Carolina, not California. Yeah, I can tell your general geographic area too.

So, to "Bill" or "J" or Anonymous, don't stop reading my blog. Don't stop making your comments. But own up to them. If you're afraid of someone seeing who you really are or seeing what you're really saying, then don't comment. I don't want to have to start rejecting people's comments. Up until now, I've published every comment I've gotten. I've gone into this thing with my only rule being no vulgarity in the comments, and so far everyone has managed to abide by that. New rule, be yourself. Don't be anonymous, and especially don't pretend to be someone else. It's just rude.

Greene Day Six

Today, the very last day of the Greene Days, we focus on the parents. Mom and Dad, or Nicole and Kevin as I like to call them. I like to think of Nicole as the mother that I, in fact, still have and moved here to get away from (just kidding mom). Kevin is more like a brother than a dad to me though.

Since I moved down here they've welcomed me into their home and treated me like a part of the family. So much so that Kevin even wanted to claim me as a dependent on his taxes this year. If that's not family, I don't know what is.

I don't have a lot of things to say that would be considered funny or sarcastic here. 'Cause mostly I'm using this as another way to say thank you to Kevin and Nicole for all they've done for me this year. They've fed me, let me do laundry, even given me a place to stay when I've needed it. And I know I've said thank you before, but it never seems like enough. Not to me anyway.

Maybe Kevin can claim me on the taxes next year, if I ever get to move into the imaginary apartment above the imaginary garage.

Greene Day Five

Last but not least, we come to Gabrielle. I know I'm probably not supposed to pick favorites, but if you had any interaction with Gabby, you'd know why that's a hard thing to do. Forget it, I'm not a parent, I can pick favorites all I want. I'm sure the favorite thing will change as soon as she starts talking and talking back. Her brothers and sister will probably rub off on her, so I'm sure, eventually, the sarcasm will kick in. What am I talking about? Eventually I'll rub off on her, then the real sarcasm will kick in.

Gabby is the first baby that I've really spent any significant time around. Before her, I was pretty sure that no infant could stand me. My own cousin wouldn't make eye contact with me until she was three. There are other examples, but I won't go into them here. Let's just say I was starting to develop some kind of complex. It's refreshing to be around a kid that actually smiles when she sees me coming.

And I think she's been flirting with me. There are a lot of times when I come over to the Greenehouse and she'll be sitting on the floor in the living room. She'll look around the chair to see who just came in the door. She sees it's me, I say hi to her, she smiles. And then she kind of rolls her eyes, trying to make it look like she's not really interested that I just walked in the room. Gabby, I know you can't read this, but kiddo, I'm way too old for you. How way? Way way.

But now that she's been at the beach for over a week, she's probably forgotten all about me. It'll take months before she's used to me again. Her very first birthday is coming up this weekend. I'm looking for some gift ideas. Your thoughts? I'm all ears.