:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

So my sobriety streak has finally come to an end. What killed it? It was a combination of factors but ultimately it was me saying to myself "f*** it. I'm 30 now, why the hell not." I was out last night with some friends from class. We have a guest teacher named Kash who's not a only a brilliant creative but a really, really cool guy. We like him so much that we invited him to hang out with us for an evening before he took off on Friday.

It started out inauspiciously enough with us meeting at Dewey's to catch the rest of the World Series (WOO SOX!). WHen I arrived there were already a couple of guys there and they got an early start. We wanted to give Kash the "South Beach" experience, pretentious warts and all, so after the game we headed over to the Delano. Great place to go if you want to see pretty people act like they're somebody. Everyone got mixed drinks, I had a beer, and Kash, being the responsible type, stuck with Diet Coke. We stayed there for a little bit before heading to this rooftop lounge called the Townhouse.

That's when things got interesting. Somebody suggested tequila shots and somehow convinced Kash to get in on it. The bartender accidentally poured an extra so I got an extra shot. We stood around talking some more before they closed at 2:00. So naturally, we couldn't call it a night just yet so we went to the Liquor Lounge.

We naturally had to keep drinking after another few rounds of beers and shots I was gone.

I'm not sure how to describe being drunk other than saying I felt really, really lightheaded. I'm sure you guys out there who've been drunk could explain it better. All I remember is that after all those drinks, when I tried to stand up to go to the restroom, it felt like my legs gave out. That's when I thought to myself "ok, I'm a little bit past tipsy." However, I wasn't completely hammered since I still remember most of that night (thought details are fuzzy) and I wasn't stumbling too bad. I know that for a fact since I made it to Jerry's Deli without tripping. I didn't get home till after 6:00am.

I don't know if this is an actual category but I think I'm a rational/mellow drunk. Rational since once I self-diagnosed my drunkenness, I immediately went into shutdown mode as to prevent myself from doing anything that would embarrass myself. Not an easy thing given my abilities to embarrass myself even while sober. Mellow since I didn’t really say much and stayed slumped in my seat. (I may have tried to make out with one of the girls there but that could just be bad recollection on my part.)

I felt fine when I woke up this morn... afternoon, thanks to the two glasses of water I drank before passing out. So thankfully, I've yet to experience a hangover.

Still, now that I’ve gotten that "get drunk" out of the way, I'm really not eager to do that again. Seriously, it wasn't that fun.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 3:53 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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I hung out with a few of the new students last night to go see a movie ("I 'Heart' Huckabees," excellent, quirky, go see it). One of the scrubs that I met was this cute blonde chick from San Francisco. She's really friendly and talks in that "like, ohmigawed" sort of way but being a copywriter, possesses an impressive vocabulary and occasionally throws in multisyllabic words. An interesting combination.

The point of the story, right. We were talking after the movie and maybe five minutes into it, she asked me if I was from California.

"Yeah," I reply. "How'd you know?"

"You have this thing about you. 'Cuz I'm from San Francisco and I can tell."

"Really?"

*Nod*

"How can you tell?"

"I don't know if it's your diction or your accent or your attitude but I sorta caught it"

Of course I took it as a compliment, being very proud of my Californian ethnicity. But it made me wonder: what is it about me that conveys that? I'm curious because it's not the first time I've been told this. Other times, when I tell people I'm from Los Angeles their response is "yeah I can see that." Huh???

Actually, back up a little. What the hell is a "Californian" accent? Is that even real? I can understand people picking up on the fact that I say words like "dude," "sweet," and "totally" a lot but... I have an accent?

Seriously, what is it?

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 8:51 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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:: Don't Trip ::

Note to self:

- When jogging around your neighborhood, keep in mind that the sidewalks aren't in the best conditions and some of the cracks are pretty deep.

