Swingers Paradise

I found a perfect mountain top to do my swinging on top of today while I was snowboarding.



Too bad there's a ski lodge there...

Flickering Phrases of the Corporate Man

Saturday I made my way to Hershey, PA for a top notch hockey game. (In which sadly the Hershey Bears beat my Philadelphia Phantoms by one lousy goal.) Before hand there was a visit to Chocolate World. We rode through the tour that tells you how they make their chocolate which begins by riding by these three animatronic cows that sing the phrase "It's the milk chocolate." As you ride through everything you keep hearing these cows sing in the back ground "It's the milk chocolate... It's the milk chocolate... It's the..." It's a neat thing to check out, but these flippin cows just constantly keep repeating "It's the milk chocolate." We leave and continue on with our lives. Through the course of the next couple days this annoying little phrase would pop into my head at random time intervals. "It's the milk chocolate." I would be doing everyday normal things and it would hit me. "It's the milk chocolate... It's the milk chocolate."

It's so obvious what's going on here. They're secretly brain washing everyone who rides through this thing so their product is always on your mind. Milk chocolate milk chocolate milk chocolate milk chocolate. So you go through your day and two words sub rosaly jump to mind and you reach for their product and no one's the wiser. But I'm on to them.




On a totally unrelated note. Coconut Hershey®'s kisses are soooooo goooood...

All we're missin' is the Little Caesars and No Turn...

You know it's a good day when you get to watch the Red Wings...





Lilja! Yes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_SZhN-qL-A

*Shutter*

Put your middle fingers together tip to tip and hold them up. Then look just over the top of them into the background and use your peripheral to look at your fingers.








Oh it creeps me the hell OUT!!!

Go Green!

They have NCAA regular season baseball games on TV, but not NCAA playoff hockey?? What the hell! I want to see my Spartans whoop it up on the Irish!





*Addendum*
YEEAAAAA!!!! Irish down - Frozen Four here we come...

"If I take one punch from Orr I'll be out for the night. So if I take several punches from Orr I'll be out for a week." -Hendrix?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLi9ki83AeY


You see? That's how it's done! You don't need to take a cheap shot on someone to, in the words of my co-worker today, "knock them the F!@# out." You square up, and take the risk of getting knocked out yourself. That's a beautiful example of civilized hockey fighting at it's finest. Although the announcers give all this BS about how it's bad. Don't listen to them.

It's funny how you notice Orr wrapping up his hand toward the end of the video. He probably broke it due to the metal plates that Fedoruk has in his face. Why is it so much fun watching someone get knocked out cold? You see Fedoruk's whole body go completely limp as he drops straight to the ice. Then you see him kind of frozen while laying on his back, with his arm sticking up almost twitching. It sure would have been fun to listen to him try to talk right after that.

The ironic part of all this was that this was Shanahan's first game back from being knocked out when the Rangers played the Flyers last time. Interesting trend these two teams have going for them. And I missed it because I had to go to Scranton to watch the Phantoms lose.




By the way, before you start thinking I'm some morbid heartless soul that takes pleasure in watching people suffer, hold on a second. These guys know exactly what they're in for, and they fight at their own risk. Now if someone was to get a random senseless thrashing that's a different kettle of some very different fish.

Lost 'Home' Souls

It's so sad when you go to send a letter to your parents home and you blank on the address...

Flooding the Foxhole

You know those embarrassing events in life that you look back on and wish you could do all over again? The ones that make you cringe and make you want to craw into a hole and just hide from everybody. Have you ever stopped and really thought about that last part? Is it really other people that you want to hide from, or is it yourself you want to escape? Personally I think I'm the one that I try to duck.

I do the most silly thing whenever one of these reminiscences occurs. Instantly this image jumps into my head of me in my racecar squeezing the throttle and catapulting across the back of the racetrack. For everyone who hasn't experienced such a thing it's hard to describe, but it's kind of like free falling across the ground. It sounds so dippy to me, but that's what happens. I remember, shutter, then imagine... and for about .2 I completely disappear from myself and that embarrassing anamnesis.

Maybe drugs and alcohol are a more effective way to hide for a longer period of time, but when you come back down from the high that free fall can be painful. That fall isn't lateral...





Drugs and alcohol can be fun. When used not for the wrong reasons.

"Woke up, fell out of bed..."

