Christmas is creeping up on us. My GF is heading back home and because of work obligations I am staying put. It's cool though as we had our Christmas early and it was really fun! I got some cool stuff and we had a big Christmas dinner that left me gassy for about two days. We went shopping for toys for Toys for Tots too and I will be dropping those off after work today. I don't have a purpose for this blog entry but I will just blab about whatever and see what comes together.
I competed almost a month ago and it was a good showing for me. I ended up 6th out of 23 guys and thought I looked decent but was pretty flat in the morning. Regardless, lesson learned and I know what to do come next contest. My goal this off-season is to stay leaner and focus on being a real bodybuilder in terms of eating and training. I feel that I have yet to really nail it 100% in the off-season and I'd like to see what happens if I do. Most guys take time off, miss meals, and just waste the time they have to make improvements. Now I'm not going to become some bodybuilding hermit but I do want to give it my all and at the same time stay lean. So far so good. I'm still pretty lean...actually very lean and have not gained a ton of weight. I'm not forcing it this year. Wherever my body wants to go is where it shall go. The muscle will come now all I have to do is stick to the plan.
School is done, at least this semester. I managed a 3.5 GPA on top of working a full time job and dieting. Next semester will be harder but I won't be dieting so I'll have more time to focus on the tasks at hand. Thats about all I have to say about school.
I'm heading down to see the folks for Christmas tomorrow and that should be fun. I have not seen my sister in about a year and she is here with her fiance as well. I'm looking forward to a bunch of stuff like going to the Nike outlet, training at a new gym, and of course spending time with the family. It's a nice departure from the city and a much needed break. I cleaned the house and everything is nice and neat so I won't be coming home to a war zone.
That's about it for this entry. I know, I know, very boring. Oh yeah...fuck Full Tilt poker. That site can kiss my ass. The poker boom has poisoned the game and online poker is a joke. I don't lose more than 30 bucks and then I'm done but seriously there are just too many fish now and getting a good hand cracked is way too easy.
Until next time.
JD
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
3 Weeks out
I am getting to my blog after a long awaited departure.
As of today I am three weeks out from my second bodybuiding show. I'm pretty amped but at the same time nervous as to what the next three weeks will hold. I've never been this focused before that's for sure. On top of that, I'm back in school and am doing very well in all of my classes. This is on top of working a full time job. For some reason when my time is limited and I have to be on point in every aspect of my life, everything just runs a bit smoother.
This blog is going to be about my journey so far in this prep. I learned some things and will apply them next time I hit the stage. Yep, there is going to be a next time. This isn't my competitive swan song by any means. This much I know.....I am by far harder and bigger than I was at my last outting. That's a great thing. However, I really want to be in great shape for this contest and I still have some fat to lose at this point so that is whats making me a bit nervous. I need to trust the process and know that everything will fall into place. I think that I will be right on time. I dieted for 16 weeks with my own diet, training, and supplement program. I wanted to see if the knowledge I have aquired over the last several years could be applied to my own body and with a good end result. So far so good. I can tell you one thing in particular though....less is more. The less complicated you make things, the better the end result.
Right now I'm eating six foods only which are...flounder, salmon, 93/7 turkey, broccoli, and walnuts or natural peanut butter. I'm pretty much no carbing this last three weeks and I feel great. My body just likes fats better for some reason and I'm staying full. My strength hasn't dropped too much either and honestly it's going up a little bit. Thursday was back day and I did my one working set of deadlifts at 495 for eight reps. I'm pretty stoked on that. I'm using BCAAs, glutamine, muti vits with add greens, omega3-6-9 gels, vit c, livcare, lipid stabil, yadda yadda...yadda. It's a handful of pills every morning and through the course of the day. I know all of this is boring as hell but I figured I'd mention this. Diet is as follows......
Meal 1 -
8oz 93/7 Turkey
1tlbspn nat peanut butter
Meal 2-5
8oz Flounder
1/2 cup broccoli
Meal 6
6oz salmon
1 cup broccoli
That's it. Boring I know but very effective. Once a week I have a day with about 300 grams of carbs. I use brown rice and red potatoes now. I honestly can say this approach works for me. I don't feel like I'm wasting away either. I do feel shitty though. Not from the diet but from being tired as hell. I refuse to slack in the gym or neglect school. On top of that I have to find time to spend with my GF. It's a delicate balance but I've somehow found it.
So three more to go and then it's showtime. I'm going to be ready. I can't wait but then again I can. Get shredded and get fired up. It's my mantra right now.
Till next time
JD
As of today I am three weeks out from my second bodybuiding show. I'm pretty amped but at the same time nervous as to what the next three weeks will hold. I've never been this focused before that's for sure. On top of that, I'm back in school and am doing very well in all of my classes. This is on top of working a full time job. For some reason when my time is limited and I have to be on point in every aspect of my life, everything just runs a bit smoother.
This blog is going to be about my journey so far in this prep. I learned some things and will apply them next time I hit the stage. Yep, there is going to be a next time. This isn't my competitive swan song by any means. This much I know.....I am by far harder and bigger than I was at my last outting. That's a great thing. However, I really want to be in great shape for this contest and I still have some fat to lose at this point so that is whats making me a bit nervous. I need to trust the process and know that everything will fall into place. I think that I will be right on time. I dieted for 16 weeks with my own diet, training, and supplement program. I wanted to see if the knowledge I have aquired over the last several years could be applied to my own body and with a good end result. So far so good. I can tell you one thing in particular though....less is more. The less complicated you make things, the better the end result.
Right now I'm eating six foods only which are...flounder, salmon, 93/7 turkey, broccoli, and walnuts or natural peanut butter. I'm pretty much no carbing this last three weeks and I feel great. My body just likes fats better for some reason and I'm staying full. My strength hasn't dropped too much either and honestly it's going up a little bit. Thursday was back day and I did my one working set of deadlifts at 495 for eight reps. I'm pretty stoked on that. I'm using BCAAs, glutamine, muti vits with add greens, omega3-6-9 gels, vit c, livcare, lipid stabil, yadda yadda...yadda. It's a handful of pills every morning and through the course of the day. I know all of this is boring as hell but I figured I'd mention this. Diet is as follows......
