klepto love story

When I heard about the Underground Railroad as a kid I thought it was an actual underground railroad. I thought to myself, “How could they not know about this? A big train underground? That’s got to be noisy. Plus the tracks and stuff. It doesn’t make any sense!”

To this day whenever I hear underground railroad, I flash on a coal driven steam train chugging along in tunnels all over the South.

The Good:

• Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart. He won the Golden Globe this past Sunday for his performance (well deserved I might add). I definitely think it’s Oscar worthy. We shall see.
• Man City 2 – ManUre 1. City took a 2-1 lead in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-finals. Tevez scored both goals. Hopefully this lead will hold up next week after a trip to Old Trafford. Come on City!
• The new Spoon album. I really like what I’ve heard so far. I’ve only listened at work which is near impossible (I have to pause every 4 or 5 minutes to answer the phone). I think I’ll listen to it on my drive home today.

The Bad:

• Leg soreness. On Sunday we had our last soccer game of this season. We didn’t have enough subs to rotate everyone so I ended up playing about 25 of the 40 minutes. I’ve never played that much. Monday wasn’t so bad but on Tuesday I woke up with my lower legs on fire. It hurt to step, but only on the inside of my leg. I called my uncle who said it was probably the gastroc that was strained. After a lot of stretches, Advil, and complaining I’m back to about 85%. The new soccer season starts on Sunday so I hope to be back to 100% by then.

The Ugly:

Totally.

The Good:

• I’m back on the day shift. It’s nice to be moving around in the daylight again. I’m still trying to get used to waking up at 6:30am but it’s a lot better than going to work at midnight.
• The new Vampire Weekend album. I listened to it today at work so it didn’t get a good listen but I liked what I heard. Thanks to Sharlee for pointing out that it was on sale at Amazon yesterday for $3.99.
• I don’t have to replace my laptop. I dropped my laptop from about 2 feet off the ground onto my tile floor. It wouldn’t boot up. I took it to the Apple Store and found out it was the hard drive. They wanted to charge me $280 to replace it but after figuring out how easy it was to do, I bought my own (500 GB, double the size) and did it myself. Way to save $200 Josh! However this leads to…

The Bad:

• I lost (almost) all my data. Years of music, recent photos, lists, programs…all gone. Kristin had about half the music I had before but since it was on her laptop there is no Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, Mos Def, Dr Dre, or the last 6 months of anything I downloaded. It’s tough but I learned a valuable lesson. Back your stuff up! Seriously.
• University of Texas lost to Alabama in the National Championship. I knew it was over the minute Colt McCoy got hurt. Garrett Gilbert came in and tried his best but it took too long for him to calm down and get in any kind of rhythm. Can’t win them all.

The Ugly:

• The New York Post reported Artie Lange from the Howard Stern show attempted suicide by stabbing himself nine times. It’s a terrible thing and I hope Artie recovers quickly and finds some sense of peace.
• The Togo soccer team were attacked by gunman in Angola on their way to an African Cup of Nations game. One player, two staff members, and the bus driver were killed. Emanuel Adebayor, captain of the team and Manchester City player, said the team wanted to play on for their fallen comrades but the team was pulled from the competition. What a disgusting and despicable act by these gunmen. Adebayor was told to take as much time as necessary to recover before returning to Manchester. All the best Ade.

One last good thing so I don’t end on such a down note. Manchester City is 4-0 since Roberto Mancini took over the team. They’ve looked really good so far and this next half month stretch is brutal and definitely key. They find themselves in the 4th place spot of the table and are quite capable of challenging for the top spot. Go City! CTID!

Today at work we were discussing the upcoming National Championship between Texas and Alabama. I asked a guy who is an LSU fan who he wanted to win. “Alabama. Gotta support the SEC man.”

Now. He is supporting a team that is coached by Nick Saban who abandoned LSU after the 2004 season to coach in the NFL. He had stated that he wasn’t going to leave. He did, leaving the team and recruits in a lurch. I mentioned this to him and he said, “I have to support the SEC.”

I don’t understand this attitude. As a fan of a team I want my rivals to lose. I want them to lose every game. I want their program in shambles. I don’t support a conference, I support a team. I want my team to crush their enemies beneath their boot heels and burn down their stadium. I guess I just look at being a fan differently.

Hook ‘em Horns!

That’s right. Team Lady Gaga’s Hangdown won the league. If only this one would’ve been for money…

It’s been a great start to 2010! We rang in the New Year in our (last few years) traditional style by going to the old property and sitting around a burn barrel. All the usual suspects showed up. At some point in the night, Megan and Luiz made a hot dog run (as Luiz was promised there would be hot dogs but there were none) and we cooked them over the fire along with s’mores.

Friday, Kristin and I spent most of the day lounging around the house. We did venture out to the Drafthouse to see “Sherlock Holmes.” I haven’t read any reviews of it, but I myself enjoyed it. I’ve never really read any of the books, so I don’t have that comparison to rely on but I thought it was nicely done. I was happy to see it followed the rules of detective novels and didn’t throw out explanations to happenings that were not shown to the viewer. I’d give it 4 of 5 stars. It’ll be interesting to see if they can keep the franchise going.

Saturday was spent in a private karaoke room in North Austin with 15 friends. Put 16 people in one room, add karaoke, drinks, and lack of shame…hilarity ensues. I’m not usually one for putting my singing talents on display for the world, but in a private room in front of people you know it’s a lot easier. I sang “Cum on Feel the Noize”, “Arthur’s Theme”, and a horrible rendition of “Midnight Train to Georgia”. I started out as Gladys Knight but ended up a Pip. Story of my life.

