Cancun!

I leave early tomorrow morning for Cancun and will get home super late on March 31, Ill blog about my trip when I get back; take care!

Bittersweet

Well, Im afraid I have some bad news. My Grandpa Bryner (mom's dad) who was 74 passed away two days ago. I hear that he went peacefully in his sleep, something I am grateful for. Its never easy to lose someone you have met once, much less a family member. My grandfather was a very special, intelligent man. He graduated from the University of Miami, was a Staff Seargeant who served out of Germany during the Korean War. He met my grandmother there on a blind date actually, which I think is a wonderful story. He had four kids including my mom, owned several businesses and began publishing a few books in the last few years. He has 3 published (Ive read two and have the third just havent read it yet) and supposedly has 9 more manuscripts finished on his computer ready to be published. He has had some health issues for years, so its not completely unexpected but still weird. I hadn't seem him in like 9 years, but we had recently been emailing fairly often about his books and some other things. I don't know if it has really sunk in or not. I just seem to get the most sad when talking to my mom because she is the connection to him I guess. Ugh, I don't know. I know I owe him a lot though, I really think that a lot of my ability as far as school and my intelligence comes from him...


On a happier note, Roger Federer plays Andy Murray in 15 minutes for a spot in the final. If Roger wins, I will get to see him live in the final tomorrow which Im really excited about. Murray has beat him the last few times, but I really have a feeling Roger is going to win today. March Madness: I picked 24 out of 32 first round games right and im 1 for 1 in second round games so far. I lost one of my final four teams but I still have a shot of winning if the other teams make it through. Uconn looked good, so I like their chances. Im probably going to head out to Indian Wells tonight and stay at my uncles.. the gates open at 10am tomorrow for the final and it will be the last chance I get to get Rogers autograph if he makes it to the final.


I need to get a hair cut from Jennie while Im out there, its starting to get shaggy and I want to be all trimmed up for Cancun. 5 days now.. im pretty excited, but I wont be like estatic until I get there im sure. Ordered new bank cards, canceled the old ones, and ordered my new license from the DMV (PITA= Pain in the ass). My Senegal books came so im looking forward to beginning my research for my masters thesis. Thats about it... There was something else but I can't think of it right now. Talk to you soon

Post- St. Pattys Day

Well well, the Moscow deal was only up for one day so I missed out on that. Hm, I had an epic St. Pattys Day. Got pretty drunk before class with Brittany and Stephanie and then went out with my uncle and Jennie. It was so epic, I broke a Urinal, lost my wallet, and lost my cell phone holster. I was pretty sick all day yesterday, just felt like I had a bubble of gas stuck in my chest and then last night I had to do my final presentation for my graduate class oh man. It went pretty well though, Im definitely getting an A in the class. Here is a quick school update:

SSCI 600: Done
Hist 360: Done (Just need to edit my final paper and email it in)
Hist 370: Final on Tuesday


School is pretty much wrapped up, I have a few more assignments for my last online credential class, but I think im just going to recycle a few papers from other classes because they are similar assignments. Called my bank and cancelled my cards and ordered new ones. I have to go to the DMV later and get a new license. Other than that I only had like random business cards and a best buy reward zone card in my wallet. The wallet was hella nice black leather from buckle which cost me like 30$ its only like 2 years old too oh well. I have a backup wallet from last x-mas that I haven't used. Also, I had like 45$ in the wallet, thats what sucks the most. Oh well, I guess its good I spent so much of the money I had on St. Pattys day haha otherwise there would have been more left.

Sunday I get to see the men's and women's finals at the Indian Wells tournament. Roger is still alive so hopefully there is a good chance Ill see him. He plays Fernando Verdasco today though which is going to be a tough match. I leave for Cancun in a week too which is insane.. Im totally not ready for it but its coming fast. Thats all I have for now.. Oh yeah March Madness started, which is my favorite and Im in a bracket pool which is sweet. See ya later.