- The sidewalks aren't lit well so when jogging at night, keep your eyes in front of you and not on, say, an attractive women in a sexy dress who's walking her dog since that's a good way to step into one of the aforementioned cracks and sprain an ankle.

- You may look impressive to women when running with your hair flying in the wind and muscles glistening with sweat but when you're hobbling around like a gimp after almost spraining an ankle, not so much.

- Grow a brain and don't make the exact same mistake when running back home. No, it doesn't matter that she was wearing really tight pants.

- Be thankful that you just stumbled and didn't break that damn ankle that second time.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 8:11 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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:: More Baseball ::

If you're following the Sox-Yanks series, you'd understand why all the hype for tonight's game is, for once, justified. Something tells me we're in for another extra-innings game but this is how it's gonna end: after running out of bench players Francona is going to call up Adam Vinateri to knock in the game-winning run at the top of the 17th inning. Tom Brady is going to pitch at the bottom to attempt his first Major-League save but Larry Bird, subbing in for Johnny "Captain Caveman" Damon, is going to hit the jump shot at the buzzer to throw out the runner at first ensuring that the Sox advance.

Now after reading that, let me ask you, did you notice the terrible grammar?

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 4:25 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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:: Old and Proud ::

Now that my beloved Dodgers have been soundly eliminated (read: called the Cardinals their "Daddy"-among other things) from the playoffs I've jumped on the Houston Astros bandwagon. Not that I feel any connection to Houston or anything but I've always had a lot of respect for Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt is one of my favorite pitchers. Even back in his Yankees days when he was reviled just as much as he was revered, I loved his hard-nosed, win at all costs approach to the game.

Another reason, and this is more esoteric, is that the core members of the Astros is one of the oldest in baseball. Let me explain. I've always been a sports fan and for a while I rooted for the young guys coming into the game since they're more exciting, quicker, faster, and a few other "-ers" and also partly because I imagined it was me out there dodging tackles, throwing sliders in the 9th inning, or driving the game-winning spike into the sand. Eventually these young guys became "veterans" and while still at the top of their game, their hyped faded as more new players entered the game.

It hit me a couple of years ago: Some of these "veterans" who've been playing the game for a good five years or so, have now reached the ripe old age of 25-26. I was 28 at the time. I don't remember whose stats I was looking at when that realization hit me but I recall thinking out loud "this guy's only 25?!? Holy crap, I'm 3 years older than this 'veteran?'" I got over it. Eventually.

So now that I'm 30 I find myself rooting for the old guys more. Randy Johnson pitching a perfect game this season at age 40 was sensational. Emmitt Smith, defying odds, age, and naysayers rushing for a 127 yards at an age when most other running backs are out playing golf. Jerry Rice, my favorite athlete of all time, still doing it and doing it well at age 42. And I can't forget Holly McPeak, finally winning the Olympic medal she's dreamed about since beach volleyball became an Olympic sport. And at 36 years old, she has a better body than most chicks ten years younger. Seriously, look at this wallpapaer. I don't know any 36 year old, man or woman, that has abs that flat.

I find all these stories inspirational. Not that I need any additional motivation to keep playing sports and working out and I'm probably not going to pitch a perfect game anytime soon. But it's nice to know that I can still be the fastest guy on my friend's flag football team, or that I can play better tennis now than I played in high school, or that I can still squat 300+ pounds.

Yeah, yeah it's a long way to go to explain why I'm rooting for the Astros, I know. But still just so you know, hitting 30 isn't bad at all.

40... THAT'S gonna suck ;)

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 2:09 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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:: The Dodgers WIN! ::

The Dodgers win their first playoff game in 16 years! The Dodgers win their first playoff game in 16 years!!! THE DODGERS WIN THEIR FIRST PLAYOFF GAME IN 16 YEARS!!!

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 11:06 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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:: The Dodgers win the Pennant! ::

The Dodgers win the pennant! The Dodgers win the pennant! THE DODGERS WIN THE PENNANT!!!

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 7:56 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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