these are the days

Good night. Good afternoon. Okay morning. I never was much of a morning person. I even snuck in a nap against my better judgement, but I'm glad it wasn't on the couch or on my bed because I might not have woken up until 3 am or something ridiculous. Plenty of games, basketball, food, driving, and convos. Tomorrow should be a little crazy too... Super Bowl (com'on Bears!), work, mass, meetings, maybe home home. It's been a while since I've been home, and even though I'm probably going to go home Tuesday night or Wednesday night, I think it'll be good for me. It's going to be a lot different this week though. More so than it has been already. I don't know what to do about it, but I figure you're not supposed to anyway.

half court shots, solid defense, random photos, plastic cones, introductions, fried chicken, sushi, cool breezes, horchata, hookups, good music, and convos make a great day

thanks and prayers... it's in Your hands

cruise

Ballin! PUSO alum picnic was mad fun, even if it was pretty hot out there. Basketball and football and three legged races and relays... fried chicken and horchata... and random photos. I almost forgot how much better things can be outside. The drive back was great. Endorphins were kicking in, sunroof and windows down, 5 speeds, The Roots coming through the speakers, and friendly traffic lights. It was almost euphoric, in a chill kind of way. Makes me love driving.

Now I need something to do.

chill

I woke up shivering. Six hours sleep and I'm sore from the other night's workout. Shivering does not help... it hurts. Right now at least.

Oh Lord, it's one of those good days to feel alive.

I think I'mma need a nap later, but I don't want it to screw up going to bed early tonight if I have work tomorrow. So I guess that means no nap. Eh, it's a small sacrifice.

in the end there was one

Ballin! I still hate the game, but damn, I won in mafia today as a mafioso. We started off with 11. I was accused second, but didn't get voted off, managed to kill my accuser, had to kill one my own (Keerz), then be stopped twice in a row during sunset by the doctor (Will), kill another citizen and my other cohort (Sarah), then go 1 vs 7 against the citizens/police/doctor. And I did it, surviving a few more accusations and votes along the way. Somehow. Dumo and Will played really well as cop and doctor, and luckily Dean helped kill them without me having to give away my identity. That was intense though. I felt like all my blood was in my face. Long live HNO2 (Nitrous Acid, my nickname). Maybe I don't hate the game anymore, but I hated it like none other the past few years. I guess people change. Hahahaha.

Tomorrow's a busy day. Today actually. Tomorrow for me though. It's right about time to crash.

open invitation

upshift

Two more hours of tennis. That makes 12 hours for the week. Thanks to the fellas and Chris, the fridge is off the balcony. Things are moving.

restless

5 hours sleep with no real reason to be up right now. I'm restless. Yet tired. I should be somewhere else right now... where that is, well... who knows?

fire back

Ever go looking for a solution and end with more questions than you started with? Things have been moving away from clarity toward obscurity a lot recently. Either I'm half blind or I need to get my eyes checked.

Once in a while everything goes out the window. I guess if things don't go as planned you can always break the glass to get back in. Look out for the sharp edges though...

mary go round

spinning

pause

given the circumstances,

i shouldn't let the

very few doubts in my head become

even more problematic

maybe it's out of my control, but

every day there's a chance,

an opportunity to turn intention into

something more fruitful

instead of waiting impatiently

get rid of the excuses

now is the time

windows open

disoriented

I usually sleep deeper than usual when I have vivid dreams in the morning. I think my dream this morning featured some jeans I've bought but haven't worn yet. There was something else for sure, but I lost it already. It almost makes sense, even though it's based in fact. When you've got a good thing, don't sit on it too long.

value

Does anything ever play out the way you want it to? It's not day but today... or tomorrow.

don't count me out yet

Why is it I feel tired at 10pm when I've only been awake since noon? Is it the tennis? The lack of food? The laziness?

Plenty of birthdays this week. But hey, every day is someone's birthday, right? Some tend to clump together though.

you never know

... or do you?

found

My serve came back in force for a little bit today. And then it went back into hiding. Hopefully it'll show again tomorrow. It probably didn't help skipping lunch and playing three hours... or the blister that was forming on my thumb. No excuses though.

