And, You Are?

Gone Fishin'

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:05:00 +0000

I have decided to take a break from my blog for a while. Not feeling too inspired to write these days. Hopefully my inspiration will return and will be back.

Bye, for now.

Slacker

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:45:00 +0000

I know what it is but I can't seem to get motivated to write more on my blog. Am I over the whole blogging experience? I think I am too busy doing other things that I can't manage the time to blog anymore. I have a lot of things I would like to post, but never seem to manage to sit down, and type my thoughts.

So my goal for the end of January is to finish from loose ends from 2009, and I will start in February with more content ... hopefully.

Give To Help Haiti

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:29:00 +0000

Find out how: cnn.com/impact

Happy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:26:00 +0000

I am enjoying my last day of vacation before heading back to work for the time in 2010. I will be posting my last bits of entries from 2009 sometime this week.

Hope everyone had a good holiday, and 2010 should be the start of a great decade.

FIVE

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:23:00 +0000

Today marks the fifth anniversary of my blog. I started this blog as a bit of fun, and to also get out my frustrations. I think it has been very helpful to me in many respects. I have been slacking in recently but there is a reason ... a good one.

For the rest of the year I will be using the time to work on some unfinished blog entries. I have to finish my road trip entries and a tennis tournament I competed in this past November.

Thanks to all who have read my blog over the years!

KV

Movies: This Is It

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:53:00 +0000

I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I saw ... I loved. I really enjoy seeing the making of what would have been Michael Jackson's final tour. You see this brilliant perform who is only singing at a small percentage of what he is capable to conserve his voice, but still sound better than most people. Then you see a man who was 50 year old aided by LCD monitor with song lyrics because he was unable to remember all the words. I think the movie showed more of a complete depiction of the real Michael Jackson.

The only thing I would change about the movie is that it was too short. The two hours just flew by and I could have easily watched another two of the 80+ hours of recorded footage. I hope when the movie is released on DVD/Blu-ray that more footage would be included.

I think I will see it again on the big screen just experience it like I were a concert goer. I really recommend seeing this.

RIP, Michael

Tennis Tournament: 10/10-10/12

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:22:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago I participated in my club's tennis tournament and I did fairly well.

Singles

Match 1
Lost: 3-6, 4-6

I played really well but my opponent was much better. I served well, and made good shots, but the guy got every shot back. I should have played smarter but I was trying to muscle the ball over the net. I didn't hold my server once this match and all my points came from breaking my opponents serve. Learned from this match.

Match 2 - Consolation
Won: 8-4

I served well and managed to shake up my opponent.

Match 3 - Consolation
Lost: 6-8

My inability to hold my serve returned. I was up 4-2, then my opponent even things to 4-4 ... then I was up 6-4. I couldn't hold my serve so I ended up losing the next 4 games. It so frustrating to lose a match because you can't hold your serve.

Doubles

Match 1
Won: 6-2, 6-4

Our opponents had a 3 hour match before ours, and my partner and me had a first round bye so we were fresh as a daisy. We won the first set pretty easy, the we got a bit sloppy during second set. We were up 4-1 and allowed then they even the score at 4-4. We broke their serve and I held serve for the match.

Match 2
Won: Walkover

We were scheduled to play a team that is part of our tennis club, but they had to withdraw due to injury.

Match 3
Won: 6-4, 6-2

This match was delayed by 5 hours due to rain. We struggled in the beginning of the first set but managed to get back in to the game, thanks to some costly errors by our opponents. The second set we dominated and were up 5-0, we got a bit loose on the next 2 games before winning 6-2

Match 4
Won: 2-6, 6-4, 1-0

This was the finals and we were very nervous because we had to play against a team from our tennis club, and they are very good players. They like to play "slow and steady" and I just don't like that tactic. I get impatient and want to finish the point. We did that during the first set and lost 2-6. We decided to beat them at their own game. We didn't go for big shots during the the second set and wanted to put pressure on them to win the point. This tactic worked and they made a lot more errors and we won 6-4.

The third set was a tie-breaker, and the first team to 10 points (winning by 2 points) win the match. This were pretty even in the beginning. It wasn't until we were up 3-2 that we started to take control. We were up 9-5 and eventually won the match at 10-6.