It was just one of those days.

I woke up to one of those gorgeous bright and sunny days. A blissful 30ish I might add. Driving to church I saw something that I hadn't noticed in quite some time. Every turn I made I faced the beautiful mountains off in the distance. I had forgotten how great it is to drive, here in the valley, because of that. It's just been winter overcast for so long, and I'd become numb to my surroundings for a while.

I remembered how I'm so way off in the middle of no where doing my own thing, as opposed to being around that familiar area of 20ish years, which is the only place I've ever known as home, with all those familiar faces. Supporting yourself and running your life, as apposed to being raised by someone else, is really an exceptional endeavor.

I talked to my brother in Denver. He got hooked up with sweet seats for the 3 NCAA hockey tournament games that are being played out there at the Pepsi center. Jealous, but freakin excited as hell for him. He gets to watch U of M get smoked by North Dakota, muhahaha. Then I remembered I'm going to Scranton again Wednesday to watch the Philadelphia Phantoms thrash the Scranton Penguins, and that's cool too.

While talking to him I stood up after a while and got to trip again! It was great! Though I thought I remembered the flashes moving all in unison. They didn't, they stay in their own small little area and just fly around randomly. Either way, it was pretty sweet.






It was a good day.

It's like trippin on Meg, but without the flu like symptoms and 3 day recovery period...

Sometimes when I'm sitting down or laying down for a long period of time, and the lights are just right, I get up and a very strange thing happens. All of a sudden hundreds of tiny reflections of light will start dancing around in my eyes. They aren't in the room, but more inside my vision. It's like I can see them in this concave formation everywhere I have the slightest bit of perception. The best I can describe the sight is it's like the reflections from a disco ball. Tons of little lights moving in random directions but in perfect unison.

I like it! Wish it happened more often...




*Quotes of the week*

"Ahhh! That was awful looking! And I chugged half a beer!"

"It works fine, it just smells like pot."
-Adam, in reference to his newly purchased used guitar hero controller.

"Mr. Warlock..." "Huh? Oh... Please... Call me Winter."

I have got to be one of the only people in the world that gets depressed when the weather starts getting warmer. Over the weekend and the beginning of this week we had some freakishly warm days. I thought I was ready for warmer weather to come, but ooooh was I so miserable. I just feel so much more comfortable when it's nice and chilly around. Now, I do prefer having the sun shine, but if it means thermal count me out. I'll take overcast and cold way before an overheated 60.

Fortunately for me I'm now sitting at home quite early on a Friday. In other words, a very unexpected snow storm is hitting us right now and we were sent home from work early. Off to Andy's in Ann Marie's jeep (4 wheel drive + snow = good fun) for CCHA playoffs! Go Green! Guess who's extremely happy again...






You see? The Winter Warlock really DID turn good.

"Did I fall or was I pushed"

Why do most my titles come from lyrics in songs? And usually songs no one has ever heard of. Interesting...



I was walking out to my mailbox this evening, and the night's in that phase where it's not quite dark, but it's darkish, and then it's slightly raining so the overcast sky casts this dim haze among everything. As I near the group of mailboxes militarily aligned in perfect formation there is a woman getting into her box on the same post as mine. I could see she was going to finish up and turn to leave just as I come in perfect position to spook the hell out of her. It was too late though, it all seemed to happen in slow motion just as I had foreseen it. She turns unsuspectingly, begins to proceed out of the ranks, then catches me there in the peripheral. She jumps. I smirkingly say "I'm so sorry, I knew I was going to startle you." to which she laughingly responds "That's alright."

What can you do in those situations? There are instances while lifing where you innocently approach someone and know you're going to freak them the hell out, but what can you do to prevent it? You could maybe warn them somehow, but it seems kind of silly when walking up to someone to blurt out a caution, and usually by the time you realize what's going to happen you don't come to that conclusion quick enough. Oh well. Once it occurs and the other person realizes they aren't being ambushed it just becomes a laughable moment. And now days while observing people throughout my daily routine, I notice they could really use more instances like that to liven up the day.