Sunday, Kristin, Jana, Bonnie (from NY), and Jason drove out to the Salt Lick for some BBQ. The thing I love about Salt Lick is the pit. Right when you walk in you see this glorious pit of meat right out in the open. So lovely. After that we drove to Hey Cupcake and picked up some dessert (red velvet cupcake for me) which we ate at Jana’s apartment.

I had a soccer game that night. We didn’t have enough people to field a team so we recruited some people to join for the game. Unfortunately, they were in the same division so we had to forfeit the game. We played anyway and, with the other’s help, we tied. We should’ve probably won but their goal keeper was amazing. I don’t know how he got to some of the balls that he did. I had a minor accomplishment in the game: I actually received a pass, turned, ran with it, and shot. I even went around someone when I did it! This is a major improvement for me. I would usually receive a pass and look to pass right away. Everyone on the team was commenting about how I’ve improved and how much more comfortable I looked on the field. I was definitely feeling it myself.

After the game a few of us went to Little Woodrow’s for some beers. Three of us ended up joining something called the “Big 50″ club. To be in it you have to drink 50 beers from a list in order. You get a t-shirt and your name on the wall. We all decided this was very important. The waitress seemed unimpressed. Jokes were made about how nerdy everyone is and trying to get into clubs that wouldn’t have us. But now, we are all now two beers closer to being in the Big 50. Finally, a club for people like us!

I found this on an old lj i used to post on. June 13th, 2001:

tiger woods begins his assault on the 101st u.s. open tomorrow. i hope he chokes. his father recently said that when tiger met nelson mandela that it was the first time tiger’s met a human that can compare to tiger. yeah ok earl. mandela spent 27 years in prison fighting apartheid in his country. tiger’s won two master’s tournaments. i can see where you would confuse the two. papa earl has also compared tiger to ghandi and jesus christ. yeah. tiger is standing up for human rights. he’s being imprisoned. i even saw him crucified once. but he bounced back with five straight birdies and a 65 on the last day of the tournament to eek out a win.

I bet Earl is rolling in his grave.

Working the night shift is weird. I tend to sit here at my desk and think about a lot of things. I think about how cynical I’ve become and how I don’t really like that fact. It’s this persona that I feel has taken over who I really am. I’m starting to miss the old me.

I’ve made a list of goals for next year. I’m not going to call them resolutions because I don’t think that really works (at least for me). So here are the goals for 2010:

• Spend less time online. I spend entirely too much time looking at stuff that doesn’t really matter on the internet. A reduction is definitely needed.
• Take better care of myself. This includes cutting down significantly on the number of sugared drinks and junk food. I’d like to exercise more and try out yoga. As laid back as I seem to be, there is a big ball of tension that rides just below the surface. I want some way of calming some of that and exercise and yoga might do the trick. I’d also like to lose 10 lbs but I think that will come as a result of the changes I want to make.
• Read more. I feel like I’ve sort of stopped reading. I used to love reading. I would read all day. In 2010 I’m going to set aside more time to find my love of reading again.
• Dress nicer. I’m a bit of a slob when it comes to my clothing. You’ll usually find me in jeans, a t-shirt with some sort of funny picture or saying on it, Chucks, and a Yankees cap (usually backwards). I’ve recently started wearing more sweaters and a nicer cut of jeans. It really does make me feel a little better about myself.
• Be more responsible at work. I tend to let my mind wander and end up looking like I’m not doing any work. I move back to the day shift on January 4th and I really want to make a better impression. Things have been a bit uncertain as of late around the ol’ workplace and anything I can do to make myself look better will help me out greatly.
• Lastly, I am going to try to be more positive in all aspects of my life…at work, at home, and with friends. I realize I’m a little hard to take at times and can be a bit of an asshole. Like I was saying earlier, it’s sort of a persona that I feel has taken over. It’s time to take it back.

I think all of those goals are able to be accomplished. If I can quit smoking (like I did this year) I think I should be able to do anything.

Yesterday was a beautiful New York day. Is it weird to be nostalgic for something you’ve never had?

Kristin, her parents, and I took the train in from Long Island. We made our way down to the sea port to stand in line for twofer tickets to a show. I didn’t really care what we saw as long as it wasn’t something like Shrek. I stood outside as I didn’t really understand this whole ticket process and didn’t want anyone (Kristin) to yell at me. They came out with the tickets and told me we had front row tickets for Hair. I was pretty excited!

We killed 8 hours walking around the city in the freezing cold, ducking into several places just to warm up for a few minutes.

It was time for the show. I’ve never been to a Broadway show. The theater was a lot smaller than I expected. Having been to a couple of touring shows at new theaters, I guess I expected the same. We found our seats on the front row. The stage was maybe three feet away.

The curtain dropped to the opening song, “Age of Aquarius”. For the next couple of hours I watched the stage transfixed on the actors. They were so incredible. There was audience interaction. We were given daisies. The show was wonderful. At the end the cast invited us on stage to dance to “Let the Sunshine In”. Kristin and I went up and danced and clapped and laughed. It was so much fun! What a great first show. There really is no place like New York.

Happy birthday Chairman. You were the best. If I weren’t working right now, I’d have a whisky in your honor (maybe when I get home).