Meal 1 -
8oz 93/7 Turkey
1tlbspn nat peanut butter
Meal 2-5
8oz Flounder
1/2 cup broccoli
Meal 6
6oz salmon
1 cup broccoli
That's it. Boring I know but very effective. Once a week I have a day with about 300 grams of carbs. I use brown rice and red potatoes now. I honestly can say this approach works for me. I don't feel like I'm wasting away either. I do feel shitty though. Not from the diet but from being tired as hell. I refuse to slack in the gym or neglect school. On top of that I have to find time to spend with my GF. It's a delicate balance but I've somehow found it.
So three more to go and then it's showtime. I'm going to be ready. I can't wait but then again I can. Get shredded and get fired up. It's my mantra right now.
Till next time
JD
Friday, July 3, 2009
7th = 550
So I am coming to you from work today. They opened the street again on the side of building where my current place of employment is located. This is a miracle. That thing has been shut down for about two months and it really made getting into the plaza a pain in the butt. Now people won't have to drive another 500 yards, make a U-turn, and then realize they can't turn into the street they thought they were going to be able to. I know for a fact people just said "screw it" and kept driving. Hopefully sales will start going back up.
So, my girlfriend has been out of town which leaves me with some time to kill. I've been playing poker for years but not so much recently because I just have not had the time. I decided yesterday to enter a local poker tourney at the casino. I have played in this a couple of times and made it kind of deep once out of the three times I have tried my luck. Yesterday was a bit different however. I started out strong winning a couple of hands without having to show what I was holding. The funny thing about these types of hands is that I had the nuts both times and I would have crushed someone if they called. It makes me think I played the hand too strong on the river if that's possible. Maybe I could have gotten more out of the other players...oh well. I sat on my stack for about the next two hours and didn't really do too much. I was getting killed by the blinds and in my small blind looked down at AKs. What a shitty position to be in with that hand. Blinds were at 500-1000 and second to act makes it 3000 to go before the flop. I had about 12k in front of me. The thing is that I really played this hand bad but then made up for it with what I consider a good play. In that position I should have shoved it all in. I had been card dead up to that point and that would have been the right thing to do in that spot. Instead, I call. Not the best play. The flop comes 2c-3s-5c and I check. The raiser comes out with a 3500 chip bet and I think about it for about three seconds and then check raise him all in. I was pretty sure he had exactly the same hand as me or perhaps AJ or AQ. In any case, he can't call. Or else he shouldn't call if he is any kind of player at all. He seriously thought about calling for about two minutes and then mucked his hand. This is the hand that was the turning point for me. I was now close to 25k in chips and had enough time to pick my spots. Something I considered after the hand was that I was drum tight during the course of play at that table but when I thought I had the best hand, I was very aggressive. This is how it should be and I actually think the guy respected that. In local, smaller tourneys most people forget any logic or don't consider odds and position. Now I am no poker pro but I can tell you this much.....in a tournament situation you need to evaluate your chip stack in comparison to rate at which you will be blinded out if you are getting low. That's pretty basic but I see so many people that have no clue or don't pay attention and then are forced to shove with crap. You can't just sit and wait for aces or kings in a tourney. You have to make moves. After two more breaks I found myself down to the final two tables at 20 people left out of the 102 that started. I got it all in the center with KQs vs. AJos shortly after the start of the final two tables. Spade on the river gives me a flush and I double through one of the bigger stacks. After folding pocket 10's to two all in's, I find myself on the bubble. Turns out the guy who was on my left had two jacks. I felt good about that fold. I make the final table with about 62k in chips and felt good about my chances seeing as the chip leader had about 120k or so. Two people quickly bust out and we are down to seven players. The blinds are now at 15k and 30k and I am down to 51k in chips. In first position I shove with A7h and get called by the big blind with A10s. He spikes a 10 and I'm sent to the rail with 550 bucks for my efforts. Not too bad.
All in all, it was a long night and I'm used to going to bed pretty early. It was worth it though. I bought my girlfriend a gift which she will get when she gets home tomorrow. Sorry for the poker rant but it was something I felt I wanted to type about. School starts in a couple of months and I'm stoked. I'm also getting leaner without having started my contest diet and I'm stoked on that too. Things are going good. Until next time.
JD
So, my girlfriend has been out of town which leaves me with some time to kill. I've been playing poker for years but not so much recently because I just have not had the time. I decided yesterday to enter a local poker tourney at the casino. I have played in this a couple of times and made it kind of deep once out of the three times I have tried my luck. Yesterday was a bit different however. I started out strong winning a couple of hands without having to show what I was holding. The funny thing about these types of hands is that I had the nuts both times and I would have crushed someone if they called. It makes me think I played the hand too strong on the river if that's possible. Maybe I could have gotten more out of the other players...oh well. I sat on my stack for about the next two hours and didn't really do too much. I was getting killed by the blinds and in my small blind looked down at AKs. What a shitty position to be in with that hand. Blinds were at 500-1000 and second to act makes it 3000 to go before the flop. I had about 12k in front of me. The thing is that I really played this hand bad but then made up for it with what I consider a good play. In that position I should have shoved it all in. I had been card dead up to that point and that would have been the right thing to do in that spot. Instead, I call. Not the best play. The flop comes 2c-3s-5c and I check. The raiser comes out with a 3500 chip bet and I think about it for about three seconds and then check raise him all in. I was pretty sure he had exactly the same hand as me or perhaps AJ or AQ. In any case, he can't call. Or else he shouldn't call if he is any kind of player at all. He seriously thought about calling for about two minutes and then mucked his hand. This is the hand that was the turning point for me. I was now close to 25k in chips and had enough time to pick my spots. Something I considered after the hand was that I was drum tight during the course of play at that table but when I thought I had the best hand, I was very aggressive. This is how it should be and I actually think the guy respected that. In local, smaller tourneys most people forget any logic or don't consider odds and position. Now I am no poker pro but I can tell you this much.....in a tournament situation you need to evaluate your chip stack in comparison to rate at which you will be blinded out if you are getting low. That's pretty basic but I see so many people that have no clue or don't pay attention and then are forced to shove with crap. You can't just sit and wait for aces or kings in a tourney. You have to make moves. After two more breaks I found myself down to the final two tables at 20 people left out of the 102 that started. I got it all in the center with KQs vs. AJos shortly after the start of the final two tables. Spade on the river gives me a flush and I double through one of the bigger stacks. After folding pocket 10's to two all in's, I find myself on the bubble. Turns out the guy who was on my left had two jacks. I felt good about that fold. I make the final table with about 62k in chips and felt good about my chances seeing as the chip leader had about 120k or so. Two people quickly bust out and we are down to seven players. The blinds are now at 15k and 30k and I am down to 51k in chips. In first position I shove with A7h and get called by the big blind with A10s. He spikes a 10 and I'm sent to the rail with 550 bucks for my efforts. Not too bad.
