Memories of Dad

For the second night in a row I am up late because I cannot sleep. I found out two days ago that my dad died and I have been having a hard time sleeping. It is hard to close my eyes because all I can think about his him. All the memories you thought were gone always seem to come back when someone dies.

I remember when I was little my dad made it onto a local TV show called Bowling for Dollars for amateur bowlers. I remember my mom getting us all dressed so that our winter outfits coordinated with one another. I also remember the host of the show interviewing me during the commercial break. I can't remember if my dad won his match, but I do remember being in the audience and then watch myself on TV when it aired. Years later, I ended up being on the same show (now called Challenge Bowling) with my dad in the audience watching me. The host interviewed my dad, like he did me years before, and remember throwing two strikes with my rasberry Ebonite bowling ball.

It is funny how you remember the good times when someone you love dies.

Open Letter: Maker of Degree Deodorant

Dear maker of Degee deodorant:

I have been a consumer of your Degreee brand deodorant for over a decade and my favorite product is your Degree Spectrum Shower Clean Scent Antiperspirant. It wasn't until recently that this particular brand has now been marketed as a product made for women. What prompted this change?

You have a line of Degree made specifically for men, but they all smell awful. What made you company deem the scent of Shower Clean and Sheer Powder feminine? Unless the products now contain estrogen and/or pre-natal vitamins, I don't see why this change was made. Seriously ... what kind of scent is Sport for men? Isn't your product suppose to cover/prevent the odor you would emminant when you sweat while playing sports?

Something stinks maker of Degree ... and I don't like the smell of it.

Sincerely,
KillerVirgo

Have You Confessed?

Maybe I have gone to see Madonna's Confessions Tour. But I know it will be on HBO in July, so I can sit at home and see it for free (since Charter Cable has given my HBO free for a year).

Here is a clip of the show. Enjoy!


For more clips, go here.

Weekend Update: 5/12/06

Friday: I went to go see The Da Vinci Code with my housemate. We both enjoyed the book, and decided to see how the movie was regardless of the bad reviews. It wasn't a bad movie, but if you read the book you won't be surprised with all the twists and turns. The genious of the books is that it envelops you and you get a chance to solve the puzzle to uncrack the code. The movie moves at too fast of a pace to allow you do that. If you haven't read the book, see the movie and then read the book.

After the movie we headed down to Cedar Springs for dinner. We dined at Panda while freezing our butts off underneath the A/C. After dinner we headed over to Buli's for some dessert. I have been neglecting my urge for cookies, so after three weeks of being cookie-free I indulged. After hanging out for about an half hour we headed home and watched the Daily Show from Wednesday and Thursday. I think I fell asleep during the Thursday episode so I went to sleep.

Saturday: This Saturday was a Shut-In Day for me. I slept until noon and I watched movies for most of the day. I watched: The Family Stone (which was a good movie, but had some "only in a movie" situations); Last Holiday (Queen Latifah was really good in this movie, and it isn't a sappy holiday film); and Grizzly Man (a documentary of a man named Timothy Treadwell who was killed by a Grizzly bear. Interesting documentary.)

Sunday: It was tennis in the morning with OLTA until noon, lunch with them until about 1:30pm, and then I went out to see Kinky Boots with some of them around 3:30pm. I contacted Francisco yesterday when I found out he did attend tennis because he had a bit of an injury. He said he was fine and invited me over to his place to go swimming but I already had movie plans. Yesterday was pretty much and OLTA day. Kinky Boots is a film from England, if it is in your town it is worth checking out. I ended up using my old UB ID Card to get my ticket for $5.50 instead of $6.00. Big savings! But it will come in handy when the tickets cost $8.00.

I got home around 6pm, and by guilt from my housemateinto I ended up making some lasagna. To be honest, I had a taste for it as well so I ran out to the store to get some supplies. I finally finished around 8pm and had it in the oven. I was watching The Sopranos and midway through I finally took it out of the oven. The cheese was burnt to hell. Luckily the rest of the lasagna was still good so I just took of the burnt cheese in one piece, added some new mozz. cheese, and I was eating while finishing up the show.

After The Sopranos ended I decided to watch the Desperate Housewives season finale ... and it was boring. I am pretty much down with this show. I will give it a couple of episode next season, and if I am not please I am going to give it up.

Today: This week is a flex-time week, so I will be staying for an extra hour so I can get a half day this Friday. It will be a 3.5 day weekend for me with the holiday coming up on Monday. I planning to have another "Shut-In Day" and watch the Nip/Tuck DVDs of Season 1 and 2 or Scrubs Season 1 and 2. I haven't decided yet.