"I feel me slippin in and out of consciousness"

I was sitting through a long long meeting today, and today it hit about 75 for the first time this year. I'm dieing in this heat. I totally remember why I dig the cold so much. Anyway I was having such a hard time trying to stay awake. There is nothing in this world more difficult than trying your hardest to stay awake when you're dead tired (product of late hockey game the night before and new heat wave), even when you know you HAVE to keep conscious. Though that rush you get when you catch yourself falling asleep but snap awake realizing what almost happened is a very interesting feeling. It's hard to describe, but it's kind of like that feeling you get when you almost die. I would elaborate more and organize the writing here a little more, but I've got to get out the door to go watch a hockey game. Off to Scranton!! (The Office fans jealous??)

High School Revisited *Linked*

High School Revisted

The concept that stemmed from my initial thought is very interesting. Asylum worthy I felt...


(But remember that's all it is... a thought. It's not profound or anything.)

Catch 22

No one ever believes my sincerity.








Unless they don't know me yet.

Then they don't understand my placid joviality...

Friends again? Timing is everything.

I'm talking to Best Buy customer support for about the 10th time in 2 months, and I am sick and tired of the incompetence of their group. Now I'm extremely pissed off at these jokers (Some of you know the story, and I'm not explaining it because it's not the point.) and here we go again they're putting me on hold. After I get done explaining to them not to give me their suicide inducing hold "music" (or what they call music) because it's just driving me daft, I start to go through some e-mails. I stumble upon a certain "rHu group" message and response...


-After Gregg's wedding I have to drive to new York for a wedding that Saturday that Brook is in. So it will be a busy week for me.

~Oh come on... Ditch the bitch, lets go fishin'!


I lost it! I instantly burst out laughing. I had to stand up because I was keeled over in my chair in pain because I was laughing so hard. It was such a randomly unexpected response that caught me completely off-guard. I doubt that any of you will find that as funny as I did at the time and I probably won't find it as funny later on either, but that's beside the point. It's very tricky to convince customer support that you're truly ready to "go Bertuzzi on their ass" when you're laughing after every other word you say.


Thanks No Turn. Timing couldn't have been more perfect, and I needed that.











Just when the swing starts coming down, there they are to push you up again...

Am I freakin out? Or is that just JG callin?...

So often I find myself listening to my music and I SWEAR I hear my phone start ringing. The song will be carrying on and subliminally off in the background something tells me to answer my phone. Just a split second chime that sounds EXACTLY like my cell signaling. And it's not just the current phone I have, the same thing would consistently occur with my old phone also, which had a completely different ringer.

Sounds like conspiracy to me. I just may revisit this again someday. (Though if you all don't hear from me ever again, probably another victim of The Beast...)

Sleepless Slapshots

OOOOH! What a great hockey game! Career best 2 goals (including the game winner) 1 assist (and maybe another that wasn't tallied) and several EXTREMELY good *blown* chances for the hat trick. SOOO CLOOOSE!!! As I quote my teammate- "I was just trying to get Nick his hat trick!" (As he's laying on the ice with a broken knee with 1:19 left in the game.) (I think he's ok...)

In a messed up world such as this, I am so fortunate to have a life like mine. (Even when it is as crappy as it is at times.) I'm so glad I'm not one of "those" people that go out to the bar every night who delutedly think they have the life to be desired...















Hindsight, oh how I hate you again!!!

"All The Lonely People, Where Do They All Come From..."

I absolutely love my friends. Somehow growing up I managed to hook up with a top notch crew that no matter what happens I know I will always have around me. I can't describe how it makes me feel when I see how we all step up and act when one of our own gets a little tripped up in life. And there is no hesitation in my mind to ever take that step up myself because I know the others would do the same for me in a heartbeat. Even when they're 600-1200 miles away I know they're there, and they've always got my back.

I value a friend a lot, and in most cases I'd rather be around them more than my own family. (Not that I have anything against my family but think the other way, that's just how high I value a friend.) The value of a true friend is priceless, and if someone has an issue with you and won't open their mind and try to understand the situation to work things out eventually, then apparently they really just don't care enough and aren't worth associating with anyway. Though don't misunderstand what I'm saying, sometimes you just need a little time to work things out, and time is always a small price to pay when it comes to certain people. You can get a very good idea on the worth of a friendship with someone by how much time you are willing to spend apart (and not just say to hell with this) when things jack-knife for a while. I'm proud of the fact that the said few talked about in paragraph number one always have an infinite amount of time in my book.









rHu 4 Life...


[and of course one extended family SSS :) ]