All in all, it was a long night and I'm used to going to bed pretty early. It was worth it though. I bought my girlfriend a gift which she will get when she gets home tomorrow. Sorry for the poker rant but it was something I felt I wanted to type about. School starts in a couple of months and I'm stoked. I'm also getting leaner without having started my contest diet and I'm stoked on that too. Things are going good. Until next time.
JD
Saturday, June 20, 2009
It's About Time!
It's about time I updated my blog. For many months it just wasn't on my mind. Now that I have some free time today, I am going to post. This post isn't supposed to be funny or tell a story like I have in the past, but rather it's just an update on what's happening with me.
Where do I begin? That is a tough one. I have changed so many things in my life over the course of the last several months that there is no one starting point for all of this. I can tell you this much though, change is good.
I'm competing in the fall again after four years. I like setting goals and completing them. My biggest problem is that I get lazy. I start strong and then fade faster than crappy cell phone reception in an elevator. I'd like to come up with a nice excuse as to why I do this but the bottom line is that when things require me to work harder than I'm used to, I slow down and then hang it up for a while. That turns into months or years and then the goal never gets completed. I'd like to think of myself as a fairly hard worker. However, I have been able to accomplish things in my life with less effort than some which leads me to believe that I should be able to do everything in this manner. Right about now is when you would hear the sound effect from the game show Family Feud where that big red "X" appears on the screen when you answer a question wrong. Why the loud buzzer and red "X" you ask? Because the statement prior to my Family Feud sound effect sums up much of what causes me problems and now I'm fixing this. I'm looking forward to the contest and journey that comes with it. I like that part of the sport. I like being able to challenge myself to achieve a new personal best and with that I am able to look past over inflated expectations and have fun. I'm also looking outside of the box and am going to explore other activities I've always wanted to try. At some point I would like to get back to my roots and start grappling again along with learning some ju-jitsu. I don't have plans on competing in MMA but doing some BJJ competitions sounds like a good time to me! I'm pretty amped! I've always cornered myself with whatever it is I get involved with and it was brought to my attention that I need to do whatever it is that makes me happy.
After reading the above paragraph/novel, I need to give a big THANK YOU to somebody that helped make most of what was typed possible. My girlfriend has been a wonderful part of my life and is helping me accomplish goals on a daily basis without her even knowing it. She pushes me to be better in all parts of my life and won't let me settle. I can only hope that I help her as much as she is helping me. I owe her the world and even though I may get grumpy and act like a total retard, I thank her more than these words are capable of doing. She is going to do big things in the near future and I know she will shine like she always does. Thank you sporty orty dope-a-licious angel! I hope at least someone will know what that's from.
Switching gears.....I'm going back to school! I'm psyched! This is something that is a long time coming and I am going to hit the ground running and not look back. I've never been this excited to go back to school but I'm pretty driven to get myself on a career path and build a future.
Those are the major changes. There are a handful of other things that I'm doing as well (stretching daily, eating better, managing finances better, ect) that could use their own paragraph but at this point in this blog most people's eyes are probably getting tired. Thanks for reading and hopefully I will stay on top of this darn thing. By the way, "Scoops" are a pack of skunks I think.
Until next time.....
JD
Where do I begin? That is a tough one. I have changed so many things in my life over the course of the last several months that there is no one starting point for all of this. I can tell you this much though, change is good.
I'm competing in the fall again after four years. I like setting goals and completing them. My biggest problem is that I get lazy. I start strong and then fade faster than crappy cell phone reception in an elevator. I'd like to come up with a nice excuse as to why I do this but the bottom line is that when things require me to work harder than I'm used to, I slow down and then hang it up for a while. That turns into months or years and then the goal never gets completed. I'd like to think of myself as a fairly hard worker. However, I have been able to accomplish things in my life with less effort than some which leads me to believe that I should be able to do everything in this manner. Right about now is when you would hear the sound effect from the game show Family Feud where that big red "X" appears on the screen when you answer a question wrong. Why the loud buzzer and red "X" you ask? Because the statement prior to my Family Feud sound effect sums up much of what causes me problems and now I'm fixing this. I'm looking forward to the contest and journey that comes with it. I like that part of the sport. I like being able to challenge myself to achieve a new personal best and with that I am able to look past over inflated expectations and have fun. I'm also looking outside of the box and am going to explore other activities I've always wanted to try. At some point I would like to get back to my roots and start grappling again along with learning some ju-jitsu. I don't have plans on competing in MMA but doing some BJJ competitions sounds like a good time to me! I'm pretty amped! I've always cornered myself with whatever it is I get involved with and it was brought to my attention that I need to do whatever it is that makes me happy.