[pic of trophy]

I really didn't think we were going to make it past the 1st round of our doubles division because my partner and I haven't been practicing much. Much to our surprised we played really well, despite the tough match in the final. Maybe my hot pink over-grip helped in some way?

[pic of grip]

It was my breast cancer awareness symbol. :)

My next tournament is in Houston in 2 weeks, but my partner is unable to play. I am trying to decide if I should just play singles or just be paired up with someone else for the tournament. It will be strange to play with someone else considering were have been playing together for 2 years, and have won 3 tournaments, 2 runner-ups and 1 semi-final. This is all out of 7 tournaments played together.

Not bad, eh?

Tennis Tournament: 10/2-10/3

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:26:00 +0000

This past week I participated in a USTA tournament, which was my first since April. I used it as a warm-up for my tennis groups annual tournament which starts this Saturday. I did pretty well and made it further than I thought.

Match 1
Won: 6-3, 6-1

This match I was down 0-3, and I finally got in a groove and won the next 6 games to take the first set. The second set I lost the first game, but won the next 6 games for the match. This guy was a lefty so it took me a bit of time to get use the lefty serve. I played a pretty clean match and only 2 double faults.

Match 2
Won: 7-5, 6-0

This was another iffy start to a match. I was down 1-4 at one point and fought back to get to 4-4. We both broke each others serve to get to 5-5, and I won the next 2 games for set ... then the next 6 games for the match. I finally realized that my opponent backhand was really weak and I began to attack it.

Match 3
Lost: 3-6, 4-6

I am not sure what happened in the match. There were a couple iffy line calls by my opponent, which ticked me off a bit so I wasn't focused on the first set. Another round of bad calls in the 2nd set ticked me off, I was down 0-2. I rallied to win the next 4 games. Other bad calls and bad play from me caused me to lose the next 4 games.

I am happy overall with how I played. I served well and I cut down the double faults I been typically committing over the past few weeks. I wanted to play against people with different types of games to prepare myself of unknown players. So I feel that I am ready to play in the tournament this weekend.

They Are All The Same

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 04:04:00 +0000

Me: Excuse, are these the avocados that are on sale?
Produce guy: Yes. They are $0.99 each.
Me: The ad states that jumbo Hass avocados are on sale, these are not the same.
PG: All avocados are the same.
Me: Actually, no. These are smaller, and they aren't grown in California.
PG: [silence]
Me: ...okay. Have a nice day.

I wasn't trying to be a pain, but the advertisement clearly said Hass avocados and not ones from Mexico. I felt bad, so decided to buy some anyways.

The Lost Symbol

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:27:00 +0000

My new Dan Brown book arrived today from Amazon. I have been waiting
for this book to be released for a number of years. The working title
was "The Soloman Key" so I was surprise to learn of the title change
since I last checked for the release date. My plan is to read this in
about a week. I read his last book, "The DiVinci Code" in two days
which is fast for me. I read all his books except for "Deception
Point" becuase I could not get into it.

30 Y.O.

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:09:00 +0000

Thirty years ago I was born in Syracuse, New York. To celebrate, I decided to take a personal day from work and just relax.

I don't have any issues with now being in my 30s, but I do just find it strange. It will take some time to get used to saying that I am in my 30s instead of my 20s, but I have no feelings of "getting old" because I feel aging is a normal process. To be honest, I never thought I would make it to 30. Not because I lead some kind of dangerous life, but I just had this feeling.

I am here, I am healthy [knock on wood] and I am now a homeowner. So things are good in my life so far [again, knock on wood].

So I will enjoy my 30s, and look forward to my 40s.

Michael Jackson: My Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:09:00 +0000

Pretty sure that everyone in the world know about the passing of Michael Jackson. I decided not to post anything regarding his death because it seems as though you couldn't escape all of the news coverage. This past Saturday (August 29) was his birthday, and his if finally buried (?), I think I will share my thoughts and feelings.

I have been a long time fan of Michael Jackson, which feels like it has been all of my life. I remember watching the Motown 25 performance as a kid, and watching the premiers of the "Bad" and "Black or White" videos with my family. I was completely obsessed with Michael during the releases of his albums Bad and Dangerous. Watched every special, and taped every show that had him featured in it. At one point I wanted to look like Michael Jackson, that I put a clothes pin on my nose to emulate his ... which has left my nose with some permanent scars.