Ack. The Clippers are up 9 on the Bulls. It's only the 2nd quarter though. I like the Clippers though.

Long night tonight? Eh, why not?

deeper than sound

It's hard to wake up... probably because it's hard to get to sleep anytime "normal." I'm not quite nocturnal yet, but come to think about it, the shades are blocking out all the sunlight. I need some sunlight in my life.

moving on up

conversation

Practiced some kitchen reclamation today. Though about some tennis practice, but nature dampened my plans. Alumni gathering for PUSO, and a little reminiscing. Sharing thoughts about the war, the value of life, politics, socialism vs communism, and human nature. Recognizing the better parts of ourselves. Unwinding the bits of tension accumulated from moments of frustration.

break it down

After watching slow mo replays of the Kobe elbow incident involving Manu Ginobili, I think the punishment fits. It shouldn't matter that Kobe may not have tried to strike Manu, but the fact is the elbow did connect, and it's fair that the NBA's stance is that a player should be in control of where his elbow move. It looks to me like Kobe was trying to clear Manu out of the way. That should have been a foul even if the elbow didn't make contact.

Reminds me of a conversation I had with Wolfe about the football hall of fame. I was trying to argue that length of time played shouldn't be such a great criteria in selection, but Wolfe argued that if he was voting, he'd vote along the same "lines" that have been established. We started getting into how at a certain point, you have to open things up to interpretation, just as certain justices did on the Supreme Court... going by the spirit of the law instead of simply the letter of the law and so forth.

let it flow

what time is it?

I'm hoping I can scrap my contingency plans and run with these only slightly plausible plans as long as I can. There's less and less time to deal with regret these days.

don't be a victim to human nature

It's about time to unplug for a little bit.

lock

The internet here is ridiculous. Terrible. I swear, it's slower than dial-up right now.

There are a lot of things waiting for me tomorrow. I still don't feel like sleeping though.

I went to the ARC today. There were mad poseurs everywhere. It was IM basketball night for some frats. Coincidence? It seems like every year the people there get younger and younger. It's a little funny seeing how many people waste their time on workouts that don't work. If only they knew.

The kitchen is a disaster area. So is the dining room. The living room is passable, but damn, it's got potential. It's about time I parted ways with some things. It's a sad thing when you can never feel quite clean enough.

I can't say I'm going about this the right way. Let me know.

out of order

The Roots are playing Feb 14 at the House of Blues Downtown Disney. Valentine's Day field trip? That's one reason to look forward to V day this year.

Two hours of tennis with some new challengers. I still haven't won a set yet. Woohoo! I need to find some old tennis balls because Wolfe and I have parted with half of them.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerranking
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking
The Chicago Bulls are ranked 5th and 7th, respectively. Poor Rica. The hardest working team in the NBA. KG was amazing against the Phoenix Suns. Bulls + KG = championship. Man, that would be sick.

shift the balance

break point

I think I'm playing tennis again today. The thing that make me screw up most was trying not to screw up. It's that play not to lose strategy that so effectively keeps me from winning. I'mma try to change my game. All challengers welcome. Unless your last name is Federer or Williams.

Umm... I'm supposed to be at work soon. I woke up 15 minutes ago.

waiting game

detour signs

This is a little confusing. Please don't let my eyes deceive me. No dellusions here.

I went to a baptism today. There were babies everywhere. I felt old and young at the same time. Old because so many of my friends are married and have kids. Young because unlike them, I'm still younger, and well, very much single. Pretty soon we'll be celebrating our kids' birthdays more than our own. So close yet so far.

I'm a little worn out. I worked an extra shift on four hours sleep and fell asleep twice, but nothing obvious. I don't think I could sit for more than five minutes without dozing off. Yet here I am. It's past midnight. Damn. I was ready to crash at 5pm.

i've got my hurricane

good

Why am I still up? I have work in 6 hours.

two steps