After reading the above paragraph/novel, I need to give a big THANK YOU to somebody that helped make most of what was typed possible. My girlfriend has been a wonderful part of my life and is helping me accomplish goals on a daily basis without her even knowing it. She pushes me to be better in all parts of my life and won't let me settle. I can only hope that I help her as much as she is helping me. I owe her the world and even though I may get grumpy and act like a total retard, I thank her more than these words are capable of doing. She is going to do big things in the near future and I know she will shine like she always does. Thank you sporty orty dope-a-licious angel! I hope at least someone will know what that's from.
Switching gears.....I'm going back to school! I'm psyched! This is something that is a long time coming and I am going to hit the ground running and not look back. I've never been this excited to go back to school but I'm pretty driven to get myself on a career path and build a future.
Those are the major changes. There are a handful of other things that I'm doing as well (stretching daily, eating better, managing finances better, ect) that could use their own paragraph but at this point in this blog most people's eyes are probably getting tired. Thanks for reading and hopefully I will stay on top of this darn thing. By the way, "Scoops" are a pack of skunks I think.
Until next time.....
JD
Sunday, February 22, 2009
People are strange but maybe I'm stranger
I'm on a roll with my blog these days. If you check the dates...ah forget it. If I brag about how I'm back on schedule, I will probably not update this thing again for months. I have much to talk about tonight. Some of it is current and some a blast from the past. I always have something to talk about though. I'm also long winded which any one of my friends would whole heartily admit and I'm fine with that. So I guess by mentioning that I have no reason to not keep my blog updated. With that being said, back to the topic.
I live in a very nice city. It's pretty modern and the weather here, for the most part, is all you could ask for. However nothing is as perfect as it seems on the outside. Once you look a little deeper you find all kinds of crap that just makes it harder to deal with. Take the Ruben sandwich for instance. That thing looks about as yummy as humanly possible until you bite into a landmine known as sauerkraut. Your mouth is now laden with shrapnel from a sour cabbage booby trap and now the sandwich, well, sucks. Who in the hell would mess up such a good thing? This is kind of the way I feel about our beloved city and I will tell you why.
I once had a woman around my age come into my store and try to sell me this little coupon book that had all kinds of discounted spa treatments. I asked her where her spa was located and she mentioned a popular bar, that I apparently should have known about, being close to the spa. When I answered with a "huh?" she immediately mentioned another bar as a point of reference. Well as usual I didn't know about that one either. She then began to ask me what I do to have fun because it was obvious to her that if I wasn't VIP at any one of the places she mentioned that my life must have been dull. Weird. I mean I'm pretty dorky. I like doing stuff many would think isn't worth their time and does not involve putting on a shit ton of hair gel and the shirt that is supposed to look old but really cost 300 bucks. Now just to prove that I'm not a stick in the mud I do have a story about going out that reminds me of the girl that tried to sell me spa treatments. I have this feeling the story about to be told may have happened to her at one point. Actually, I'm sure of it.
About two weeks before New Year's eve, a bunch of my friends wanted to take out a girl who had just gotten a divorce so she could go let off a little steam. We ended up at a bar called Six. This was the first time I had ever been to this place so I had no clue what to expect. First of all, I was way under dressed but somehow managed to get in. I also remember drinking something that night which I don't really do. Perhaps that loosened up my perspective on the situation. Well what happened next really needed to be seen to fully understand but you will get the picture. Myself and two of my friends decided to try and talk to a couple of girls standing at a table near by. These tables are about up to the middle of your chest and have a little candle in the center so you kinda have to stand if you want to use them. My friend decides to go over and start up a conversation with the girls and they seem to be into him. So as I decide to turn around to go over, my other friend blurts out something like a mixture of cuss words and laughter all at the same time. I turn around to see one of the girls hair fully engulfed in flames and the insane part is she had no clue! I guess she leaned over the table to get a better listen to what my friend was saying and her ultra hairspray covered locks hit the candle and went up like the Hindenburg zeppelin. Her friend notices the fiasco and starts screaming while delivering forearm shivers to the back of her head to beat out the flames. After the small fire was extinguished, she became what seemed only mildly concerned that the back of her head now resembled a brown steel wool pad. The two girls began going about their normal business and acted like nothing really happened. Strange. It was both fucked up and ridiculously funny at the same time. So as I'm trying to fight back tears of laughter, my friend at the table looks at us with a "what now?" look on his face as we motion for him to get the heck out of there. Only in Scottsdale I suppose.
I can tell you that every time I have ever been out something like this goes down. Now not to the degree that this spectacle created but people still end up on the receiving end of a big plate of Darwin's ass whoppings. I would much rather goof off at a mini golf course or race go carts than dodge third degree burns and over charged credit card tabs. But hey, that's just me. On a side note as I always like to say, the last part of this blog was apparently not saved last night when I closed this thing out which sucks. I made a comparison to the chick that had her hair set on fire to that of looking like Jackie Onassis all bundled up, hungover, standing outside of the wig store waiting for it to open the day after. I can't duplicate exactly what I typed so just try to imagine what that might look like. It made me laugh for a couple seconds.
I will have more topics more frequently and have them posted in a timely fashion. This I can promise. Thanks for reading. Until next time.
JD
By the way......
The pic attached has nothing to do with the post but I found it funny so I'm posting it.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Shooting Blanks
I never thought this would happen. Just when I thought I was going to have an entry for my blog, I'm stricken with writer's block. The funny thing about writer's block is that I have heard of many people getting it but I myself have never really had to deal with it. When I was in college and had to write my ass off, I was able to come up with topics and journal entries easily.....no problem. Now I am having to deal with it (writer's block) and it's no fun. Wait a minute, I think I'm cured. It seems that all I needed was a can of diet soda. I just read the back of the can several times and have yet to find "inspiration" as a listed ingredient but I know it's in there somewhere. First of all my good friend Chad deserves an apology. I have been a crappy friend and I apologize. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Okay off to the blog topic for today.
Have you ever seen something really impressive that makes you think about the person who is doing it? I guess what I mean by that is when you see the short clip on the news of the seven year old that can play the piano better than most people who have been practicing for 30 years? Maybe it's the person that gets a perfect score on their SAT and then proceed to kick ass on the ACT and get another perfect score? I actually read about that kid. You see this stuff and it makes you think how in the world did someone get to be so good in one area of their life? This got me thinking about a couple of things.