My fondest Michael Jackson related memory had to do with purchasing his "HIStory" album back in 1995. I bought it from Best Buy at the Carousel Mall in Syracuse, NY. I rode the bus an hour roundtrip to get to the mall for my CD and it was worth it. I remember putting the CD in my stereo and listening to the entire album three times with my headphones on while reading the CD booklet. I listened to the same CD I bought nearly 15 years ago, and it sounded different ... somehow.

His death has been ruled a homicide, and a movie using footage from his concert rehersal will be released in October ... so he will not be out of the headlines for quite some time. His is going to be like Elvis Presley, where be worth more in death than life.

Over time I hope he leaves a good legacy for his children.

RIP

This was my YouTube tribute to him:

Project Runway All-Stars or: How The Whole Thing Was Rigged

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:34:00 +0000

Korto, I feel you pain. Not only was your collection well made, it was bold and looked great. So why didn't you win?

Well, I will tell you ... they always wanted to have Daniel Vosovic win. Here why I saw this:

- Daniel wrote a book "Fashion Inside Out" which Tim Gunn wrote the foreward, and contained an interview with guest judge, Diane von Furstenberg.

- Judge Michael Kors, offered Daniel a job after he came and second place but ended up not working with him.

- Most importantly ... his clothes were ugly.

I have been reading a lot of forums, and not believes that Daniel should have won the show with the work he presented. They wanted him to win Project Runway season 2, but he final collection didn't warrant a win, so this was their was of making it up to him.

Sidenotes:

- Chris March needs to get himself checked out because he was sleeping way too much. He may have sleep apnea.

- Uli Herzner had an amazing collection, but didn't make the top 4. They talked about how everyone evolved in their designs, except for Uli. During her season, she used a lot of prints and Tim Gunn even mentioned she was the "master of prints." To show how she evolved she decided to used no prints but more detail to construction. At the judging panel all they the judges wanted to know why she didn't use bold colors and prints. WTF? Basically they wanted to pigeonhole her design aesthetic with no ability to grow or change.

I hope they never do another All-Star version of Project Runway. Very disappointing.

Busy Busy Busy

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:09:00 +0000

Where is the time going? I blink and two weeks go by. It's already August and summer is winding down and I am on the verge of a personal milestone. Truthfully, I've been on Facebook more than my blog since I am trying to reconnect with some old school chums.

Anyway ...

I have to finish up my road trip story and some other things I have been on my mind.

Life needs to slow down.

Lose/Lose

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:47:00 +0000

I am currently in a situation where no matter what decision I make
everyone involved would be affected neagtively. I would be effected
for only a short term (I think), but I can't say that for the others
involved. My happiness is paramount, so the collateral damage may be
worth it in the long run.

Need some time to decide.

Road Trip 2009: Days 6 & 7

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 22:14:00 +0000

Day 6

We left Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, and we were on our way to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We had to stop in Detroit, MI, because my buddy needed to get a Visa to enter Canada. I've never been to Detroit, or entered into Ontario, Canada from the west, so it was a day of many firsts. We left Cedar Point around 6am and arrived in Detroit around 8:30am.

The downtown area of Detroit was surprisingly nice, especially the waterfront area. But the odd thing about downtown Detroit was that no one was around. You can walk a block and not run into another person, so it made things a bit eerie.

My buddy got his Visa and we headed for Toronto. During our drive there were several delays getting to Toronto. First, instead of taking QEW 401 we took QEW 403 and we ended up having to backtrack about 30 minutes. Then we hit some major traffic due to a fatal car accident on the Gardiner Expressway ... so in retrospect, we should have stayed on the QEW 403 because we would have avoided this delay. But we made it there safe, so it doesn't matter if we arrived an hour or so behind scheduled.

We arrived at the hotel, freshened up and made our way to Chinatown.

It was a really chilly day so we had to bring our jackets. Yes, jackets ... in July! Walked along Spadina Ave. and we knew reach Chinatown when the all the signs change to Chinese (an obvious sign). We stopped in a couple of markets, before looking for a place to have dinner. We didn't know where to eat, so my buddy stop an elderly Chinese couple and asked for a recommendation for a restaurant. In Chinese, they recommended a restaurant called New Sky. We thanked them and made our way to the restaurant.