Indian Wells

Yesterday was so awesome. I have like 60 pictures and probably 15 videos.. all I can say is tennis tournaments rock. If you want an opportunity to meet, talk to a little, get pictures of, and autographs of famous athletes, this is as good a place to do it as there is. I got James Blake, Marat Safin, and Fernando Verdascos autographs. I saw and took pictures of all the top players in the world minus Andy Roddick and Andy Murray, but Fed, Nadal, everyone it was so sweet. Im going back for the night session tonight and the final on March 22. Its the 1st round and even tho the best players dont play, its actually better because you get like courtside seats to watch them practice and most of them are scrimmaging with other top players anyways so its like your own private match.

In other news, all I have left for my three classes is this Hist 360: final paper (5 pages), Hist 370: final test, and SSCI 600: Final presentation. I have 100% in the last 2 classes and a 96% in the first one so the chances of getting a 4.0 are looking good. I decided to drop out of my teaching credential program too and fully pursue a PhD (Can't remember if I posted this already or not). If I decide to go back im almost done with the program anyways so it wouldnt take me long to finish... just two classes.

Uconn lost to Syracuse yesterday in 6 OT's.... 6! Second longest game in college basketball history. So we are out of the Quarterfinals of the big east tourney. Im guessing we will be a #2 seed, but since Pitt and Oklahoma also lost who knows. Louisville and UNC will def by 1 seeds and the only 2 are in the air. Im guessing Memphis gets one, with either Uconn/Pitt getting the last one and the other one being the top #2 seed. Since Pitt has beat us twice, Im guessing we will be the two. I guess ill find out Sunday.

Been out in the desert/hanging out with my uncle all week... good times. Lets do a quick recap: Tues night we went to two bars and partied back at the house and was up until 5am, Weds night we went out to two bars and went to a little house party afterwards and was up until 4am. All day yesterday I was at the tennis tourney and went back to uncs and crashed at midnight I was exhausted. Oh yeah, on tuesday me and these two girls from my class went to a bar during our break and had drinks haha probably the funnest thing ever. Next week we are going to meet up an hour before class and drink before we go... Lots of fun and crazy stuff in the desert never a dull moment for sure.

I leave for Cancun in 13 days... Im so god damn excited. Trying to plan the NY trip too, dates are locked in and just waiting for a good deal on flights. Saw a crazy deal to Moscow too so who knows I might use my tax return money and take a little weekend trip to Russia. Haha, see you all later

Big Shit Poppin'

Im going to keep this short, simple, and sweet since I tend to write so damn much when I post. First, Im dropping my high school teaching credential program after this class. As of right now, I dont plan on teaching high school anymore and continuing the program is just a waste of time and money. Its sapping energy and thought that I could be using towards my thesis or other useful venues. Second, I have a new business venture that Im going to keep under wraps until it unveils in about 6 months or so, but just know something is in the works and I will be working very hard on it. Third, Indian Wells in four days which I am freaking out about . Fourth, Im going to Cancun in less than THREE WEEKS HOLY SHIT! Its going to be so nice to leave the country and get away. Anyways that it is, oh I played tennis yesterday and for 2 of the 4 sets served the best I ever have. So some exciting news for sure. Peace to everyone

I don't have a good title to put here

Today was a good day. I met with my professor from last quarter Dr. Chau and he agreed to be my Master's thesis mentor. This is a huge relief, I wrote about my topic earlier (Senegal for those of you who dont rememeber... wait who am I kidding? No one reads this hahaha). Anyways, he really liked the idea and was super excited about it. I also talked to him about pursuing Phd's, and some other stuff. Im glad he liked the idea, I was worried it might be crap but he said Senegal is different an interesting case regarding African nations. He said I probably have a good shot at getting published if I can write a good thesis too, which would be sweet.

What else is new lately.. level 40 in Halo, been running and working out quite a bit. Oh yeah, been getting some great music thanks to Kenzie. She knows so many Indie bands that my library is growing hella fast haha. So thats been good, plus U2 realeased their new cd so I need to get that. Im hoping to play some tennis tomorrow, played last sunday and my serve has improved a lot so im getting really excited. Oh yeah! Indian wells is next week so Ill get to watch some professional tennis live which I am completely stoked about.

