Day 75 - 12/19/10

I have no decorations at my apartment.  I almost forgot that Christmas was right around the corner.  Thankfully, my parents decorate their house enough for the both of us.

It's a running joke that this "Frosty Friends" Wreath is my inheritance.  It may be a joke, but it's also true.    The first ornament in the series is worth some serious coin.

Mom puts Mickey in everything.  Why would Christmas be any different?

Hobbes is not technically part of the Christmas decorations.  He's just adorable.  And fluffy.

Day 74 - 12/18/10

Sonos at Fremont Abbey.  I read about these guys in the paper.  They'll be on the "Sing-Off" at some point.  They were absolutely phenomenal.  Look them up on Youtube.

They sang:
- "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" by the Darkness,
- "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5
     ( but they slowed it down like the Chris Cornell version of "Billy Jean")
- "Tightrope" by Janelle Monet

Day 73 - 12/17/10

Breakfast Party - Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Potatoes, Bacon, Fake Mimosas and Top Pot Doughnuts.  Then some kids wandered by and wanted our help because they were worried about their grades.  Can't they see we're busy?

I specifically told kids not to bring presents for me.  I said I always forget who gave me all that sugar and I can never eat it all.  I told them how much I liked cards.  Just a little note is all I need... and they still gave me a bunch of sugar.  Next Report Card, everyone is getting: Comment 79 - Better Listening Needed.  (Seriously though, these kids are total sweethearts).

One of my students missed a week of school in November to attend a medical conference with his family.  Today, this kid came up to me and said he had a present for me.  Confused, I asked him what "Omnicare" meant.  Was that some kind of weird Belgian chocolate?  He said "I saw these a month ago and I stole one for you.  I only stole two chocolates for my two favorite teachers!!  Thanks?

This is everything I could want.

Staff Party 2: Electric Boogaloo.  Of course, after telling some folks that candid photos are so great,  none of the candid photos came out at all.  So the one posed photo I took is the one that will represent this party.  Good turnout, good times.  The white elephant gift exchange traded my old Guitar Hero controller to a 40 of Old English.  Upgrade!

Day 72 - 12/16/10

Impromptu cookie baking with the coaches.  We needed preparations for four different parties with three groups of people.  Tons of work to do.  All you need is a happy working song.  Ours was "Firework" by Katy Perry.  It's kind of a jam.

Day 71 - 12/15/10

Santa at Nordstrom's.  My brother and I come here and take a picture with Santa every year.  And we will continue to take a photo with Santa every year, until my mother says we can stop.  She will never say we can stop.  So, we will take a photo with Santa every year of our lives.  And we will do it gladly, because she is our mother and she gave us life.

Din Tai Fung.  Just amazing.  Dumplings that explode in your mouth.  It's like "Gushers" for adults.

Great seats, too.

Day 70 - 12/14/10

I was totally out of sorts today.  After the car issues yesterday, and the lack of sleep because of the car issues yesterday, and the lack of lesson plans because of the lack of sleep because of the car issues yesterday, I was in a real bad place.  I was so worried about the car that I didn't even eat lunch.  I was on the phone with both insurance companies and collision repair shops just trying to get it all sorted out.  What a nightmare.

Then I came home and saw this:

If you could have tailor-made one thing to make me feel better, it might just be this.  The only way to make it better would be to involve the Sounders, Sandwiches, Basketball and Dogfish Head Beer.

Or maybe I should just become the 3rd best keyboard player in the world?  Yeah, I'll take that.  Now it goes:

1) Billy Joel
2a) Elton John
2b) Ben Folds
3) Me

Suck it, Nerds!!!

Day 69 - 12/13/10

Worst weekend for cars...EVER!

In descending order of crappiness:

1) My car got jacked up by a 22-year old girl, going way too fast, at 2:00am on a Sunday, who claimed she swerved to avoid a black cat.  A black cat?  Or a blackout?  (Yes!  Nailed it!)

2)Matt's car was stolen from Capitol Hill and taken to Federal Way where we found it here.  The car was fine, but his stereo was stripped out.  Oh, and he lost his Kanye West CD.  It reminded me of the "Big Lebowski".  Don't hold out hope about the Creedence.

3)  Danny got a flat tire from running over a pothole.  Don't you dare complain.

All motor vehicles should stay at least 100 feet away from me.

Day 68 - 12/12/10

I'm not sure if it's called "Antiquing" or just "Looking at Old Junk".  I was stranded in Fremont for two hours.  Here's what I found:

I almost picked these up just to have the album covers.  I'm sure they sound great too. You can never have too much Billy Joel.

Scratch that.  Nobody needs Billy Joel on cassette.  Lame.  I can't decide if I should be happy that Billy is out there and available for people to listen to, or am I sad that so many albums have been discarded?

Fender Stratocaster - The EXACT guitar they used for the "Rock Band" controllers.  Only $95.  Might have missed an opportunity here.

Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong on Atari?!?!  What?!?!

I forgot how much I loved Teddy Ruxpin until I saw him again.  It was like no time at passed.  I wanted to build a blanket fort over the heater vent and doze off to his dulcet tones.

The only time it got weird is when he was running out of batteries.  His voice became so low; it was like he was possessed by a demon.  But I remember the good times.

