Wimbledon is upon us once again, and clay courts have been replaced by grass. The news that Rafael Nadal, 2008 Gentlemen's Champion, will not be playing this year's tournament due to an injury. So who will be this year's champions? My picks were correct for last year that Venus Williams and Rafael Nadal would win, but this year tournament seems open to anyone.

2009 Picks

Gentlemen's Champion: Roger Federer


Hot off his 1st French Open title, which completes the career Grand Slam, and Nadal being out of the tourament ... it is his tournament to lose. Winning this title would put him past Pete Sampras for the most Slam titles in the open era AND he would regain his number 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal. Good luck, Roger!

Ladies' Champion: Serena Williams


I chose Venus Williams last year, because she is my favorite player (and namesake in my tennis club ... long story) and she won the year prior. She is reigning Queen of Grass having 5 titles on this surface ... but 2009 is not going to be her year. I think Serena will take home this year, provided that she doesn't have a meltdown and lose focus during a match. I want Venus to win, but I don't want to jinx it by picking her.

My picks have been committed to the blogosphere, and we will see in the next fortnight if I am correct.

[Photos: Yahoo! Sports via AP]

Labels: rafael nadal, roger federer, serena williams, venus williams, wimbledon

It will be mine. Oh, yes .... it will be mine. I am thinking about getting it in the next month or so. I got my Apple iBook over four years ago is running really slow and I can barely watch YouTube videos on it. Also, I has the old IBM chipset so it will not be able to run Snow Leopard when it comes out in September.

I am still deciding, but more than likely I will get it soon.

[Apple Mac Book Pro]

Labels: apple, gadgets

I will going a 10 day road trip traveling through the midwest and beyond. Planned stops:

- Memphis, TN
- Chicago, IL
- Cedar Point Amusement Park (Sandusky, OH)
- Cleveland, OH
- Buffalo, NY (Passing through but will stop at Wegmans and Tully's)
- Toronto, ON, Canada

There maybe some other stops along the way but not sure as of yet. I will be blogging during my travels, but not when I am driving ... obviously. :)

Stay tuned!

Labels: road trip

This past Memorial Day, I decided to head to the local theater to watch Angels & Demons. Out of all of the Dan Brown's books, I like Angels & Demons the best and I didn't want to see it ruined because I absolutely HATED The Da Vinci Code.

The beauty of the book was that it allowed the readers to figure out the clues as the story advanced. The movie, I felt, treated the viewers as not intelligent enough to figure the clues out, so they were illuminated on the screen for all to see. It was not a wise choice, and I think Ron Howard realized this and Angels & Demons had none of that ... thank Jeebus.

Even though I read the book, I still found myself engrossed in the movie. I think I like this movies more because they brought David Keopp to help write the screenplay with Akiva Goldsman (the bastard who ruining the Batman franchise, along with Joel Schumacker, by writing Batman Forever and Batman & Robin). I am still not sold on Tom Hanks being Robert Langdon and would have preferred someone like Dennis Quaid or Jon Hamm ... but they had to put butts in the seats so they went and bankable International star.

I recommend the movie, but you don't have to have seen The Da Vinci Code to follow the movie because Angels & Demons chronologically happened first, so there aren't any plot points or references to the first movie.

Labels: movies

This past Saturday I had my housewarming party. I wasn't sure if I would pull of the party because I never been a host for many people, but somehow I managed to pull it off ... but there were some missteps.

I got up at 9 and I began cleaning, and my goal was to have all that done by 1pm. At 1 I was complete and went to take out the trash, and I returned to my home only to realize my door was locked. Apparently, the lock on the door knob was locked and my keys were inside, along with my iPhone and wallet. I tried the side door, and it was also locked. I curse the gods and made it to the sales office and called a locksmith to let me in. It would have taken 30 minutes so I hung out for a bit before heading back to my place to wait for the locksmith. I went to the front door to wait, but I thought I would try the door. Typically, this door is always locked so I thought it was a lost cause. I pressed the door latch, and it opened, as if magically. I lost 40 minutes because I didn't open try the front door, and I had to call the locksmith and cancel the request. He was nice and didn't charge me, and I got back to work.

The party was scheduled for 5pm and at 5:05 people showed up. Soon this space:


filled with over 33 people. I gave tours of the house and tried to be a good host, and hopefully I was. Everyone was impressed with the glass tile backsplash...


...even more so when they found out I did it myself.

Everyone congregated in the living/dining/kitchen area, and even though it was perfect weather outside, only a few people gathered there.

Around 7pm we all made plans for dinner and ventured out the Gloria's for Salvadorian food. I got some gifts, which weren't necessary, but glady accepted them. :)

Since I am now an experienced host, I am thinking about having people over to watch the Wimbledon finals next month and serve Fish N' Chips and strawberries and cream. Or maybe not ... it is too exhausting to host. But new house is finally felt like a home since the party, so I guess the stress was worth it.

Labels: home improvement, party

Home Projects
Originally uploaded by KillerVirgo

I have been busy with doing thing a with my house, amongst other things, so I haven't been blogging much. I've been trying to get things in order for my house-warming party. In the midst of all that I ended up getting sick with, perhaps, Swine Flu. I feel better now but missed two days of work as a result.

I finished staining my Rast drawers from IKEA mahogany and added some new hardware I purchased from Home Depot. It looks really good, if I do say so myself. :)

Now I am hanging pictures around my place and still organizing things. I will be ready for the party in a few weeks.

Labels: home improvement

Gone
Originally uploaded by KillerVirgo

I have officially moves out of my first apartment in Dallas. I lived
somewhere prior to this but I didn't choose it. I saw this place
shortly after my road trip to California in 2007 moved in weeks later.
I enjoyed apartment living, but not the fact that I paid A LOT for
this place which could have paid for a mortgage. It was time to move on.

Before:

After:

After the grout dried it left a residue on the glass so I spent about an hour cleaning with a non-abrasive scrubbing pad. I thought about using a chemical but I didn't want to deal with a hazardous substance, so I used elbow grease instead. The tiles were gleaming when I finished. After that, I applied a sealer to make it water and stain resistant. When it dried, I caulked the gap in between the granite and tile ... and viola, project completed ... mostly. I need to replace the plastic wall plates for the outlets with a brush nickel version. Hopefully this can be done with having get them custom made.

So that is pretty a wrap on the backsplash project, and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. In total it took about 10 hours, and saved about $500. I can finally cook food now. Yay!

Next project: staining wood bed-side tables. Something else I have never done, but seems easy.

Labels: home improvement

Backsplash Install - Step 2 of 3 Completed
Originally uploaded by KillerVirgo

Last night I put the grout in between the glass tile backsplash. It
took about 1.5 hours to do but it was surprisingly easy.

I really love the way the grout makes the tile stand out a bit more.
After I installed the tile, I was not really happy with it, but after
putting in the "linen" colored grout it looks much, much better.

The last step it to polish, seal and caulk the tile and I will be
done. I will do the tonight and then I will finally be able to cook in
my kitchen on Saturday.

Labels: home improvement

Backsplash Install - Step 1 of 3 Completed
Originally uploaded by KillerVirgo

The tile is up and now I have to wait until it all dries. When it is
dry, the grouting will begin.