School is good, quarter is wrapping up just 3 more weeks including finals. Im going to try to knock out some papers this weekend. My third to last class for my single subject credential just started and it is retarded. I am seriously considering either stopping after this class or just finishing my course work and skipping student teaching. First of all, the chances of me starting off my teaching career in high school are looking slimmer by the day. Second, if I have my masters or PhD and I decide to teach high school , all I would have to do is student teach and I can intern and basically skip the student teaching. Plus, its just time that would take away from focusion on my grad studies and my thesis. The money has already been spent as far as loans for the program but i dont know if there is any point in student teaching if I might not do it.

The only thing is I still really want to coach and I dont know how that will all work out if I decided to become a professor or not. Eh... might have to suck it up for a few more years and not coach as weird as that is. Who knows.. I still have time to think about it, this class will go until April and if I decided to just finish the classes Ill be done in June and I wouldnt student teach until next fall so.

Thats about it, need to get some books on Senegal and begin my literature review. If I can finish most of my reading by summer, knock out my paper over summer, and then just touch it up in the fall it would be ideal.

And another trip!

Well, I finally pulled the trigger and made the 3 hour drive to Las Vegas. My friend Matt was in town for his job and he got us a room comped at the Mandalay Bay shown above. It was the nicest hotel Ive ever stayed in and huge! We could have spent the whole time in their and not gotten bored. I was only up there for 2 nights and a day, but it seemed like we packed a lot in. We walked the strip a few times, gambled a little, drank a little too much on wednesday night at least, saw a burlesque show at one of the night clubs in the Mandalay Bay, went and saw Hoover Dam which is about 25 minutes southeast of the city. All in all it was a pretty cool experience, definitely something you should check out if you have the opportunity. A few words of advice however... first, make sure you have plenty of money as it is very expensive there; second, don't plan on sleeping a lot, the city doesn't really wake up until 9 or 10pm and goes all night. The weather was perfect when we were there, in the 60's and 70's; in the summer it is constantly around 100 so it gets super hot being that it is hot in the middle of a desert. I can see how people get trapped into Vegas and obsessed with it, but its not really me. Fun to visit once in a while, but there are a lot of other places I would rather go.

Its been a really busy 9 or 10 days for me. 3 papers, a midterm, and two trips. I think I've driven about 1,600 miles or so in 10 days.. which is a healthy amount. I don't mind that, I love driving and its been great. I was pretty exhausted yesterday though, I had to leave Vegas at 6am in order to get back home for work at 10am. So i was pretty tired, I went to bed at like 11:30pm last night and woke up at 8:30am for work so I got a good 9 hours which is like an eternity for me. I think that is what has made me the most tired, ive had alternating nights of 2-4 hours of sleep a night with 7-8 hours the next night, which will really screw up your sleeping schedule. Not too mention I probably drank 4 nights in the last 10 days, by far the most I ever have. So those things combined had worked me over a little. I feel good today though, my diet has been wacked out too (not diet like im on one or something but just the food I have been eating in general). So that is getting back to normal as well.

Im trying really hard to find some work I can do during the week. I love my job its so easy and I just do homework and read and stuff, but Im tired of working weekends. I dont make enough money (minimum wage) to make it worth my time anymore. I never hang out with my dad who goes quad riding like every other weekend but I always work. Also, I have to take off work to take all these little trips which I dont mind but it is just a pain. Im going to try to start subbing I think, also I have an interview tonight to assist a senior citizen just like 5 hours a week but 10$ an hour. I applied to a few writing things on craigslist to so we will see. If i can get 2 or 3 little things going that add up to how much I make right now, Ill quit here pretty soon I think.

School is finally winding down for the quarter, I only have 3 more regular weeks and then finals week. I have all 100%'s in my classes right now.. so I think I have a pretty good shot at getting a 4.0. I only have one more test left in any of my classes, its all papers and activities so its easy. As far as activities go.. The Indian Wells Tennis tourney will be here soon and im going March 12,13, and 22 I think. And then I leave for Cancun on March 26(my bday!) until March 31. Pretty busy month starting with the first trip up north last week, but I like that.

Sorry this post is so long, just had a lot to talk about I guess. Also, Im considering trying to create some kind of advice website.. I don't know just something I have always wanted to do, I think i have a lot of good advice to give on stuff and I like helping people so. We will see. Anyways take care and see you soon.