I have been listening to a bunch of old music as of late. More specifically Jimi Hendrix when he had this group called A Band of Gypsies. They were pretty incredible. They had this chemistry that other bands just don't have and to my knowledge they were not together for a huge amount of time. All three members were equally amazing at their instruments and of course everyone knows how good Jimi was. I was able to find a taping of performance that was done at the Fillmore over the course of two days in 1969/70. A New Year's day and eve performance. As many know Jimi is left handed and plays his guitar upside down and backwards. But what was more impressive is that his damn eyes are closed most of the time yet. Maybe I'm easily amused but in the last 30 years or so nobody else has come along that can play like that guy given all of the other variables. Just watch.
So what gives? Why is he a master at playing the guitar? Why is the Russian guy that won a Fields Medal a while back so good at math? It's funny because people look at these individuals and think that they must be doing something that "we" are not. There is no possible way that these people were destined for greatness from the minute they were born. I hear this all the time. If that person is bigger than me it must be something he or she is taking. If that person is smarter it's a computer program or some method of memorization they are utilizing. Sometimes there is no reason. That is a hard pill to swallow but some are just destined to do great things and half the time they don't realize it until it's too late.
I've been thinking about this for a while. To all those people who are destined for greatness, don't let it pass you by. Embrace whatever gifts God gave you and run with it. Sorry for the super serious tone of this blog but it just turned out this way. I promise the next entry will be funny or something...err...yeah something like that. Until next time.
JD
Have you ever seen something really impressive that makes you think about the person who is doing it? I guess what I mean by that is when you see the short clip on the news of the seven year old that can play the piano better than most people who have been practicing for 30 years? Maybe it's the person that gets a perfect score on their SAT and then proceed to kick ass on the ACT and get another perfect score? I actually read about that kid. You see this stuff and it makes you think how in the world did someone get to be so good in one area of their life? This got me thinking about a couple of things.
I have been listening to a bunch of old music as of late. More specifically Jimi Hendrix when he had this group called A Band of Gypsies. They were pretty incredible. They had this chemistry that other bands just don't have and to my knowledge they were not together for a huge amount of time. All three members were equally amazing at their instruments and of course everyone knows how good Jimi was. I was able to find a taping of performance that was done at the Fillmore over the course of two days in 1969/70. A New Year's day and eve performance. As many know Jimi is left handed and plays his guitar upside down and backwards. But what was more impressive is that his damn eyes are closed most of the time yet. Maybe I'm easily amused but in the last 30 years or so nobody else has come along that can play like that guy given all of the other variables. Just watch.
So what gives? Why is he a master at playing the guitar? Why is the Russian guy that won a Fields Medal a while back so good at math? It's funny because people look at these individuals and think that they must be doing something that "we" are not. There is no possible way that these people were destined for greatness from the minute they were born. I hear this all the time. If that person is bigger than me it must be something he or she is taking. If that person is smarter it's a computer program or some method of memorization they are utilizing. Sometimes there is no reason. That is a hard pill to swallow but some are just destined to do great things and half the time they don't realize it until it's too late.
I've been thinking about this for a while. To all those people who are destined for greatness, don't let it pass you by. Embrace whatever gifts God gave you and run with it. Sorry for the super serious tone of this blog but it just turned out this way. I promise the next entry will be funny or something...err...yeah something like that. Until next time.
JD
Friday, February 20, 2009
I should be ashamed of myself
This is going to be a very short entry but I promise there will be a follow up of some kind in the near future. If there was a child protective services for blogs, mine would be in the protective custody right now. I have neglected the shit out of mine as of late and I am going to make it up to you (the blog, people, ect). Secondly, I have been a shitty friend. All I can say is that I need to put fourth more effort into my relationships. Okay blog entry completed. Here is something by the Animal Collective to watch while I figure out my next entry. Until next time.
JD
JD
Friday, January 30, 2009
No words needed
Sometimes you don't have to say a thing to be heard loud and clear. I was going to try and be clever with a funny blog about my battle with the stomach flu that left me with chapped butt cheeks and no toilet paper. That's not going to happen. I have more important stuff to write about.
The problem is very simple. I'm an addict. I tell you no lie my friends I truly am an addict. The funny thing is most of my friends were as well at one point. I suppose when you hang around people addicted to one of the most powerful drugs on the face of the planet, you might get hooked yourself. I'm not talking about heroin, meth, or even cocaine. It would take too long to explain and for those that do know what I'm talking about, no explanation is needed. Okay, okay enough of me trying to be witty and make some grand blog entrance.
If you fast forward to 2009, you'll find me a Shadow of my former self and I'm fine with that. I'm in the gym, at the dinner table, and out of touch and I'm okay with that too. I make my living in the same industry and I really enjoy it. I'm sure in my younger days if I saw myself walking along the side of the street I would have been talking shit about me all day long. After reading all of what has been typed, you need to know a couple of things that I just don't know how to put in words.
Anthony Pappalardo is a mystery to most. You rarely see the guy and when you do, it's always good. I can say all of this because I remember seeing photos and video of the guy all the time and now most of that is just a memory. That was until I discovered VBS.TV's Epicly Laterd program. Patrick, thanks for doing something like this. I've never met you and don't know you what so ever, but I can appreciate what you have done and the memories I get watching your show. So with that being said, watch this last segment and be amazed just like I was. I hope that one day I can think for myself just like Anthony and without thinking twice about who is going to give a crap. Just like Red quoting Andy in the Shawshank Redemption...."Get busy livin or get busy dyin...thats goddamn right."
The problem is very simple. I'm an addict. I tell you no lie my friends I truly am an addict. The funny thing is most of my friends were as well at one point. I suppose when you hang around people addicted to one of the most powerful drugs on the face of the planet, you might get hooked yourself. I'm not talking about heroin, meth, or even cocaine. It would take too long to explain and for those that do know what I'm talking about, no explanation is needed. Okay, okay enough of me trying to be witty and make some grand blog entrance.