More updates

As you can see I have added my own personal banner. Isn't it swell? There will be a post related to this banner sometime soon.

The banners will be changing ... probably monthly in my effort to update my site.

Tell me what you think.

Bonus points if you can tell me: Who that person is? And from what movie which the banner is created? Leave a comment.

Better Late Than Never

No matter how hard I try, I seem to get this blog updated. Maybe it had to do with me bring on a computer 9 hours during work. I just don't have the urge to be on the computer when I am at home. Which sucks, because I have a lot of things going through my head that I just can't seem to get down in a post. But I am back ... and here we go!

Saturday

I was up at 7:30am for some odd reason. I decided just to watch some of my TV shows that are backlogged on my TiVo and Charter DVR. I finally watched the last 3 episode of Smallville, and I am underwhelmed by the season finale.

So Lex is now Zod,

Clark in now prism floating into space,

Lana is still NOT dead,
Chloe is about to get gang-raped,

Ma Kent and Lois are near death in Lionel's jet which is being flown by Prof. Milton Fine aka Brainiac ...

and I could care less about what going to happen next season. I would have loved if last years finale, Clark would have found the Fortress of Solitude and then said for 7 years to come back in the future. They need to do something because I only have one more season left in me before I stop watching.

Around 10am I went rollerblading with my housemate along the Katy Trail. This was only my third time blading, but I did lot better than my first two tries. I still don't now how to stop quickly, and I don't want to end as roadkill on the trail. So I think I might take some time and practice my stops.

Around 12:30pm I got a text message from Francisco asking if I wanted to play tennis. We made plans to meet at 1:30pm but he called me when I arrived to let me know he was going to be late because his car ran out of gas. I made myself comfortable under an oak tree, and saw there were a couple of squirrels looking for food. I passed the time cracking acorns that have fallen to the group and tossing them in the direction of the squirrels so they could eat. I did this for about an half hour until Francisco arrived. We played tennis, it was hot as hell, and I lost because I just ran out of steam due to the heat. We chatted for about 15 minutes in the shade before I left to go home. I got home and I received a call from Francisco inviting me to come over to his place to go swimming in his pool I haven't been in a pool over 10 years, but I decided to put my body issues aside and join him. I got to his place and we stayed in the pool for about forty-five minutes of so. We got changed and met up with his partner David at Buli for drinks. I ended up running into an other OLTA member we chatted for 10 minutes. I was at this cafe/coffeehouse for about an hour before we all left. I got to my car said goodbye, and went home. I was complete exhausted from all of the activities and just relaxed out home. The cable got screwed up somehow and I ended up missing Saturday Night Live. I have been trying to find it online to no avail.

Sunday (Mother's Day)

Went to play tennis at 9am, but there was only 8 out of the usual 35 people there. I ended up playing only one game of doubles before heading home. Later that afternoon I went to go see Akeelah and the Bee with my housemate. The movie was better than what I expected. it was good to see Ike and Tina (Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett) on screen together again. Angela Bassett is just one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. AND she is a great actress ... but doesn't get the respect she deserves. You should really go out and see this movie.

I killed some time making Lasagna before The Sopranos started. I could have don't without seeing Vito in the gay love scenes, but other than that, it was a good episode. Something big is going to happen in the final two episodes. I am hoping Tony will won't die, but I think Vito is going to get whacked ... and not the good kind.

Other Stuff

Happy Birthday Janet (Ms. Jackson, if you're nasty)!

Looking good for 40. Preserve the sexy y'all. [source: Dlisted]

"Oh. No. She. Didn't!"

A couple of days ago I went to the Dollar General to look for a pair of cooking shears to prepare my chicken for chicken salad. When I got to the store I saw a man getting arrested in the parking lot. I took a minute or two to observe the event before making my way into the store. I love going to a dollar store because you feel so rich. With $10, you can buy a bag full of stuff. It may be stuff you don't really need ... nonetheless it was stuff you bought for only for a dollar.

I made my way through the aisles, surveying all the potential impulse purchases and I didn't find much that I was interested in. The $10 dollar bill was burning a hole in my pocket so I sought out the item I originally came for. I got my shears for $1 but I knew I had to find something else to buy. Next to the shears I saw a set of bag clips. This was something I actually needed because I had a bag of potato chips on the fridge that was unsealed for potential critters to invade. I picked up the bag clips and heading for the register.

