Cafeteria Tray Adventures

Someone I know – who shall remain nameless – works in the cafeteria here on campus, and with every cafeteria you have trays. Trays to put your plate on, drinks on, etc. But did you know that these cafeteria trays are also excellent for sledding on? As in…these suckers fly!

There is a lot of sledding around here. As you might suspect. But one of the coolest things about all aspects of sledding here is finding the latest, greatest thing you can sled on. The traditional options are great. I’ve never been the biggest fan of the saucer sled, but I most definitely love rolling on the cafeteria trays. The key is to have at least two, but optimally four trays: one under your butt, one under your feet, and one for each hand. This allows for the ability to feign some sort of slalom technique…which makes for a bunch of dudes, and snow chicks doing some absurdly stupid and goofy looking stuff on a large, snow-covered hill.

No. These trays are not stolen. Don’t you dare go there. They’re merely borrowed. We “pay” for their use, and I have never seen anything in regards to what they’re “not” to be used for…so if we’re told to stop, we’ll stop. In the meantime. It’s snowing right now, and today we’re gonna have some races.

Hey! Guess what I had for breakfast? Guess what I had for lunch? Guess what I’m going to have as dessert after a hearty, post-sledding dinner?

What can I say. Tuesdays are my Mondays.

To Reach a Destination you First Need Direction

I did it. I ordered it. When I say it. I mean Proactiv. I had no idea they had so much stuff for sale on the website. I should have just grabbed a box of it from the kiosk when I was in Madison at the mall, but I felt like my skin was cooperating better there, and out of sight, out of mind. Anyway, I just got the standard kit, and I also ordered a moisturizer. I was doing some research, and considering the weather here, I think an additional moisturizer might help some of my problem. Dead skin cells being a huge acne proponent. Don’t need more of those acne proponents. Need acne killers. Stoppers. I need this moisturizer to be the Ray Lewis of fighting acne.

I’m not expecting a miracle, but I do have my hopes pretty high that it’ll work. I mean, all those celebrities who use the stuff? And yeah. I believe that they do. ‘Cause acne sucks. You don’t go telling people that you have skin problems even if you’re getting paid to do it. But when you have skin problems and get rid of them…? You want everyone to know. So. That’s what I’m hoping. It’ll probably get here within the next couple of days, and I’m excited to get started with it.

Shifting gears. I’m going to be working a ton this winter, and probably into the spring. But from what I understand, spring isn’t really spring here. It just keeps snowing until it’s almost summer. I asked someone the other day if it was possible to get to Silverton during the winter, and they said that it’s a near impossibility at times. That they close the road through the passes because it is so unsafe to travel. Might get stuck up there and do like the Donner party. Eek.

BCS Championship Madness

I don’t have a dog in the fight, but I’m pretty amped for the game tonight. Got a double or nothing with Maggie. She’s going with Alabama and I’m going with LSU. You know how teams seem to have those seasons of destiny? Not only that, but I watched the first game and LSU seemed to play a very conservative game plan. All those athletes and they served vanilla. And still won. Maggie thinks playing in New Orleans will be a distraction for the guys from Louisiana, and I think she just doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

I was looking at the lines on my betting site, and for the last five weeks it has been a straight push or LSU -1. Which basically means that the sportsbooks don’t think people want action on the game. I don’t. I wouldn’t touch it with a 29 and a half foot pole. But I’ll certainly offer my lady double or nothing. It’s just laundry. But that’s multiple loads…and I’ll take it. Wash. Dry. Fold. And she’s got an iron, so I may have her press some trousers.

I’m thinking about trying Proactiv. I know I’ve said this about 10 times before, but something’s got to give. I’m just not interested in this acne anymore. It does me no favors. I know that ultimately people don’t care, but I just don’t even like the thought of being referred to as, “…I can’t remember his name…really nice guy…um, he’s kind of got acne issues…? Yeah, that’s him…” Seriously, who wants to be known as the zit haver? Clearly it was never a goal. And I’ve been moaning about it for two years on this blog, and now, as I get a little older and more frustrated with it, I start to think that I really wasted serious opportunity with a stellar dermatologist. Seriously. F*** My Zits and F*** my absurd teenage ideology. Turn 20 this month, you know. Time to quit acting like a stubborn 9 year old.

Victim of Statistics

Got in a freakin’ car accident today. The rush of adrenalin was overwhelming. I know my face will be suffering the consequences of this one. Anyway, no real damage to my car…actually it’s my grandpa’s. No damage, but Maggie was with me, and it scared the crap out of her. I think the person who hit us was texting, and just bumped us pretty good in the rear bumper. It was a mom, and she was rattled, and I tried to stay cool about it, but she didn’t know what to do. Her car was pretty dinged, and I told her if she wanted to we could call the police, or we could just exchange insurance information, which we did.