If you fast forward to 2009, you'll find me a Shadow of my former self and I'm fine with that. I'm in the gym, at the dinner table, and out of touch and I'm okay with that too. I make my living in the same industry and I really enjoy it. I'm sure in my younger days if I saw myself walking along the side of the street I would have been talking shit about me all day long. After reading all of what has been typed, you need to know a couple of things that I just don't know how to put in words.
Anthony Pappalardo is a mystery to most. You rarely see the guy and when you do, it's always good. I can say all of this because I remember seeing photos and video of the guy all the time and now most of that is just a memory. That was until I discovered VBS.TV's Epicly Laterd program. Patrick, thanks for doing something like this. I've never met you and don't know you what so ever, but I can appreciate what you have done and the memories I get watching your show. So with that being said, watch this last segment and be amazed just like I was. I hope that one day I can think for myself just like Anthony and without thinking twice about who is going to give a crap. Just like Red quoting Andy in the Shawshank Redemption...."Get busy livin or get busy dyin...thats goddamn right."
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Obama's Chili Dogs Don't Bite
I'm a slacker. I knew this was going to happen. I created this blog in hopes of updating the thing every week and now 17 days later I am getting to it. Well I suppose a later update is better than no update at all. I'm trying to figure out where to start this thing today. My mind is going a million miles per hour with all the stuff I have been planning on talking about and I can't find a creative way to start this entry. Wait a minute, I think I may have an idea.
Okay I am from the Midwest and I can vividly remember going to this place that was a ripoff of Chuck E. Cheese but with a slightly different concept. You see this place served hot dogs instead of pizza and had all kinds of video games and fun stuff to do. It was also in the ghetto. Go figure. I lived in an average neighborhood but if you traveled about three miles south of where I lived, you could get jacked for your Nikes if you went down the wrong street. The name of the place I am talking about was called Diggity Dogs . With all the sketchy people walking the area where Diggity Dogs was located, nothing ever happened to anyone eating there. For some strange reason I have this feeling that Diggitys is still serving hot dogs and birthday cake to this very day. Okay now with that being said, watch this............
Okay I am from the Midwest and I can vividly remember going to this place that was a ripoff of Chuck E. Cheese but with a slightly different concept. You see this place served hot dogs instead of pizza and had all kinds of video games and fun stuff to do. It was also in the ghetto. Go figure. I lived in an average neighborhood but if you traveled about three miles south of where I lived, you could get jacked for your Nikes if you went down the wrong street. The name of the place I am talking about was called Diggity Dogs . With all the sketchy people walking the area where Diggity Dogs was located, nothing ever happened to anyone eating there. For some strange reason I have this feeling that Diggitys is still serving hot dogs and birthday cake to this very day. Okay now with that being said, watch this............
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Randomness
I don't really have any new stories to share today but I thought I needed to update the blog. I made this deal with myself and it was to keep the blog updated. So I guess I am keeping my end of the deal I made with myself? Anyway I thought I would talk about some current events.
Unless you are living under a rock, I know you saw or read what happened to that kid in Berkley. I will assume you did not and give you the short version. BART cops hassle some kids/people, people tape the incident, kid gets shot after what looks like no wrong doing on the kid's part, and now the aftermath ensues. After watching the incident I feel pretty confused and pissed off. I get even more pissed off when people riot after the fact and just destroy shit for no reason. I am just as mad as anyone about the whole thing and the way it was handled but you don't see me setting my neighbors car on fire over it. That is just plain dumb. If anything it almost validates the fact the BART police need to carry guns. I know that sounds ridiculous but think about it. It just shows our community is so uncivilized that after a tragic incident we are going to go ape shit and destroy our living environment. That my friends is whack. I guess I will never understand some people's thought patterns.
Now on to my next topic. I want to talk just for a second about the radio and the current trends in today's music. What I mean by that is the crap and yes I mean complete crap you hear on the radio. Maybe as I grow older I get more and more bitter about certain things. One I feel strongly about is music. I have been very fortunate to have had a very wide range of friends while I was growing up. With that comes the development of a pretty good ear for music. Now I know that sounds almost arrogant of me to say but I am pretty confident that I can tell you what is good ear candy and what will end up in the dollar bin at Zia. Everyday at work I am reminded of this due to the radio being stuck on a certain popular radio station that will remain nameless.
It's all shit. There I said it. I know I am including all of the music as being crappy but when you play the same 10 songs over and over it begins to resemble a huge toilet that's clogged and the brown shit water runs over the rim flooding your bathroom and ruining your day. This could be compared to the overflow of terrible music out of the speakers ruining your ears. I can't believe people buy this stuff. Nobody really sings anymore due to that annoying robotic auto tune that has become so popular. Maybe it's just me. Yeah, it's probably me but if I hear Womanizer one more time I am going to stab my eardrums with a pair of scissors. There is a silver lining to this ordeal though. A new radio station has popped up as of late and I actually heard an old Gangstar song being played the other day. The down side to this is that the station obviously has some bugs to work out and at times can be extremely ghetto. The volume of the music can vary from time to time and go from being clearly audible to a complete, muted silence. One night in particular was actually really funny. It came to my attention, and everyone else listening, that whatever segment of their programming block being played was previously recorded. I think this might be fairly common. The only problem was the music started to skip. Now this may not be that big of a deal if you catch it in time but in this case nobody did....for a long time. The funny thing about that whole thing was that whoever was in charge at the time was obviously not at the station, taking a very long shit, or out cold counting sheep. Maybe they just let the place go on auto pilot while the disk plays? Regardless, there is one less employed DJ in this town I would imagine.
Well thanks for reading again and sorry for the lack of content. I promise as soon as I get my camera, good topics, photos, and stories will surely follow. See you next time.