What a Trip!

Well I had quite the good time up north. I don't want to get into all the details because I could write for the next 6 hours about it. There are a few key points I want to point out however:

1. I made the 504 mile drive from Palm Desert to Vallejo in 6 hours and 15 minutes. This is an hour and 45 minutes less than Mapquest's estimated travel time.

2. The Bay was awesome as always; got to see my sis and Rob and see some friends in the city.

3. Reno was amazing. Im so happy I got to see Kenzie I had such a great time and was so bummed to leave. I hopefully will make it up there again soon...

4. Auburn area was good, got to see some family which I skipped last time I was up (X-mas/New years). Two uncles and two cousins. Got to see some of my best buddies too which is always fun.

5. The drive home was pretty good, saw Kyle Stowers before I left and made it from Roseville to Mo Val in about 7.5 hours or so. Not burning like I did going up, but there wasnt much of a rush.

Well thats it in a nut shell, I could write about Reno in particular for quite a while. Those thoughts however I shall keep to myself haha. My dad and I got like a weight machine tower today so i have something to work out now besides my little free weights. Ran today for the first time in over a week, which was good. Finished my paper turned it in and scheduled my classes for next quarter. Take care everyone.

Calm before the storm

Well I am about 7 hours away from beginning my drive to the bay area. I already did laundry and packed. I finished both of my papers for my online class and submitted them. I finished half of my analytical paper that is due next monday, so ill just finish that sunday when I get home. I put together a study guide for my midterm tonight and I have studied a little so I just need to finish studying it and Im all set. I watched 300 earlier and Im just about to finish Super Bad, both are great movies. Ive just had them going in the background while I finished everything. I got my directions ready to get to my sisters, even tho ive been there a few times from this direction, I always forget one exit. Im hoping to be leaving my midterm at like 9pm and its going to take me around 7 hours and 15 minutes to get up there so im gonna get there around 4 in the morning. Im going to get a coffee right before class and have a few energy drinks in reserve. Got my music ready.. should be all good.

I dont know if Ill post while im up north so if not hope everyone has a good week and Ill post again when I get home. Bye

The Grind

Well, it has been a busy few days and its not going to get any slower. I took my dad thursday night to see Robin Williams perform standup comedy live in San Diego. He was awesome, completely funny. The guy has so much energy for a 57 year old, he is just like non-stop go go go. He made jokes about bush, obama, the human body, all kinds of stuff I loved it.

Then last night I took my friend Andrea to see John Legend live out in Indio. Oh man he was legit! His voice is so good live, plays the piano and just entertains. He played about 20 songs from all 3 of his cds. The night started out kind of stressful with traffic and we thought we were going to be late. The show was suppose to start at 8pm, we got there at 8:30 and he walked in right by us so it was perfect timing. What a great concert. Afterwards, we stopped by my uncles for a bit before heading back home.

The rest of this weekend I need to try to do all my homework for my next week in my teaching class because Im leaving tuesday night and I do not want to have to worry about doing homework up north. I also have my midterm tuesday night that I need to study for and I have an analytical essay that will be due the day after I get home from up north. Busy busy, but its good I like having stuff to do.

Played tennis thursday, it was the first time ive played in probably a month that I actually felt like I had improved. My serve is slowly working itself out and I was a lot more steady on both the forehand and backhand sides. John and I played four sets and it was good, somewhat competitive tennis.

Today is Valentine's Day, so I guess I should say a little something about it. Ive only ever had a girlfriend on two valentine's days, so it has never been a huge holiday for me. I spent last year's in Athens and there was no mention of it anywhere - apparently it barely exists in Europe. I did do something special for someone, we will see if they can figure it out and I get a phone call from them later today. Ill have to post in the next few days and disclose my plan to everyone haha.

Oh yeah.. Finished the Obama biography. It was a really good and insightful book, from an outside perspective. I am about halfway through a book called "Life of Pi", which is a really cool, magical, cute kind of story. Haha that sounds weird, but I don't know any other way to describe it. Its good though and I highly recommend it. I hope everyone has a wonderful valentine's day and weekend. See you soon.

