PBDC Day 4/31: On My Mind

I write many of my blogs between 11pm and 1am. I have the news on in the background, but I'm really just leaving it on for The Tonight Show, and other times when I've tried it with the TV off with the intention of turning it on at the right time, I'm usually late. I have a day off tomorrow. This prompt was on Day 17 of last month. The Romeikes get to stay. I want a dog. My stomach is a little rumbly, but I shouldn't be eating this late in the day, especially if I plan on going to sleep anytime soon. This post, yes this very one you're reading is for the fourth day of March, and combined with the 28 days in February, that will make this my 32nd daily blog in a row. My Duolingo streak is at 40 days. I like learning another language, and although I've been wanting to get back to French (which I learned in high school) I feel that learning Spanish would help me, especially if I want to move into a management position back in California. I don't know when California will be my home once again, I'm really starting to like it here now that jobs have stabilized a bit for my wife and I, but in a creepy coincidence, since we've started at our new jobs, we've been in the longest winter either of us have experienced. The first snow was around Veterans Day, and today on Fat Tuesday, the frigid weather has bled into its fifth month. I am excited for it to be warmer, but eventually it'll get ridiculously hot, and well, the same folks that complained about how cold it has been will be saying it's too damn hot. Yeah, I was raised in California, and I've lived in a handful of coastal states spending too much time at the beach, but there's something calming about the winter. And the way I've been looking at it, when it's cold you can always add another layer, but when it keeps warming up, well you still have to wear clothes to work, right? I can't be showing up to work in shorts, flip flops, and tank tops now can I? At least that's what I'm telling myself.

breath

Not "breathe" like the verb, but "breath" like a single breath. Today isn't really a free write, although it definitely appears to be that, but what I'm writing about is exactly what the prompt...well, prompted. This is what's on my mind. Presented in a stream-of-consciousness manner (how very theatre-kid of me) but typed out for everyone to read. I'm ready for the news to be over. I don't care too much for high school basketball, and I really like watching Jimmy Fallon and the gang on The Tonight Show. I just watched the clip of Fallon, The Roots, and Idina Menzel performing "Let It Go" in their music room. So many people have been sharing their "Travoltized" names, running with John Travolta's odd mispronunciation of Menzel's name when introducing her Oscars performance for the award-winning original song from the Oscar-winning animated feature, Frozen. If you happen to one of the few people who haven't heard about this yet, he said "Adele Dazeem," which sent social media into a mocking frenzy over his (still to this point) unexplained mishap. That has been one of the biggest social media aftershocks from this years Academy Awards, with the two others I've noticed being Ellen's Twitter-breaking group selfie and the onslaught of articles and memes about Leo losing out on another opportunity to go home with the miniature golden naked man. Fallon's on. I don't feel bad for Leo. Just like I didn't feel bad for Meryl Streep or Julia Roberts. I didn't see The Wolf of Wall Street, but hearing all the buzz about it and thinking of all other blockbusters that Leo has been in made me think that maybe it isn't Leo's performances that are falling short, it's maybe the fact that he's being dwarfed by these gigantic movies. I was glad to see the Gravity won as many awards as it did, and was also happy to see how happy the team behind 12 Years A Slave winning Best Picture. I did see Gravity in the movie theatre, and I'm glad I did. That film is the reason I still go see movies on the big screen. Swallowed by space, drenched in a darkness in a really comfortable seat, stereo sound at a volume that is only dwarfed by concerts, you get what I'm saying, right? Movies with less special effects like, The Blind Side, for example (which I did love that movie) it isn't as imperative to see it on the big screen. The first film I remember seeing at the movies is Jurassic Park, yes the first one. Another movie I've really enjoyed seeing in the theatre, Speed Racer. Yes, I do like the experience of seeing plenty of movies while they're out in movie theaters, but what I'm getting at is that there are some films that are better enjoyed on the big screen, enveloped in darkness where you can't hear yourself breathe. I don't go to the movies as often as I want, but then again, I don't really do anything as much as I want besides breathe. However, writing every single day for the last 32 days has been really great, and I find myself looking forward to writing my daily blog each morning.

Commercial break.

Not from my blog. From The Tonight Show. My legs are getting numb, and back hurts a little bit, but that's probably because these bungee chairs aren't the most supportive, although they are pretty awesome. I really wish there was a Denny's close by, or even better, a Waffle House. They're a cash only establishment. At least they were when we went all the time in South Carolina. Today was free pancake day at IHOP. Sweet for those who got to go. I'm not a huge fan of pancakes, as in I won't go out of my way for them or have cravings for them, but I'll still enjoy them if they're around. I wore my undercover Niners fan thermal today. It's dark gray with "HUNTERS POINT" in red, capital letters across the chest. A couple articles have been released in the last day or so reporting that Kaepernick has been asking for $18 million dollars a year. A social media uprising has started, mostly from Niners fans, sharing really rude and hateful comments, but with a valid point. Why should he be paid that much if he wasn't won a Super Bowl yet? I get the viewpoint, and I wholly agree, but I have about as much say in their play-calling as I do their contract negotiations, and whatever they do, whether they give it to him, boot him for being greedy, or he leaves for a team that will give him more money, I'll still be a Niners fan. #ForeverFaithful, right? Super Bowl L will be hosted in the new Levi's stadium in Santa Clara, California, and Niners fans can agree it would be so sweet to win a super bowl at home, but I'm looking for a win sooner, because the 49ers winning Super Bowl 49 would be Super awesome. And if that happened, they could then have the opportunity to defend their super awesomeness AT Super Bowl 50 at home. That would mean they could win back-to-back Super Bowls, and, well, yeah, that's just a lot of super awesomeness. This was a really great idea. Just letting the fingers fly. I should do this more often, even off the blog record and just to get stuff out since I can type more clearly than I feel like I can speak. That's it for now. Good night, Moon.