JD
Unless you are living under a rock, I know you saw or read what happened to that kid in Berkley. I will assume you did not and give you the short version. BART cops hassle some kids/people, people tape the incident, kid gets shot after what looks like no wrong doing on the kid's part, and now the aftermath ensues. After watching the incident I feel pretty confused and pissed off. I get even more pissed off when people riot after the fact and just destroy shit for no reason. I am just as mad as anyone about the whole thing and the way it was handled but you don't see me setting my neighbors car on fire over it. That is just plain dumb. If anything it almost validates the fact the BART police need to carry guns. I know that sounds ridiculous but think about it. It just shows our community is so uncivilized that after a tragic incident we are going to go ape shit and destroy our living environment. That my friends is whack. I guess I will never understand some people's thought patterns.
Now on to my next topic. I want to talk just for a second about the radio and the current trends in today's music. What I mean by that is the crap and yes I mean complete crap you hear on the radio. Maybe as I grow older I get more and more bitter about certain things. One I feel strongly about is music. I have been very fortunate to have had a very wide range of friends while I was growing up. With that comes the development of a pretty good ear for music. Now I know that sounds almost arrogant of me to say but I am pretty confident that I can tell you what is good ear candy and what will end up in the dollar bin at Zia. Everyday at work I am reminded of this due to the radio being stuck on a certain popular radio station that will remain nameless.
It's all shit. There I said it. I know I am including all of the music as being crappy but when you play the same 10 songs over and over it begins to resemble a huge toilet that's clogged and the brown shit water runs over the rim flooding your bathroom and ruining your day. This could be compared to the overflow of terrible music out of the speakers ruining your ears. I can't believe people buy this stuff. Nobody really sings anymore due to that annoying robotic auto tune that has become so popular. Maybe it's just me. Yeah, it's probably me but if I hear Womanizer one more time I am going to stab my eardrums with a pair of scissors. There is a silver lining to this ordeal though. A new radio station has popped up as of late and I actually heard an old Gangstar song being played the other day. The down side to this is that the station obviously has some bugs to work out and at times can be extremely ghetto. The volume of the music can vary from time to time and go from being clearly audible to a complete, muted silence. One night in particular was actually really funny. It came to my attention, and everyone else listening, that whatever segment of their programming block being played was previously recorded. I think this might be fairly common. The only problem was the music started to skip. Now this may not be that big of a deal if you catch it in time but in this case nobody did....for a long time. The funny thing about that whole thing was that whoever was in charge at the time was obviously not at the station, taking a very long shit, or out cold counting sheep. Maybe they just let the place go on auto pilot while the disk plays? Regardless, there is one less employed DJ in this town I would imagine.
Well thanks for reading again and sorry for the lack of content. I promise as soon as I get my camera, good topics, photos, and stories will surely follow. See you next time.
JD
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Hodge Podge Sunday
I think I might be setting the bar too high with back to back blog posts but I figured since it's rainy and grey outside, I might as well pass the time. I don't really have a theme for this blog nor do I think I need one. I suppose if all the entries were about the same thing then it might get boring. My interests are so varied and abstract that it should make for some interesting stuff from time to time.
Here is the thing. I'm interested in a whole bunch of stuff. None of which really seems to mirror each other in subject matter. One minute I could be talking about amino acids and then the next I could be talking about a pair of boots I once had as a kid. With that being said, I feel I need to buy myself a camera so I can snap some photos of my blog topics. I have a feeling some people are not going to be very stoked on that idea. The crazy lady that called me an asshole last week at Circle K would have been particularly pissed off I can imagine. I will tell you what happened.
I'm on my way to work and it's fairly early on a Saturday morning for me. I don't like being rushed for work so I try to leave with plenty of time to get there and open things up at my own pace. This particular morning I stopped at the local Circle K for a cup of coffee and a gallon of water. In my 32 years of being on this earth I have never purchased a cup of coffee from Circle K. Yes I know that may seem very strange. Well I can also tell you I have never seen a full episode of The Simpsons or South Park so I'm sure that puts me in the one percent of people that either don't have a television or are blind. Anyway, back to the story. I had no idea Circle K was the center of the coffee universe. All I wanted was a cup of regular coffee and I was blasted with about 27 different choices. So here I am faced with this dellima, I have time to kill, and I'm still partially asleep. This does not put me in a very chipper mood.
As I look at all the various choices, in walks crazy lady. We have all seen crazy lady and she has many siblings in every state in our country and now that I think about it, every other country too. She is dressed in long flannel pajama bottoms, flip flops with socks, and a Dallas Cowboys pullover that looks to have been found in a dumpster. As she walks in the front door of the store, I hear a squawk much like a mating call of a tropical bird which draws my attention for a brief moment. I then hear "hey you!!" yelled at such a volume that is not acceptable to my ears this early in the morning. I just ignore it. Crazy lady now proceeds to stand next to me and ask me what I'm doing at which time I respond "I'm getting a cup of coffee which is why I am over in this section". That didn't go over too well. She looked at me and made something that resembled the bitter beer face and then filled her cup with coffee at which time she took about three steps toward the front counter and turned to face me and blurted out "asshole". I was shocked. I didn't really know what to say or do. After absorbing the incident, it started to become very funny and I started laughing to myself. That didn't go over too well either. Apparently crazy lady was very serious about calling me an asshole and didn't take too kindly to the fact that I found it funny. Mumblings of profanity followed and then I started having visions of being stabbed with a rusty screwdriver or shanked with a tooth brush ground to such a point that it could be easily confused for an ice pick.
This leads me to this quick random thought. Why do crazy people always have weapons made out of the most random shit? Now being crazy should not be confused with being poor. I can totally understand if someone is homeless or poor and needs a little protection, but for someone who has some money, why not get something legit? It's like they have all these items in front of them to choose from and they pick the most obscure item. "Okay I have a .38 pistol, Rambo knife, brass knuckles, and a pizza cutter.....I think I'll choose the pizza cutter." Unless I plan on getting into a confrontation with the Dominos delivery guy, that's about my last possible choice. Okay, back to the story. So as I leave I decide if that lady shanks me, I'm choke slamming the bitch into the lottery ticket display. Wait a second here. All this over a cup of coffee? Seriously?