Super Saturdays

Well, I think I might have figured out a topic for my master's thesis. I was in the shower today when it struck me that Senegal is one of the most stable democracies in Africa.. maybe the most stable. Another interesting thought hit me... Senegal is a Muslim country.. wait what? Thats right, A muslim country besides India (which has a multitude of religions and is not predominantly muslim) that has a healthy, stable operating democracy. Why? I do not know, but maybe I can find out why and write my thesis about it. In this day and age where our new President is about DIPLOMACY and spreading democracy peacefully it would be an interesting thing to look in to. I have been thinking about writing my thesis on Africa so why not Senegal?

In other news.. I have a busy week coming up. Thursday is San Diego with my pops to see Robin Williams perform Stand up comedy. Friday is John Legend concert in Indio. Hmm, The next week might be even busier though, but Im going to keep that under wraps unless the chance that a certain someone stumbles on this blog and it ruins a surprise. Did not have the greatest week as far as working out and my cardio ugh... Its been raining down here and messing with my plans a little.

Everything is going pretty well though. I have been playing a lot of Halo and Rock Band 2. I can play most songs on expert for guitar and bass pretty easily except some of the solos. I can sing a lot of the songs on hard, expert is pretty tough. On drums I have gotten a lot better and I am starting to play almost all the songs on hard and a few on expert. In Halo, there are two areas of my game that have really improved. First, is sticking people with sticky grenades. I probably average 1.5-2 sticks per match which is really good. Ive had some unbelieable ones in the past week too. The other area is my sniping because im finally practicing it a little. Also the last two days I have been using the Spartan laser a little and have improved with that as well.

About done with the Obama biography I have been reading, have only like 20 pages left. Ill probably finish it tonight. I read Obamas Audacity of Hope which rocked, this is called from Promise to Power by David Mendell. It covers Obama from before his race for the Illinois senate right up to the point where he announced his presidential candidacy. Its really interesting to get the opinion of someone who was near him almost every day and had a lot of access to him (Mendell is a writer for the Chicago Tribune who covered Obama). I want to buy and read Obama's first book now "Dreams from my father" its suppose to be really good.

I feel really restless lately. Im fairly busy I guess, with school, work, exercise, reading, watching movies, tv, and playing video games. I dont know why but I constantly feel the need to plan and look to the future. I just have a hard time being content with things. It is a little frustrating because I plan trips and buy things to fill up my schedule when its not always necessary. I dont really regret it, just not sure why I wont let myself feel complacent. Oh well.

Tomorrow is my dads birthday, Im suppose to take him to BJs tomorrow night with my uncle but Brendan never called me back. I didnt buy my dad a card or bake him a cake yet.. hmm. Not really sure what to do, I would bake him a cake but we have had so many cookies and candy and junk in this house lately I really dont want to have to eat any. Its kinda selfish. I got an idea though. I could wake up early and make him breakfast... Thats a good idea. Pancakes maybe.. hmm I only have 1 egg though. Ill think of something. Anyways long post, guess I had a lot on my mind. See you soon

I love Thursdays

Well the Cardinals almost pulled them off, but the Steelers held them off 27-23. Great super bowl though. Lets see Roger lost in the Oz open final to Nadal in 5 sets which im still a little bitter about so I dont want to talk about it lol. Things are going well though. School is going really good and its easy which doesn't hurt. Reading an Obama book right now which is really good. Tells the story about his rise to power, so its really interesting. Been playing a lot of Halo with Garrett and Randy which is always fun and my sister and her bf got their xbox back so Ive played Rock Band 2 with them a few times. Im probably going to play a little later today. Cancun is only 7 weeks away so its coming up quick. Im still doing cardio and working out; my nutrition has not been as good as it started but Im starting to whip it back into shape. Ive gained about 5 lbs in muscle mass in a month though which is a good start. I have been playing tennis two times a week which I love... Im trying to learn the legitimate way to serve a tennis ball and its really hard. I have my serve that I do just to get it in which is fine, but its not the proper way to serve. Also, my backhand slice and drops shots are starting to really develop. However, my forehand and regular backhand strokes are still really inconsistant. Just have to keep plugging away I guess. John and I are thinking about going to see the French Open which is the last week of May and first week of June which would be totally awesome.