Food was Cantonese and it was delicious. There was so much of it that I stopped eating halfway through. I was pushed by my buddy to eat more .. so I did and we cleaned our plates. My buddy asked a waitress to recommend a Dim Sum place so we can have lunch the next day. She thought for several moments but she finally told gave us place to visit.

We left the restaurant and walked around the Eaton Centre...

and the Church & Wellesley gay area...

before taking the TTC back to the hotel for some rest.

Day 7

We headed back to Chinatown to the Dim Sum place recommended to us the previous day. I had no idea of what Dim Sum consisted. I thought it was something like potstickers, but I was so wrong. Dim Sum in a bunch a light dishes that you can order a la carte and the meal comes with tea.

If my memory serves me correctly, we had about 10 different Dim Sum dishes. My buddy urged me to try chicken feet and I resisted for a bit before relenting. Our first dishes came out and we began to eat our meal. I tried the chicken feet and I didn't hate it. Maybe if it was fried I would had liked it a bit better. Dish after dish ... when I thought we were done, something new came to our table.

We finally finished our meal and walked around a bit. We headed to the University of Toronto, headed back to the Eaton Center because it was open

then we headed to the CN Tower:

After viewing the city from high atop the CN Tower, we quickly walked back to the hotel to get cleaned up and meet my friend Paul for dinner. During our travels around the city, we noticed that the trash from the receptacles were just overflowing throw out the city:

I didn't know why, but we decided to ask Paul since he is a resident of the city. We hopped on the TTC to the Danforth Area of Toronto and had dinner at Astoria which has great souvlaki (I like the lamb). During dinner we were informed that trash is not being collected throughout the city because the sanitation workers were on strike. That explained the squalor we've seen on the street. After dinner we walked back to the downtown area through wealthy Rosedale neighbourhood, past the Royal Ontario Museum to see the completed renovations, around University of Toronto and back to the hotel.

More to come ....

Road Trip 2009: Day 5

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:43:00 +0000

This is the day I was most looking forward to. It has been my dream to go to Cedar Point Amusement Park after watching countless roller coaster specials on television. I finally arrived. I am going to breakdown all the roller coasters I went on in order:

Maverick

This coaster was not biggest but it really powerful. A 95 degree drop, lots of twist and turns made this ride really great.

Mean Streak

A huge wooden coaster with no line whatsoever so me and a friend of mine were the completely alone. It was a was a typical wooden coaster with a lot of bumps and drops, but it was really tame compared to Maverick.

Gemini

This is a challenge coaster where two trains ride at the same time on different tracks to see who finishes first. When I rode it there is only one train. It has the feel of a wooden coaster but has tubular steel tracks with made it oddly quiet during the ride.

Magnum XL-200

The coaster may have been built in 1989 but it is big and fast and a great ride. The best part of this ride were the covered portions of the tracks that had unexpected drops. They came out of nowhere and made the coast fun and scary.

Corkscrew

An okay coaster that was built in 1976. A lot of inversions but not really intense.

Iron Dragon

Pretty good "swing" coaster where you site below the tracks and dangle. It wasn't scary but a the swinging effect made it a lot of fun.

Mantis

This coaster required you to stand-up during the ride. Although it was fun, it was also painful. The force of ride but so much pressure on my calves, and my crotch because of the seat that held you upright.

Disaster Transport (x2)

This coaster reeked of the 80s and was very cheesy. It was a coaster in a building and mostly covered by darkness. I rode it twice because the line was short and it was indoors away from the sun.

Wicked Twister

This coaster was very fun. You went from 0-60 in the matter of seconds and you went back and forward up two twisting columns. This was a very fun ride.

Blue Streak

The "classic" wooden coast is almost 50 years old, but the ride with all of it's bumps and hills made it fun. It seemed unsafe and dangerous, but that was part of the fun. :)

Raptor

The ride was not operational for most of the day but when we saw they were testing the ride my buddy and I went over and stood in line. We got through the line pretty quick and it was worth the wait. The ride resembled the Batman rides at Six Flags theme parks where you sit in a chair underneath the track. After we exited the ride, I wanted to get on again, but the line had grown so we moved on.

