Go Sharks

Well the Sharks are in the second round of the playoffs and played an awesome game against the Wings last night. It would’ve been a great game to be at since I’m sure the Tank was rockin’ with all those loud ass Sharks fans. But anyway, I was stuck listening to the game on the radio since no one I know gets Versus…damnit…anyone? Anyone get Versus? Ah well. I’ll make do. :-(

As any Sharks’ fan will tell you, it’s frustrating being a Sharks fan during playoff time. The Sharks are really good at getting your hopes up and then sucking it up when it counts. Look at their record in past playoff seasons…yeah, it’s pretty bad. But the game last night was pretty good. They were able to move the puck around, put up some really good hits, and kicked ass really early on. It was nice. Now if only they can keep this up, because last night’s game was pretty awesome. Little Joe…you’re totally the man!

Cheers to the Sharks.

Ready To Roll

So I haven't been as productive as I would have liked this week, which means I'm gonna get slammed over the next couple of days. Ugh. Lovely. Once I get the reins of control back and start getting my ass into gear, things should alleviate and I should be fine...but until then, things have to get bad before they can get better. I'm bracing for it and hoping that I'll be able to power through it all. Don't you just hate it when you fall just a couple days behind, but it takes almost double that time to catch back up? I should know, ever since I got back from vacation all I've been doing is playing catch-up. It's almost like I need another vacation...

OK, what's with all the drama lately? I know I've been out of it for the past couple of days, but seriously guys, is all this really necessary? I'm not singling anyone out or naming any names because that's really not my style, but c'mon people, does it really matter in the big scheme of things? Let's just all be grown-ups and move on. Stop with the stupid mass emailing, name calling and underlying undertones, it's really not cool. Moving right along...

Speaking of powering through, today is the beginning of the end as life as I know it...absolutely lovely. I'm hoping for the best while preparing for the worst. I have my game face on, my war paint ready and my missile launchers loaded. Bring it! I've been mentally preparing myself for war and the battle song playing in my head has only been getting louder and louder and you know what? I'm pumped and ready to rumble.

OK what else can I blog about today? Pretty depressing stuff now that I read this. Well....I haven't kicked any animals today. Although I guess it's still early in the day. Haha, now that was funny. Man, I'm on a roll today. Ha! :-)

Pictures Galore

You know, this is the second weekend in a row that my voice has not been able to keep up with me. This weekend, I was left with no other choice but to croak and wheeze my way through the entire weekend. I've had such a crazy busy schedule this past week that I'm not exactly sure what happened to my voice. It was intact on Thursday, but by Friday, it was gone. And I spent the rest of the weekend sounding like I swallowed a very annoying frog. Very weird. I guess, with a combination of crazy work stuff and some personal obligations that I've been trying to get out of the way...I've been talking too much...maybe? Although, if you ask any of my friends that I've seen these past two weekends, they wouldn't believe that I talk all that much...since by the time I see them, my throat has already decided to close up and my voice just ends up sounding horrible...so I don't end up talking all that much. Yeah, it really has been a rough couple weekends on my voice. And trust me, it has not been pleasant. But why is it that my voice is usually perfectly intact for work, but on the weekends, when I have super cool plans, it chooses to disappear? Psh. Go figure. I'll keep my fingers crossed that my voice will be back to normal for this upcoming weekend...

On the upside, I was finally able to finish going through all my vacation pictures and got them uploaded and captioned for your all enjoyment. I know, I know, you guys don't care...but hey, I care and can finally say that they're done. Finally. Anyway, if you're interested, check 'em out. Although, I must issue a disclaimer...I went to Japan specifically during cherry blossom season to see cherry blossoms...and well, my pictures definitely reflect that. There are a lot of cherry blossom pictures. Just a fair warning. But keep in mind that when I got back from my trip, I had over 2,000 pictures remember? But I only uploaded and captioned about 250...so that's not too terrible, right? Haha.

On a sidenote, cheers to the Sharks for making it to the second round of the playoffs. Wahoo. Below is another video I took from Game 2 of the playoffs (I forgot to upload it last week with the other video)...the crowd was getting all hyped up before the players took to the ice. The video doesn't do it justice, but it was actually really cool. I have to keep the video files small so I can upload them, so sorry the video is so short. :-/

Sharks

Things have been crazy busy for me. I know, I know, what’s up with that? I haven’t even had time to finish my pictures from my trip. You have no idea how much that bothers me. Usually I’m able to crank those out with no problem, but this time I’m saddened to say that I’m just too behind on everything else and working on my pictures has taken a back seat for now. Give me one more week...one more week.

How 'bout them Sharks? I don’t want to say too much since I don’t want to jinx them, you know how sensitive the Sharks can be during playoff time. I went to Game 2 of the Sharks playoff game on Friday night...and saw the game of my life. I mean, I will be the first to admit that I had my concerns and reservations as to whether the Sharks could pull of a win. But I must say, Friday night's game was completely awesome. The game was made up of everything right in the world.

As a fan, most of the game was full of feeling (...as my game buddy put it) very bipolar. And that's a bang on statement. That's exactly how I felt all night. I went from feeling really happy to downright pissed to extremely nervous in just a matter of minutes, if not seconds. I spent most of the game cheering and yelling that my voice was starting to go and my throat was feeling very raw. Towards the end of the game, I was shaking. Literally, I was sitting in my chair and my legs were bouncing up and down because I couldn't keep them still and when I went to grab a drink from my beer, my hands were shaking...it was just that bad.