Lot of interesting dreams lately: three nights ago I was a bodyguard for Obama, 2 nights ago I was back coaching football at colfax, and last night I was at a grocery store and saw like 10 people I knew from high school. All really vivid too.. I go through periods where this happens. Its usually a good thing too so no complaints from me.

In other news, my dads bday is on sunday and hes turning the big 50. Im taking him to Bj's since he has never gone and Brendan (his bro) and Brendan's gf are going to meet us there. Then, a week from today Im taking him to San Diego to see Robin Williams do stand up comedy, which should be sweet. The night after that Im going to see John Legend in concert which will be sweet.

The only other news is that in the last few weeks Ive really begun to develop an awesome relationship with a friend that I went to high school with but was never super close with. Its been awesome talking to her each night and I definitely like talking to her this much, shes an awesome person.

Well thats my update for now haha, hope all is well with everyone.

Friday

Hmm.. My posts are starting to get further and further apart. I dont think its lack of interest in posting, more of just having more stuff to do now that school is going on. Well, Roger Federer destroyed Andy Roddick and will be facing Rafael Nadal is the Aussie Final. It should be a great match althought it took Nadal 5 long, hard sets and the longest match in Aussie open history to advance. Im hoping his match against Fernando Verdasco wore him out. Got to play Rock Band today with Rob (Sister's bf) which was a lot of fun. He got his Xbox back from being repaired. What else.. about finished with my online class and a new one starts monday. Went out to dinner with a friend tonight.. was good to see her haven't talked to her much lately. Tried to get her to see John Legend with me, which she initially agreed too but then realized she is going to be out of town. Not much going on otherwise, playing tennis tomorrow night after work, which im excited about. Have to finish up some homework that is due wednesday. Super Bowl is on sunday... I hope Arizona wins; Im not a huge Pittsburgh Steeler fan. I have been playing a lot of Halo lately too which has been fun. Hmm... I guess thats about it for now, take care everyone!

Yesterday was one of the greatest sports days to be me!

First, Uconn's Mens basketball team which is ranked #3 in the nation beat #19 Notre Dame at Notre Dame. They won by about ten points and this is huge because Notre Dame had the nation's longest home winning streak at 45 games. It was a great win and since the #1 team lost last week, Uconn should be ranked #2 just behind the hated Duke Blue Devils. Next, Uconn's Womens basketball team which is ranked #1 and has been all year rolled up poor Cincinatti by about 35 points. Things are looking good for Uconn basketball, especially the women who have not lost all year and beat the #2 ranked North Carolina by about 30. The men have only lost once, so things are looking good.

Then, I went and played Tennis with my friend John and FINALLY figured out how to spin the ball in on my serve. Its more a slider spin then the traditional top spin the pros use as there second serve. But, when I got it in John had some trouble returning it, so I played fairly well and Im getting better. I just dont get my backhand right now though, it consistantly floats out of the court. That is easily the worst part of my game right now and I need to figure out how to make it better. Also, I hit some flat serves with more velocity and some pretty good forehands. I even landed a drop shot on him, so things are improving there.

Finally, I get home to Watch Roger Federer (above) play Tomas Berdych in the fourth round of the Aussie Open. They have played 8 times, Roger has only lost once it was the very first time they played at the 2004 olympics. Berdych won the first two sets and Roger managed to come back and win the last 3 sets to win the match. Besides the Wimbledon final last year, it was one of the best matches I have seen. All in all it was a good day. Im just working on some football stuff right now (watching film) and im excited that ill be playing tennis again tonight at 5. See you later

Crazy Week

Lets see.. I played Tennis last Sunday night. I found out on Monday that John Legend is going to be performing in Indio on Valentine's Day. Im so pumped he is one of my favorite singers so I will definately be there. I just need to find someone to go with me haha. School was good this week, had a big presentation on Wednesday that my group nailed. Tuesday night, my uncle and his girlfriend took me out in palm desert and I met Anthony Kim. He is a famous golfer, he bought us shots, i got his autograph, picture with him and I even sang kareoke with him haha. I have never sang Kareoke before that night but I did it 3 times that night and it was fun. He was hella nice and down-to-earth and so were all the people he was with. I talked to his trainer for like 30 minutes and he was cool too. I got him # and gave him a ring last night but I doubt he will call me back. He is hella busy and probably has a million people bothering him. It was a good night though.