Cedar Creek Mines

A ride built in the 1960s that looked and felt so dangerous made it a fun ride. Not thrilling, but wondering if you were going to survive it made it interesting. lol

Wildcat

This coaster was really dangerous. When the ride operators tell you to "brace yourself" when you stopped at the end of the ride do you don't bash your skull. With all that it was fun and the line was short.

Millennium Force

At one time the coast was the biggest and fastest in the wold. With a 310 ft climb and a 300 ft drop, it was fast at 93 mph ... but the ride was kind of boring. After the drop there was very little to be excited about.

Top Thrill Dragster

This ride was filled me with such fear. The entire day you hear the screams adn seeing people being shot 420 ft up in the air only caused more fear and dread, but I knew I had to ride it or else I would hate myself for chickening out. Here some video:

Scary stuff ... huh? This made my fear worst.

So at the end of the day we waited in line for an hour and finally got the beginning of the line. What made things worst is that when the previous trains were at the very top of the hill, the trains looked like it was just barely making it over to the other side. I commented on this to my friend because it really concerned me, but I still got on. We got in our seats and prepared for the ride. We pulled up to the launch section of the track, prepared for launch .... then the ride broke down. WTF!!!

We sat on the track for about 15 minutes before we were pulled back to the starting gate and the ride reset itself. We weren't told what happened or given option to get off. The train pulled up to the launch section of the track, and in a matter of sections we were jettisoned off at 120mph, up 420 ft and down 420 ft.

At the end of the ride we all just looked at each other and were very happy we survived the ride. There was a lot of nervous chatter after we all exited the ride, but like Millennium Force, it was just an okay ride. You go so fast in the beginning that everything else seems tame.

So did all the adult coasters in the park and the top 3 for me was Maverick, Magnum XL-200 and Raptor. The scariest ride for me was not a coaster. It was the Demon Drop (see vid):

I think it was the most scary to me because, unlike a coaster, you drop straight down and can you can prepare for it. Also the ride is so loud with these industrial noised that it make you wondering if it will break down at any given moment. I screamed the entire way down after we were dropped and slide to safety. The people who were with me laughed at me, and I laughed at myself as well. I wanted to go back on but we had other rides to conquer. Another fun non-coaster was Skyhawk(hard to explain, see hyperlink).

I had a great time during my trip to Cedar Point. I wish I could have stayed longer, but all good things must come to an end.

More to come ...

Road Trip 2009 - Day 4

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:41:00 +0000

Road Trip 2009 - Day 4
Originally uploaded by KillerVirgo

I am currently in the car en route Sandusky, OH heading to Cedar Point
Amusement Park. The trip so far has had it's share of delays.

The rental car we got from Hertz during the car ride from Dallas to
Memphis ended up breaking. Some screws fell out of a plastic panel
under the grill causing it to fall and scrap the pavement. We got the
car replaced at the Memphis Airport Hertz location which ate up an
hour or so of our time. We ended up getting the same vehicle, 2009
Chevy Malibu, but it was a high class version with leather seats,
Bluetooth, etc ...

We ended up in Chicago area around 11pm after a 9 hour drive on Day 2.
It rained on day 3 and we couldn't do much of anything outdoors so we
headed to the downtown area and walked the Michigan Avenue shops and
stores. Later that evening we headed to dinner in Chinatown, and
luckily the rain stopped by then. We had some authentic Chinese dishes
at a popluar szechaun restaurant, and finished the meal with a
pineappple/mango smoothies with Boba.

We left Chinatown and heading to Boystown, Chicago's gay strip. It was
oddily empty for 10pm on Saturday night. We walked for a short while
before leaving and heading back to the hotel for the evening.

This morning we headed to the Navy Pier and walked around and took
some pictures. It was very touristy, but the view of the Chicago
skyline were great. We stayed for about an hour before continuing to
Ohio.

Chicago was fun. Due to time constraints I didn't get some deep dish
pizza or see Oooopraahh WinFreey! Maybe another time.

Wimbledon 2009 - My Picks

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:30:00 +0000

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]

Gadgerty: Apple Mac Book Pro 13"

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:08:00 +0000

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]

Road Trip 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:18:00 +0000

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!

Movies: Angels & Demons

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:45:00 +0000

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.

Housewarming

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:11:00 +0000

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.

Home Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:34:00 +0000

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.

Gone

noreply@blogger.com (Killervirgo) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:36:00 +0000

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.