I took the first picture because writing the blog was on my mind, but the screen doesn't show anything so it's almost like I'm lying to you. The second picture is after I've written everything up until that picture, and now I'm writing about both pictures and how what I'm trying to say is that...I wrote about what I took pictures about, except I couldn't take the second picture until I wrote about what I had not when I took the first picture. I made a Matrix reference in February's Day 17: On My Mind post, but I think this one is more Inception. There's Leo again, with another sweet film that didn't land him an Oscar. Sorry, bud. But not really, because you get to act in awesome movies and work with brilliant artists all the time. But you don't get to lie in my bed next to my wife, so there. Speaking of, that's what I'm doing shortly after I publish this post. Good night, Leo. I'll see you next week's meeting for  those of us without an Oscar.

Photo and Blog a Day Challenge-Day 14/28: Sweet

The year was 2009. It was mid-October, and I had been living in Long Beach for just over a month. Without cable in Apt 8, I knew I had to find somewhere to watch The Game. (For a fun story about the aforementioned Apt 8, check out the post from Day 3: Metal.) Kickoff was at high noon, but that was Eastern Time, so living on the west coast meant I was waking up early on Saturday, October, 17, to ensure I had a seat in front of a television before 9am.

The Prospector was only a couple blocks down 7th Street, and so I took the relatively early morning stroll in my gray hoodie with "OKLAHOMA" in crimson embroidery across the front. I had called the day before to see how early they opened, and since they were also a restaurant, they opened early for breakfast. Around 830 in the morning, I walked in, and like a scene out of an old western, the regulars at the bar, all turned to see what the barkeep behind the counter could already see. Identifying me by my OU gear, he asked, "You the one that called about the game?" And with a cheerful "Yup," (well, cheerful for 830am on a Saturday), I staked my claim at an open seat in the middle of the bartop, and awaited kickoff.

Smelling bacon and eggs all around me, I made the smart call to order some breakfast before getting into full game mode despite the early (on the west coast) kickoff. Thankfully, because The Prospector is a restaurant and a bar, I wasn't completely out of place ordering a beer that early in the morning. I did, in my defense, wait until after kickoff to do so.

Here's where it starts to get cloudy. There was a bottle behind the bar that caught my eye. Hound Dog Sweet Tea Vodka, I think it was. Well, I definitely know it was sweet tea vodka, but the brand is up for debate. Having spent a few years on the east coast, sweet tea was a bullseye of a remedy for homesickness. The bartender gave me my first shot for free, because he thought I should try it first, but looking back, I definitely think he knew what he was doing.

Somewhere during halftime I called my friends Tara and Lainey, and after 30 more minutes of game clock, the Texas Longhorns claim another victory in the Red River Rivalry, 16-13. This UT squad would eventually go on to win the Big 12 (with a victory over the Cornhuskers) but would lose to the Crimson Tide in the BCS Championship.

Even so, the Red River Shootout is the one game in the season we definitely want to win. Boomer Sooner.

A couple months later, Hound Dog's cousin, Seagram would accompany me to a cast party after the closing of Songs of the Siren, The Greeks Remixed. Another awesome time after an awesome run. In a collaboration of original plays based on Greek myths, a narrator role was written specifically for me--one of the greatest, if not the greatest, acting compliment I received in college.

Every once in a while, I'd find a drink with sweet tea vodka as an ingredient, and I would decide by thinking, "Is it a sweet tea moment?"

Tonight, it was.

 (Despite the irony of the first sweet tea vodka story...) I present the Texas Iced Tea from Cheddar's. A last second decision by my wife and I launched us into what could be a long evening of waiting. Valentine's Day on a Friday night, and we're heading out for dinner. Walking up to the door, a couple was passing us heading back to their car warning us of the hour and forty-five minute wait. Recognizing that there would be a substantial wait just about everywhere else we could go, we went inside and put our name in anyway. The hostess had said it the wait time was estimated at 1:15, so that was already an improvement from the defeated patrons' warning. As we sat inside, face to face with other mildly impatient couples and somewhat large groups, we watched other couples and families come inside, many of them leaving after hearing the estimated wait time.

Before we knew it, the restaurant pager was buzzing, and the red LEDs in the dark plastic case where doing a little dance. "Bingo!" I said as I looked at my watch and walked towards the hostess stand.

Twenty minutes. Exactly. As I gave (who I assumed to be) the manager a high five she said, "I'm not always this good," (to which I thought, "thatswhatshesaid" but that's neither here nor there).

Valentine's Day dinner with my wife. A delicious meal. A refreshingly wonderful drink. And another story of awesomeness with the liberating libation, sweet tea vodka.

drink responsibly. ;)