On the way to the register I had to walk through a number of aisles of food. "Who buys food at the Dollar General", I asked myself. I know that sounds kind of snobbish, but I am a food snob and I totally own that part of myself. I was raised in a house with major food brands, so it is hard for me to buy generic or store brand items. I don't care what you say, but I can taste the difference between store brand waffles and Eggo. I almost bought some chocolate-striped cookies but I remembered I was on diet (and I didn't recognize the brand name). So I passed and paid for my two purchases.

As I walked to my car with my newly acquired items when I noticed there was a car parked in the spot next to my passenger side door. When I got closer I noticed that the other drivers door was against my passenger door.

"Oh. No. She. Didn't!" I muttered.

I hit the unlock button on my car alarm remote to let the driver know that I was there. She looked at me and immediately apologized for hitting my door. I didn't say anything, because I wasn't going to say "oh, no problem" when she hit my car. I just gave her a glance which meant "you know were wrong for doing that" and got into my car.

I hope she buys the book "How to be Considerate of Others" while shopping at the Dollar General. It would only cost her $1.

Updates

I have updated my list of blogs on the right-hand side. Check out fourfour's website is awesome ... especially his recaps of America's Next Top Model and Project Runway.

More updates coming soon.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Hey y'all!

It is Monday again, and it is back to work after at a (what is seems to have been) very short weekend. It is good to be back at work. No, I am not drunk. I just like the work week because it puts me back into my routine. After a very full weekend, its to get back to some normalcy.

This past weekend was the Texas Cup and my group, OLTA, was hosting the event for the tennis clubs from Austin and Houston. Saturday morning, I ended up losing my match to the really good player from Houston ... he was a nice guy. We talked during the change overs and after he soundly beat me (6-1, 6-2) we ran into each other and engaged in a bit of small talk. After my match, I hung around to cheer my team on until about 2pm (I got there at 8am) then I was off to get a meatball sandwich from PotBelly's. I went home, devoured my sandwich and ended up falling asleep for 2 hours. I woke up around 5pm to get ready for our dinner at the Radisson Hotel. I was supposed to be there at 6:15pm, but gaining the lack of punctuality gene from my momma, I didn't get there until 6:30pm. The Austin and Houston teams weren't arriving until 7pm, but I was still late.

I got there an the OLTA team was finishing prepping the banquet room. The VP of the group brought his XBOX 360 to the hotel and we all played Top Spin 2, because we can't get enough tennis. The other teams arrived the room began to fill up fast. I ended up socializing with members of my own group because I can't bring myself to talk to new people with out feeling out of sorts. The Houston guy who beat me found me again, and we briefly exchanged pleasantries before he made his way to the buffet. I ended up talking to fellow OLTA member Francisco and his partner David. (There are about 15 David's in our group of 50 member. It made me think of these Kids in the Hall skits about gay men being named David:



... anyway)

They are two really nice guys. David is originally from Arkansas with these pale blue eyes that creepily-beautiful. I find myself just staring at his eyes when we talk to one another. His partner Francisco is originally from Monterrey, Mexico and he has been in Dallas for about 15 years. They met each other six years ago (in typical gay fashion) at the gym, and been they have been together ever since. They were really nice to meet and we spent the night conversing along with some other people. The night ended, and before they left they extended an invitation to me to visit them in their apartment the next day. We exchanged numbers and we said our good nights.

Sunday we all met up and played a couple of games of tennis, and then cheered on our team in the final day of competition. We came in 3rd place but we won 17 matches, which is a vast improvement of the 2 we won last year. After the trophy ceremony Francisco and David, another David, and two other guys went out for lunch at Cafe Express. After lunch Francisco invited us over to partake in their hot tub and sauna at their condo. I declined because I was tired ... and have issues with removing my shirt in front of strangers cause I got body issues. What? When I am 20 lbs lighter this July 1st will be more willing to take it off for strangers. We said goodbye and I headed home. When I got home I stretched, showered and watched the Robot Chicken DVD I got from Netflix for about 10 minutes before falling asleep for 2 hours. Why am I napping? I feel like I am getting old, but I enjoyed my nap and still was able to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

Today at work was pretty much normal. Except for the email smack down I had to give a co-worker because I was doing my job. He was insisting that I was doing something wrong, but I was doing things exactly how we discussed in a meeting a fee months ago and what the instructions stated. He felt the need to chastise me in an email (which was CCed to my supervisor), and I was not having that. I spoke to my supervisor and he agreed upon my method of doing things, so I emailed the co-worker him with the instructions that he created and showed that I was following the documentation.