If I would have had a camera this story would have been much better. If you could have seen the look on crazy lady's face it would have been priceless. I didn't end up choke slamming anyone and I didn't end up in the emergency room getting tetanus shots for a puncture wound so I guess it turned out just how it should of. I ended up with a cup of coffee, a gallon of water, and a new entry for my blog. I did an article for a website many moons ago that involved doing a ghetto beer tasting and it turned out pretty good. I'm thinking of doing something like this again but with full picture documentation. The best part about this will be the fact I don't drink. However for the good of creative journalism and the blog, I might throw caution to the wind and poison my soul as well as soil my pants for the endeavour. Until next blog.....
JD
Here is the thing. I'm interested in a whole bunch of stuff. None of which really seems to mirror each other in subject matter. One minute I could be talking about amino acids and then the next I could be talking about a pair of boots I once had as a kid. With that being said, I feel I need to buy myself a camera so I can snap some photos of my blog topics. I have a feeling some people are not going to be very stoked on that idea. The crazy lady that called me an asshole last week at Circle K would have been particularly pissed off I can imagine. I will tell you what happened.
I'm on my way to work and it's fairly early on a Saturday morning for me. I don't like being rushed for work so I try to leave with plenty of time to get there and open things up at my own pace. This particular morning I stopped at the local Circle K for a cup of coffee and a gallon of water. In my 32 years of being on this earth I have never purchased a cup of coffee from Circle K. Yes I know that may seem very strange. Well I can also tell you I have never seen a full episode of The Simpsons or South Park so I'm sure that puts me in the one percent of people that either don't have a television or are blind. Anyway, back to the story. I had no idea Circle K was the center of the coffee universe. All I wanted was a cup of regular coffee and I was blasted with about 27 different choices. So here I am faced with this dellima, I have time to kill, and I'm still partially asleep. This does not put me in a very chipper mood.
As I look at all the various choices, in walks crazy lady. We have all seen crazy lady and she has many siblings in every state in our country and now that I think about it, every other country too. She is dressed in long flannel pajama bottoms, flip flops with socks, and a Dallas Cowboys pullover that looks to have been found in a dumpster. As she walks in the front door of the store, I hear a squawk much like a mating call of a tropical bird which draws my attention for a brief moment. I then hear "hey you!!" yelled at such a volume that is not acceptable to my ears this early in the morning. I just ignore it. Crazy lady now proceeds to stand next to me and ask me what I'm doing at which time I respond "I'm getting a cup of coffee which is why I am over in this section". That didn't go over too well. She looked at me and made something that resembled the bitter beer face and then filled her cup with coffee at which time she took about three steps toward the front counter and turned to face me and blurted out "asshole". I was shocked. I didn't really know what to say or do. After absorbing the incident, it started to become very funny and I started laughing to myself. That didn't go over too well either. Apparently crazy lady was very serious about calling me an asshole and didn't take too kindly to the fact that I found it funny. Mumblings of profanity followed and then I started having visions of being stabbed with a rusty screwdriver or shanked with a tooth brush ground to such a point that it could be easily confused for an ice pick.
This leads me to this quick random thought. Why do crazy people always have weapons made out of the most random shit? Now being crazy should not be confused with being poor. I can totally understand if someone is homeless or poor and needs a little protection, but for someone who has some money, why not get something legit? It's like they have all these items in front of them to choose from and they pick the most obscure item. "Okay I have a .38 pistol, Rambo knife, brass knuckles, and a pizza cutter.....I think I'll choose the pizza cutter." Unless I plan on getting into a confrontation with the Dominos delivery guy, that's about my last possible choice. Okay, back to the story. So as I leave I decide if that lady shanks me, I'm choke slamming the bitch into the lottery ticket display. Wait a second here. All this over a cup of coffee? Seriously?
If I would have had a camera this story would have been much better. If you could have seen the look on crazy lady's face it would have been priceless. I didn't end up choke slamming anyone and I didn't end up in the emergency room getting tetanus shots for a puncture wound so I guess it turned out just how it should of. I ended up with a cup of coffee, a gallon of water, and a new entry for my blog. I did an article for a website many moons ago that involved doing a ghetto beer tasting and it turned out pretty good. I'm thinking of doing something like this again but with full picture documentation. The best part about this will be the fact I don't drink. However for the good of creative journalism and the blog, I might throw caution to the wind and poison my soul as well as soil my pants for the endeavour. Until next blog.....
JD
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Welcome!
Hello everyone!
I'm not sure how many people I will be able to lump into the category of "everyone" seeing as this is the first post and not too many people know of this idea yet. Hopefully people will find my very random and often times strange thought patterns funny and entertaining. I suppose many might find it boring and retarded as well but I guess that's what the little red "X" is for in the upper right hand corner of your screen. I hope to keep this blog current and filled with new stuff on the regular.
I have to give credit where credit is due. The name of my blog is from the movie Fletch. Chevy Chase wrote a column for the newspaper he worked for under the alias Jane Doe. Because I find the man to be a comedic genius, I am naming my blog after his character in those films. Just so you know, Poon is Comanche Indian. See below photo for proof. Until next time.
JD
I'm not sure how many people I will be able to lump into the category of "everyone" seeing as this is the first post and not too many people know of this idea yet. Hopefully people will find my very random and often times strange thought patterns funny and entertaining. I suppose many might find it boring and retarded as well but I guess that's what the little red "X" is for in the upper right hand corner of your screen. I hope to keep this blog current and filled with new stuff on the regular.
I have to give credit where credit is due. The name of my blog is from the movie Fletch. Chevy Chase wrote a column for the newspaper he worked for under the alias Jane Doe. Because I find the man to be a comedic genius, I am naming my blog after his character in those films. Just so you know, Poon is Comanche Indian. See below photo for proof. Until next time.
JD
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