I had a bbq to go to on Saturday and I know I wasn't good company. I really didn't do too much talking since my throat was still burning from all the screaming and yelling I did at the Sharks game. Oopps.

Fingers Crossed

So I’m headed to the Sharks game tonight…and I gotta tell you, I’m a little nervous. Yes, that’s right, I said it…I’m nervous. I’ve never been to a playoff game before…and the thing that I’m worried about isn't the crazy fans, the high cost for food, or the traffic mess in and out of the tank, I'm actually really worried about…(wait for it…) getting all excited for the game, going to the game pumped up and talking smack, only to see the Sharks lose and suck it up. I mean, did you see the game on Wednesday night? It really sucked. Game 1 of the playoffs and the Sharks have home field advantage, more experienced players, and plenty of chances to score...and what do they do? With less than a couple minutes left in the 3rd period, they let the Avs score and win the freakin' game. Are you kidding me?

I know, I know, what kind of fan am I if I’m thinking, much less talking, about them losing again? But you know what? I’m being realistic. I mean, they're already one game behind, they're not really known for doing that well under pressure, and they sucked it up last year in the playoffs too. It's true, the Sharks went into the playoffs last year with the best record…and what happened? Yeah, they got knocked out in the first round by those damn Ducks. It sucked. Granted, it would’ve sucked even more if I had been at any of those games. But still. I'm gonna be there tonight.

You fuckin’ Sharks better win tonight. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Preview Pictures

I've been slowly going through the tedious process of flipping through my vacation pictures. As most of you know, I take a bizillion pictures. Normally, that's not a problem. Haha. But when I got back from my vacation and realized that I took more than 2,000 pictures, well now it’s a problem. Because now I have to sort through all of them and decide which ones to keep and which ones to toss...it’s a major pain. Haha.

I mean, there are a number of pictures that I like, but not enough to upload them to my photo page, but on the other hand, I don’t dislike them enough to delete them entirely. I know, I know, the things I worry about, right? But anyways, I’ve decided to post a few of the random ones here. I’m still aiming to get all my pictures up next week, but we’ll see.

Japanese tourists.

Don't you just love the fashion in Japan?

Even the Japanese boys are super cool.

Me trying to be Japanese cool.

My Return

I'm saddened to say that I have returned and am joining the land of the living again. Yes, I'm back from vacation, but I'm definitely not happy about it.

I'm blogging now mainly because I know that I'm going to get a million people asking me the same questions over and over and over again. You know, when you go on a long and/or exotic vacation and you return to find that you get bombarded by questions that just requires you to regurgitate the same story over and over and over again? I mean, I'll be excited to talk about my trip for a little while, but by the end of the day...it'll be pretty much like "Yeah, I'm back. My vacation was good. I have shit to do so just please leave me alone." Yeah, it's gonna happen to me...so I'm hoping that by posting this, I can alleviate some of that.

I had such an awesome time exploring South Korea and Japan. It really was a great vacation. The sights were amazing, the food was to die for, and the people watching opportunities were priceless. Hehe. I do have plenty of pictures to share, but I took over 2,000 pictures (filled up 2 of my sd cards and had to buy a new one in Japan), so it's gonna take me awhile to get those organized, uploaded, and captioned. If I'm lucky I'll have time to do all that this week and have them all done by next week for you guys. But we'll see, that may be a little optimistic on my part.

Let's see, what kind of stories do I have to share with you all...? I've lost track of how many people I've told about my dog meat soup story from Korea...and the fish market tale from Japan...haha (pictures from both experiences will be up soon). I mean, both stories, I guess, are worth repeating, if for no other reason than for my own personal record on this blog. In Korea, I enjoyed lots of foods and flavors when I realized (as I was flipping through my tour book a few nights into my trip), that I had missed a delicacy when trying the local cuisine...dog meat soup. But trying to find an authentic place that served real dog meat was quite hard to find, believe it or not. It was like a hidden secret around town. Apparently, you had to know the secret handshake to find a place like that...but after some searching, I was able to find a place and yes, that's right, I tried dog meat soup. And you know what? It's actually not bad. I'm serious. Haha. So that was the top story from my trip to Korea. :-) As for my Japan story, I heard from many people prior to my trip that going to visit the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo is an absolute must for any seafood lover. It's the biggest fish market in the world and the best place to go for the freshest fish/sushi/unagi around. And since I consider myself a pretty big seafood lover, I knew there would be no question as to whether I would be there or not. Only problem is that it's a real live working fish market...which means that in order to see the market as it is meant to be seen, you have to be there when all the action happens...and that's even before the freakin' crack of dawn. Now, I'm a morning person by nature, but getting up at 3 am was a little tough even for me. I mean, in the end, of course it was worth it to see all the fresh seafood for sale, the daily preparations that go into the seafood business in Japan, and being able to eat fresh sushi at 5 am...it was definitely an experience. :-/

Being out of touch for the last couple of weeks was very nice...well much better than nice really. It was great to get away from the Bay Area for awhile and spend some time exploring a new place and trying new things. My cell phones were off and locked up in my bag, my laptop and computer access was cut off and disconnected, and my worries and troubles were all left behind. Yeah, it was very nice. It's been awhile since I've had a vacation like that. But, alas, I'm back and must return to the real world. Great...