I went to Anaheim today and had lunch with Dennis, an old buddy with Winchester. He came to Disneyland with him family for one of his son's birthdays. Its always fun to chat with Dennis, he is funny as hell. Everything is good besides all that too, school is good, and my workout/cardio/nutrition deal for spring break is going well too. Anyways, talk to you soon.

Plans Plans Plans

Lets see: Im going to try like a laundry list type post to see how this goes instead of my traditional blog.

1. Just finished my online hw and reading for my master's classes while I was here at work.
2. I went to My first lakers game last night, a tennis buddy (Omar) brought me on his field trip with his class it was pretty awesome and a good game. Lakers lost (sorry for all you lakers fans)
3. Trying to get my dad to take some time off so I can fly him to Dublin for like 4 days for his 50th birthday. I want to do something big that he will never forget.
4. I have monday off of schools because of Martin Luther King day... Yay!
5. Im playing tennis tonight with my other tennis buddy John at 6pm which will be fun since I haven't played since last Sat. or Sun. I think.

Well that worked pretty good, don't think I will be doing it permanently, but its a nice change up. Oh yeah watched "Memoirs of a Geisha" yesterday-today; LOVE that movie. In other big news.. well I guess that is it for now. Don't know if I mentioned it but getting ready for cancun im working out and doing cardio 3 days a week so 6 days im active and I take sundays off. Im also writing down my workouts and everything I eat in a journal. First week went well so far, after this 9 to go... See you soon.

Thursday..

Thursday is by far the best day of the week.. Why? because I don't have school or work! lol not that my work is very hard. Well the only two big things going on right now are 1. me getting ready for Cancun, and 2. I had my first week of classes. Im doing a cardio/work out/nutrition program for the ten weeks leading up to Cancun. I want to get my chest a little bigger and tone my abs a little bit. As far as school, I think this will be a really easy quarter; my longest paper is going to be 12 pages. Also, there is only a few assignments in each class so it should be good. Two of my professors seems a little boring, so I need to try and stay motivated... Other than that life is good.

Oh yeah! I got my Indian Wells tickets in the mail, so excited for that tournament. My Tuesday night class is out in Palm Desert too so I get to stay at my uncles every week now which will be fun to see him and Jennie. Thats all for now, take care!

BIG TIME!!!

For those of you who do not know what that picture is of, it is where I will be spending my spring break for 5 days and 6 nights, from March 26 (my birthday) to March 31.... CANCUN!!! I am so pumped for this!! It all started with me wanting to do something and go abroad for spring break. I have been checking airfare for a few weeks and trying to decide where I wanted to go. I finally had an idea that it might be fun to go somewhere tropical for spring break since I have never done that; in fact besides going to Maui for a week one summer I haven't been anywhere tropical period. So I called my buddy Matt and after talking about it, planning on a trip to Cabo San Lucas for 6 hours, realizing that wouldn't work, then spending another 6 hours planning a trip to Cancun and finally pulling the trigger on it. This all occurred yesterday too by the way. I am so excited for this trip for a couple of reasons:

1. Gives me motivation to run/lift weights to look good for my birthday and the trip.

2. Gives me something to look forward to after this next quarter of school.

There is so many cool things to do in Cancun.. obviously the nightlife, clubs, bars etc will be awesome. However, there is also snorkel, scuba, atv, horseback riding, beaches(some of the most beautiful white sand beaches and crystal blue water in the world), deep sea fishing, Mayan Ruins, golf, tennis, shopping... and the list goes on and on. My friend Matt doesn't have his passport yet so hes going to get that, which is good because I think everyone should have it. Also his airfare roundtrip out of Sacramento was 430$... pretty cheap and its only going to get more expensive as time goes on. Mine including the hotel booking was like 697$, the flight stand alone was like 320$ so 5 nights at the hotel was only 380$ about 75$ a night which is really cheap for cancun especially on spring break. The brilliant thing too is that we are staying right in the hotel zone which has the best beaches and nightlife.