I guess that’s the way it goes. When you get behind the wheel I guess you will eventually have an accident. At least statistics suggest such. Anyway, I told my grandpa, and he came out and looked and said he couldn’t even tell anything happened to the car, so he called the lady and told her that he wasn’t going to file a claim. Still, it’s kind of a bummer to end the Christmas vacation like this. Just thought I’d share. And I’m sure I’ll share about my zits that develop from it in the very near future.

OK. Time to pack. A few have asked about wedding dates. We’re not there, yet. We’ll talk as the semester progresses, but we’re thinking a winter wedding around next Christmas. We’re also both staying in Durango, and staying in school through the summer, we’ll probably finish in about 3.5 years. Well, 3 years from now. Just gonna depend on a lot of things…well, maybe a few things.

Merry Christmas!

It has been a dandy day. I sneaked myself away from the group for a few minutes. I believe I mentioned…my grandparent’s place is large…anyway, nobody will find me. I’m in the basement, and they’re all playing games upstairs. A variety of them, too. Some people shooting pool, playing chess, ladies playing cards and running the show. A few of the youngers in a room watching a movie… It has been a wonderful day.

I scored new snowboarding stuff, including new boots and a board. I bought my other one used, not knowing how I’d take to the activity, but considering where I’m living now, I’ll be riding as often as possible. Maggie is gonna use my old one. It’s a little big for her, but at that, it was a little small for me. So, maybe it’ll be perfect. She scored some new boots, too, from my mom and dad.

Last night was awesome with her family. She had an uncle who came over, and he used to play football for Wisconsin, so it was fun to chat with him about all things football related. He asked me why I stopped playing after I had an incredible beginning to a short-lived career. He thinks I need to walk on next year, and said I’ll regret it someday if I don’t. I think he might be right. Anyway, I love her family and I love her. Madly. I remember how nervous I was to meet her. How my face wasn’t cooperating – neither was the stomach, or general nervous system. Anyway, as soon as we met it was just easy. Never had any expectations, and the next thing we knew, we were just enjoying one another’s company…and will have been for two years in another 6 days. My family loves her…a lot of them just meeting her and her family for the first time.

So. My face. It’s as good as it’s gonna get for the Christmas season, I suppose.

Gotta roll. We’re off to catch Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.

Merry Christmas! And have a wonderful Boxing Day.

It’s Time to Light the Old Yule Log

Ah yes. There is nothing like lighting the Yule Log. Please enjoy this as much as I do. Listen to it loudly. It is such a fantastic Christmas classic.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

I was chatting with my grandpa, who had never heard this. He’s like a little kid after hearing it. I thought he was going to pee himself he was laughing so hard. Now he’s walking around with his iPhone playing it over and over again. I think he’s trying to memorize it to perform it on Christmas Day. Such a cool guy. We were chatting about the sheer quantity of people who will be on here on Christmas, and he said, “Now you know why we have this house. I told your grandmother that I would never live in a place with more than two bedrooms unless she promised me big parties throughout the year. This will be the biggest and best Christmas yet.”

Doesn’t get better than that from a grandson’s perspective. I just know I need to be like this man when he’s gone someday, and I’m walking in his shoes. That having been said, I’m hopeful to have many more years in his presence. And I agree. I think it will be the biggest and best Christmas yet.

Famaree

I remember when my little sis couldn’t say family. I know. I know. You thought I was making fun of Asian people whose first language is not English. No, no. If that were the case, I would have used something that possessed the letter L. It’s always good to have the whole family together. Such a great energy. I love this group of people, what can I say? I don’t know if I’ve mentioned in the past two years that we always do our Christmas presents on Christmas Day with everyone there… so literally, everyone brings all of their presents, and I’m telling you, you’ve never seen a stash like this. It’s quite absurd. There are probably 20-25 of us on any given year… plus presents… amazing.

Losing my other grandma earlier this month really got me to thinking about how special these occasions are. When I talk about them, I get that nobody can quite understand what I’m say. The sheer magnitude. AND, the coolest thing for me is that Maggie and her family are all joining us this year. Our parents have become pretty tight due to our relationship, and got each other presents this year, so they’re doing something with Mags Dad’s side of the family on Christmas Eve, which I’m joining for, and then they’re all coming to my grandparent’s place on Christmas morning.

We generally get together mid-morning, rap, play games, watch TV, sports, then have a nice brunch/lunch, lounge for awhile and open gifts. If I’ve offered all this info. before…I’ve just wasted 45 seconds of your time.

Every year someone says something about my complexion, and I snap at them, but I think with Mags being around this year, people will try to embarrass me in other ways. Not humiliate me. Just razz me. I’m looking forward to it.

