so it’s 2006 already and this is my first post of the new year. christmas was good, as always: it’s fun to hang out with the family, play the occasional game of poker, etc. nickie and jason had their baby, a boy named linux, which naturally, i thought was cool. his full name is jason linux (such arrogance, naming your kids after yourself ), but they’re calling him linux. i got to see the little tyke before coming back to ttown.

i went to a pretty sweet concert last week. it was a *FREE* show sponsored by the edge, with story of the year as the headlining act. i brought the marnis and andrew along with me… it was interesting. the average age in the audience was probably somewhere along the lines of 15… lol. so there were a few comments such as “we’re like 10 years too old for this show!!” i had a really good time though, and i’m pretty sure the others did as well (even though i, of course, received a ton of crap for the young crowd and the wild antics that ensued). we were in very close proximity to the mosh pit, and got knocked backwards plenty of times. the kids were krazy! i saw several people in the bathroom doctoring their bloody noses, battle scars from the moshing. the opening bands (there were 3) pretty much all sounded the same. SOTY played a really awesome set.. at one point they did this montage with several 80s rock songs — stuff by ozzy, bon jovi, poison, GNR, etc. good times, good times.. =)

and the past couple days i’ve been SICK. which isn’t something i experience often, thankfully. i’m doing the typical common sense stuff, so hopefully it will go away soon. missing work can be a good thing, but being too sick to enjoy it makes for a miserable situation :””’( hahahaha. i’m such a sympathy whore sometimes, i guess.

OH! to end on a positive, non-sympathy-garnering note, i’ve been highly amused by this humor site lately: Chuck Norris facts. this is quite literally the most hysterical thing i’ve seen/read/whatever in a long time. suffice it to say chuck norris is my new hero.

s-n-o-freaking-w. YES!!!

the first of the season, and it’s blistering cold outside… ForeCastFox says it’s *15 degrees*… brrrrrrr! so i’m definitely staying inside where it’s warm. i love the way the snow illuminates the usually dark night with its lustrous glow. it could almost be daytime with the amount of light outside right now… at least an overcast, rainy sort of daytime.

speaking of cold, i spent black friday morning freezing my tail off in the best buy parking lot. dad was going to wait for the buttcrack-of-dawn 5AM opening to take advantage of the BF specials, including a $397 laptop. so i was basically there to keep him company (there wasn’t anything i wanted to get). we arrived around midnight and there were already about 50 people lined up… including some idiots who set up a tent! alas, we waited 5 hours in the ridiculously cold weather for nothing: best buy employees worked the line before the grand opening to solicit buyers of the “major” sale items like TVs, etc. and they had already sold all of the laptops that were in stock. dad still scored a few items that were left, but afterwards we both decided it was quite stupid, a waste of time, etc., and we vowed to never do it again.. unless a REEEAAALLY good deal comes up

in sports news, TU’s done quite well in football lately, and simultaneously BAAD in basketball. ah, the curse lives on: it seems we either have a pretty good football season or basketball season, but not both (granted, sometimes they both equally suck). we’re even going to a *bowl game* again this year, the liberty bowl, in which we’ll play fresno state. i was witness to the first basketball game (vs. SFA) and i guess we didn’t play *too* badly, but a lot of what i’d consider rookie mistakes were made. such as? missing layups and other similarly easy shots, and how about making a basket (albeit accidentally) for the opposing team. yes, this actually happened.. first time i’d ever seen it anywhere other than.. say, middle school. now i’m not trying to badmouth TU here (although it seems like i’ve done a pretty decent job so far). we played a solid game against OU, a formidable opponent. i still believe there’s hope yet for the boys to turn it around.

i read that pat morita, immortalized as mr. miyagi in the karate kid, died the other day. “wax-on, wax-off” is probably one of the most treasured films quotes in recent history, alluding to a character-building process through hard work and determination. although he successfully portrayed other roles, pat will live on in the hearts of a generation as the wise old karate master who forged a champion out of the seemingly ineffectual daniel-san.. and made us laugh all the while.

just wanted to take the time to wish everyone out there a happy thanksgiving! since thanksgiving is all about… well, showing gratitude, i’d like to say now that i’m thankful for all of my family and friends. i had a *ton* of food at the grandparents’, both sets. we have a sort of annual thanksgiving tradition where we (”we” being my immediate family) eat thanksgiving lunch at my maternal grandparents’ house and dinner with my paternal grandparents. there’s always a lot of turkey day goodness, like ummm.. turkey, obviously, and dressing, rolls, baked beans, and plenty of desserts. it’s cool to spend time with the cousins and other relatives we don’t see all too often. good times, good times.

for those of you who aren’t aware, today is also my birthday… awww, yeaaaah. i got a few birthday gifts from the family and we all went out to olive garden last night to celebrate; good food and company. of course i’m still accepting belated birthday gifts and well-wishers, so keep ‘em pouring in

another (at least recent) tradition is several of us in my dad’s family play poker after dinner around the holidays. this year being no exception, dad, myself, nick, jon paul and jordan all gathered around nanny and papa’s dining room table to play a rousing game of no limit texas hold ‘em. the last few years it seems like jon paul’s been the clear winner, but this year was my moment in the sun apparently.. maybe it had something to do with the fact that my birthday coincided with thanksgiving… hmmmm… ;-p we played with quarters from papa’s stash (he was the bank, and cashed in our dollars for quarters), and i ended up winning 20 bucks, which wasn’t too shabby.

the last hand i played with dad before he was tapped out was awesome.. he’d just bragged moments earlier about how he could read my poker face, or lack thereof, so the cards are dealt and i have an ace-seven. we both check, and the flop comes…. ace, ace, 7. i had showed my cards to jon prior to the flop, and tried my *best* NOT to reveal my monster hand. so i played it cool, and kept matching dad’s bets. basically the entire time i acted like i’m thinking hard about every decision, i.e. whether or not to match his bets, and theatrically mimicked the frustrated player. after the river he went all in… i just busted up laughing, and threw my cards down… “who’s got the poker face now!!” lol.. it was sweeet, of course i was excited that i’d just pulled one over on the old man.

i have some pics i took during the thanksgiving craziness that i’ll put up shortly in the gallery.