Day 67 - 12/11/10

The First Times at Chop Suey.  They were described as "kind of an old Wallflowers sound".  Sounded really good for a bunch of famous people.  From left to right: Jason Schwartzman, Jon Bon Jovi, (Can't remember the tambourine guy... Was he Jimmy Fallon?  The guy Kate Hudson married?), One of the Sklar brothers, and the drummer (not pictured) was Steve from Blue's Clues.

Dave Niehaus Memorial - Rick Rizz, Dan Wilson, Jay Buhner, and Edgar Martinez all spoke.  This was about a month after Dave passed, and although people were still sad, the mood was strangely celebratory.  There were lots of laughs and folks remembered how Dave was the soundtrack of their lives.  Two great moments:  Rick Rizz mentioning "Tom Hanks said there was no crying in baseball.  Well, he was wrong."  and Dan Wilson's eloquent speech about his own family, and how Dave Niehaus was the voice that connected their Daddy to them.

Penn & Teller - I will NEVER understand how they switched out the cameraman.  Or the apple knives trick.  Or the underwater card trick.  Or the joke book thing.  Man, these guys were good.

Day 66 - 12/10/10

Day 65 - 12/9/10

Part of Multicultural night at school.  I had just returned from a basketball game and this was going on in the commons.  So many really awesome kids participated in this and it was great to see them doing something really different.  Also, there was food.  Bonus.

Day 64 - 12/8/10

In celebration of our custodian, "Billy Day" consisted of everyone wearing a flannel shirt.  There was also some Lasagna (which gave people indigestion).  Billy seemed really surprised and appreciative.  It was kind of touching.

Day 63 - 12/7/10

My dad refereed my basketball game.  He's retiring this year.  We might never get to do this again.

Day 62 - 12/6/10

Rock Band 3 is teaching me the piano.  I can now kind of, sort of play "Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting".  I try to sing and play at the same time.  I can do it with a guitar but not with the keyboard... yet.  The official real guitar comes out in March.  So I know what the picture will be for that day.

Day 61 - 12/5/10

NFL Redzone has prompted a new tradition.  We actually all get together on Sunday's to watch football all day.  One guy visits because his wife is working on National Boards.  My brother isn't busy and my roommate lives here.  So, we all put on our Seahawks jerseys and watch the game together.  This picture was taken after a Seahawk TD.  As one guy put it, "I remember watching beer commercials as a kid where guys would just hang out and watch the games.  I never thought anyone actually did that... until now."

Day 60 - 12/4/10

I received a text in the morning,  "Dude, Champagne Champagne is playing tonight!!!"  They are this dope hip-hop group we saw down in Portland.  They were actually playing a CD release party for Mad Rad.  But we knew who the real show was, so we got to Neumo's SUPER early (fig. 1) so we'd be in great position for the party! (fig. 2 and fig.3)

Day 59 - 12/3/10

My day involved children shooting at baskets.  The top picture is the "Biathlon" at our Reindeer Games at school.  Kids threw everything at the hoops.  Bowling pins, dodgeballs, even an ill-advised golf ball.  The bottom picture is my girls basketball team.  They are so much fun, but all they threw at the hoop were bricks.  I felt like we were at a masonry convention.

Day 58 - 12/2/10

I was proud of myself for cooking this late.  I had all the goodies on hand.  Pretty much anything I buy at Metropolitan Market turns out delicious.  Their Sweet Pork Sausage is fantastic.  And this fed me for three days.  No joke.

Day 57 - 12/1/10

My roommate works with someone who also works at this bar.  It's called Chuck's and the last time we went here, the TV's were tuned to Asian Soap Operas.  This time, it was Jeopardy!  Chuck's is a strange place, but because we had a hook-up, we got shots, beers and souvenir glasses!

Day 56 - 11/30/10

I don't know why people think this is so difficult.  I run the clock, scoreboard and the book for the JV basketball game.  I've done this for years.  So why does the ref always ask me, "Whoa, are you sure you don't want help?"  No, I don't want help.  I'm an adult.  Truth is, I run this better by myself than I do when you force some parent to help me.  Not that I don't appreciate the company, but trust me, I got this.

Day 55 - 11/29/10

The Wire - I just finished Season 3.  I stayed up until 1:30am because I could not stop watching.  This might be the best show ever.  It's definitely top 10.

Day 54 - 11/28/10

Amazon is offering Mp3 Albums for $1.99!!  I know I could steal them for free on bit-torrent, but these are so cheap, I don't even mind.

Day 53 - 11/27/10

Sounders Snuggie.  I found this at Bartell's.  It was a total impulse purchase.  I don't regret this at all.

Day 52 - 11/26/10

I gave blood today.  I was motivated by three things.  Foursquare badges, Cookies, and as a distant third, Saving Lives.  I used to give twice a year, but it's been a while.  As I'm thinking about my motivation, I saw an advertisement for "Sue vs. Shue" from Glee.  Mr. Shue wants to give blood because it saves lives.  Sue wants to give blood to get free cookies.  The point was Mr. Shue is good and Sue is bad.  I disagree.  Any reason that gets me to donate blood is a good reason.  And the cookie was awesome.