He emailed me AGAIN saying that I was doing something wrong, even though the supervisor sent out an email to all of the team clarify the issue at hand. I didn't CC the supervisor on my first reply, but I did on the second because his insinuation that I didn't know how to do my job kind of pissed me off. I told him that I have doing this particular process that same way since its implementation.

The co-worker is a nice guy, but don't tell me I don't know how to do my job. And what really crossed the line for me is that he CCed the email to the supervisor trying to expose my alleged incompetence. He really shouldn't have done that ... ESPECIALLY when he isn't that good at his job. He maybe letting his tiny promotion get to his head. The only reason he got promoted is because he has been there longer than I have (management's words, not mine). Ugh ... I hope he ends this behavior or else it will be a face-to-face verbal smack down.

Hope your Monday went well!

Thinspiration

I can't be spending so much time away from my blog. I have a lot to say but it seems that I never have enough time to sit in front of my computer an type all my thoughts out. I will try to do better this month. I know some people check this site religiously (read: sporadically) and others are checking each day in hopes they will see something new. So here we go ...

Work and Life ...

There has been a lot of changes in the past couple of weeks. I found out that my housemate is going back to Toronto to resume his teaching career and work on his doctorate. I have been trying to decide whether or not I should stay in the apartment we currently share or move to a new place. I thought of moving up to North Dallas so I could be closer to work, but I like living in Highland Park. I live right off the Katy Trail so I can go rollerblading, and I am no more than a two minute walk from stores and restaurants. Also, I am used to my neighborhood. I know that my neighbors are quiet, there have been only five roaches in the apartment since last June, the management responds timely to problems (for example: we reported that our fridge was leaking, and we had new on the following day), and I just like saying I live in Highland Park.

With my current salary I can afford the rent, pay my bills and still be able to put some money in the bank. I get pay raise in August, so that will be extra money put in the bank. My supervisor and manager has been given copious amounts of praise during our morning meetings, so I think they would reward me during raise time. They have given my extra responsibilities and task because they feel that I am an asset to the team. I hope all this will be rewarded with a 10%+ raise in salary because that would be great. I like going to work every morning and never dread having to come here. So if they are willing to compensate me for my work ethic, I would be greatful.

Health and fitness ...

I am on a mission to lose the extra twenty pounds I am carrying on my frame. I am currently 215 and I would like to be get back down to 195. When I was working out regularly, I weighed about 190-195. But I haven't seen the inside of my gym, which I am still paying monthly for, since October. So my first step is change my diet.

Since I moved to Dallas, I have been eating out at least 3 times a week. It is expensive and a bit unhealthy. So I am now going to bring my lunch to work because it will be more healthy and less expensive. I like to get chicken salad at this cafe in my building complex which costs $5. For $5, I can get a 1.5 lbs of chicken breast from the grocery store and it could feed me for 5 days. I started making chicken salad yesterday, and it is SO GOOD!

I broil the chicken in lemon zest and juice for 45 minutes in an aluminum foil packet, so it retains it moistness. In a food processor, I use a half an onion and four stalks of celery, and leave it in for five seconds. I do the same with the chicken, and it chops it down to the consistency of canned tuna. Combine in a bowl, add 2 spoon fulls of sweet relish and 2 spoon fulls of mayonnaise. Mix ... and viola, Chicken Salad.

Along with the diet change I will be heading back to the gym. I will start a weight training program next week, after my tennis tournament. Because if Janet can lose the weigh, so can I.

Tennis ...

My tennis group, Oaklawn Tennis Association (OLTA), will be competing against the Houston and Austin tennis clubs this weekend for the Texas Cup. I made the team this Sunday after beating a member vying for my spot 6-4, 6-1. They only take the top 24, and ranked 23 ... but I am on the team. I have been working on my serve and ithas really improved in the last two weeks. So I am hoping I can win my matches during the tournament.

James Blake's brother is a member of OLTA. If you don't know who James Blake is, then take a look at the picture below.

I love him! James is bi-racial (English mother, African-American father), but his brother is white. They share the same mother. So, I ended up skipping tennis two Tuesdays ago, and James Blake freaking showed up to watch us play. DARN IT!!! I was so mad when I heard about this because I think he is a great player and I would have liked to meet him. Maybe he will come again soon and I will finally get to meet him.

Electronics ...

I got a new 32" LG HDTV LCD television a few weeks ago and I love it. DVDs look so good on it. I watch Memoirs of a Geisha on it this weekend and it looks so good. And watch Smallville, Lost, The Office, and Law and Order: SVU in HDTV is pretty good as well.

So look for more postings soon. I am looking at updating the this site because it is looking kinda of drab. I need to give it some personality.

Any ideas?