I Knew These Zits Meant Something…

I had to turn around and head back to Arizona this weekend. Strange unfolding of circumstances. It was like my body knew it before it happened. My face broke out, pretty bad. Probably all the traveling and excess around Thanksgiving. Wow. Thanksgiving already seems like it was months ago. Last Monday I got a call that my grandma, not the one in Wisconsin – rather Arizona, was not doing very well – turned out that was an understatement. She died later that night.

I pushed through classes M – TR, and then hopped back in the car and went back to Phoenix Thursday afternoon. Maggie had a bunch of stuff planned, and I didn’t want her to cancel, so she stayed. She had met this grandma, but I dunno, I just didn’t see the point of dragging her down there.

So. Now, apparently, my zits are prophetic. When something bad is gonna happen they get gnarly. I get back home, and my little brother says to me, “You look like hell…” Thanks, little man. That’s how it goes, I suppose. The siblings will always tell you the truth as they see it.

Our relationship with this grandma had been a little strained. Very unfortunate, actually. My Dad’s mom. He took it tough. My grandparents divorced when I was really young. My dad kind of took sides. Of course the relationship continued to exist with both parties, but where my grandpa stayed in our lives until he passed away several years ago, my grandma was only here and there. With us going to Wisconsin nearly every Christmas it just offered for a strange dynamic. So. To say the least, I’m sure there’s a boat load of stories that I’ve missed, and the second side to the story of what happened with my pops and grams.

Happy to be back. Ready for finals to begin! Let’s get it on. …and f*** these zits!

Oh, My Zits. How I’ve Neglected Thee

It has been too long since I’ve offered appropriate props to the disease so known and hated as Acne Vulgaris. It is vulgar. Just nasty.

You ever think about other people with zits? I do. I wonder about the worst case of acne that has ever existed. It’s almost hard to imagine. Just when you think you’ve seen bad acne, you’ll come across something that is ever worse. I’m not going to play the bridge to the links and photos of some of the worst acne ever, but some poor people are literally so infected with acne – and that’s what it is, an infection – that they just won’t go out in public. Instead of skin that is fighting acne it is like the skin has become completely overwhelmed with acne sores. Like, cystic acne sores. It’s really sad. I don’t know what you would do about such a severe problem.

While I’ve become exhausted with my acne at times, I can say that it comes and goes. It’s mild to moderate. It just never really, fully goes away. I can admit that I haven’t really ever offered anything consistent in terms of treatment. I’ll get two weeks in and still be experiencing the same here today, gone tomorrow, back the next day acne that I’ve had for a few years now. Ugh. So annoying that I can really say “a few years now.”

I was talking one of my cousins in L.A. back during March Madness when we went over to catch Arizona…anyway, he was telling me how his cleared up while he was in college – would show from time to time – but then when he was 23, almost 24, he started having problems with mild cystic acne, randomly…all over his face. Great. That’s just great to hear. I asked him what he did to get rid of it, and he said he didn’t mess around – went to a doctor and got a prescription. I’ve been good about going to a doctor, just never good at obeying her orders.

Today. Not too terribly bad. Subsiding again. What can I say? F*** my zits!

What a Weekend Part 2 (Saturday)

Welcome back to the Denver trek. I left you on Friday night.

Saturday morning we got up early, and drove a few miles to Morrison, which is where Red Rocks is. I’ve always wanted to see a concert at this venue, and I know for sure that I’ll be back at some point to do it. We just had a nice hike, before going back to the hotel, grabbing some breakfast and a shower. We checked out, and then just got in the car and started driving. I had Maggie close her eyes, and choose which direction we were going. Somehow we ended up in little shopping center with some quaint shops and restaurants. Walked around there, window shopped, had lunch, then we bolted for Colorado Springs.

We decided we’d go down there because it’s on the way back to Durango, and we both really wanted to check out what it had to offer. We got a few hours of daylight in Old Colorado City, which was amazing – Garden of the Gods and stuff like that…shops…cool people. Crashed out a bed and breakfast. All these people thought we were older than we were. Very funny conversations everywhere we went, then we’d inevitably say, “We’re college Freshman.” And they’d say, “What!? You’re kidding. I/We thought you were much older.” I don’t think we look older, but I guess we do.

After the breakfast we wandered around for a bit, then hopped in the car to enjoy the drive back during the day. It was an absolutely beautiful weekend. The drive back was one of the most beautiful – scratch that – the most beautiful drive I’ve ever been on. I believe I failed to mention that we got out later than we hoped on Thursday, so it was dark for most of the drive. Mountains, valleys, waterfalls, the Continental Divide… all great stuff. And the Cardinals (Arizona) didn’t even lose…because they weren’t playing. Ugh.

My face? It’s Wednesday and my face is reflecting the weekend. Very good stuff. Very. Good. Stuff.