One last thing about Cancun... our other friend Garrett might come which would be fun and good because the hotel would be cheaper and this is like a once in a lifetime experience.

Hmm, thats my big news for the last 5 days.. My teaching credential class is going and seems pretty good so far; real school starts monday night which will be nice to get back on the grind. Oh, I played tennis tonight and during the day on thursday. I really have improved quite a bit which is nice. My friend I play with is a 4.0 and I actually played a set with him tonight in which I broke him 3 times and held my serve once so I only lost the set 4-6; a big improvement for me! My serves actually are getting better and more consistent as are my groundstrokes.

Well I know this was a long post, but I guess it doesn't matter since no one reads my blog haha. Im just so excited about Cancun. I have a blog I run on my International trips and I might have to bust it out for this trip. Although, this time I don't know if I want some of my older family members reading it haha. Anyways, Im figuring out my workout/training regiment for the next 2.5 months and I AM SO EXCITED FOR CANCUN!!! Talk to you all soon!

$$$

Well I spent a ton of money yesterday and today. Yesterday I bought my tickets for the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament at the end of March. Its right next to my uncle's house in Palm Desert and I bought tickets for 3 days and it cost 140$. I really want to see Roger Federer live though so I don't mind. Today, I bought the rest of my books for school which ran me about 75$ not bad. Thank god for the internet, otherwise school books would be brutal. Then, I bought Rock Band 2 from some guy for 160$ which is about 40$ cheaper than in the stores. THEN, I bought a new phone for a few reasons. First, my contract ran out this month and secondly my old phone was at the point that if I talked on it for more than 20 minutes it would die. Slightly annoying. So I bought a Blackberry Curve which is sick. Ive heard they tend to break but I'll just have to be careful (I bought a holster so it should protect it.

I was wanting to go somewhere this week since its my last week off before school starts, but since I spend so much money I think I will just hang out at home. Im contemplating taking a trip somewhere on my spring break which is the last week of march/first week of april. We will see. I want to travel again. Hm, Europe would be cheapest, well domestic would be then carribbean and central america. I want to go across an ocean though. Oh I played Portal (game on the Orange Box for Xbox) and beat it in like 3 hours. Just a cool puzzle game made by Valve and I started Half-life 2 by the same company. Played Halo for a bit tonight with a buddy, so I haven't even opened up my Rock Band yet haha. Tomorrow though; I'll have to get Shannon and Rob on it so we can play together.

Well thats about it, not sure why im still awake. Just don't feel like sleeping yet. In one of those weird, pondering moods too. Not that its a bad thing, just thinking a lot thats all. :) have a wonderful night.

What a Fiasco

"Fiasco" by Thomas Ricks is one of the most powerful books I have ever read. It describes in depth the American operation in Iraq from before the invasion in 2003 to mid-2006. The amount of detail is insane and for someone who embarrassingly didn't know a ton about the war I learned so much. I really want to look more deeply at the war since mid-2006 too that way I really know what has transpired during the length of the conflict.

Work was nice and easy this weekend; just read and watched football. This next week is my last week off before I start back at school so Im trying to decide what Im going to do. I might go down to San Diego for a night or maybe somewhere else. Also, Im going to try to get up to the Bay Area the weekend of January 23-25 since my buddy from Athens is coming to visit.

I have a few more books I want to finish before break: No Country for Old Men and then the rest of my Euripedes (Ancient Greek Playwright) plays. I know I'll finish No Country, not too sure about the plays though. This is kind of off-subject but I have really been giving thought to pursuing my PhD. When I talked to Jason Stowers when I was up north he suggested if I can keep my grades up. I was considering adding a Political Science class because of this (Although I have already completed my Poli Sci requirement for my Masters degree, if I got a doctorate it would have to be in Poli Sci because History PhD's require competency in like 3 or 4 languages). However, I think that since im already taking 3 classes which is 13 quarter units, I'll wait until a later quarter. Thats all for now, hope everyone is well.