All Things Rowdy

having had time to think about it a bit, here are some of my goals for 2008. 1. Finish in the top 10% of my class in the Camp Pendleton Mud Run in June. 2. Call JKM at least once a week. 3. Go to the MotoGP race at Indianapolis in September. 4. Be 100% in my daily and weekly religious observances. 5. Perform an iron cross on the rings. That is it. I used to make sure I had at least 10 for a year and that they were equally among different catagories. Not this time. This is all it is.

So I started with the Infidel/Rowdy patch photo from when I was in Iraq, then I went to a great white shark. Now I have settled on a pic of Nicky Hayden from the recent MotoGP test in Malaysia. Why does this matter, you say?? Well I am a deyed in the wool Rossi fan. When I was in Italy the last time all I wanted was 'real' Rossi stuff from Italia. And I got some wonderful stuff. I like Rossi. But in 2008 I just don't see Honda and Michelin taking a beating again. The other teams have had too many changes. And of the Honda riders Hayden knows how to win a championship. So while I am a Rossi fan, my money is on Hayden to win it all in 2008.

Walking to the office after lunch I saw a bumper sticker which read, "Ask a man how he got rich and if he says, 'hard work', ask him 'whose?'" I find this a disgusting insinuation. The continued notion that anyone who is "rich" is somehow an oppressor of 'the people' and only got there through someone else's hard work and not through their own efforts is an outdated piece of leftist propoganda. If you are concerned about a gap between the haves and have nots, this type of thinking will focus you in the wrong direction. I am no Horatio Alger, but I overcame being born to a teenage single mother, a debilitating chronic illness since childhood, attending 7 different schools due to moves, poor high school grades, alcoholism, divorce, bankcruptcy, depression and not attending college until I was 26. But yet I went on to graduate college, excell in my field, enjoy healthy relationships, participate in my religion, learn new sports, enjoy my ho...

If you have been reading my posts, you will know I sometimes state I don't feel well. Quite often I don't feel well and I am really tired of it. This is the cause: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crohn's_disease And here is the effect: Which then leads to this!!

Can you see this idea stealer? I am doing it as hard as I can.

"The greater the risk, the greater the reward"-unknown This is a great site, super fun!! I have done over half the things on here. You should to! http://dangerouslyfun.com/

Is there a greater sorrow than having one of your dreams crushed? I had a spontaneous idea for an Internet based business last week. I reviewed it with D and went forward with a plan. I had a two hour meeting with a web designer that went well. I got 28 pages of data ready and prepared to go into a database. I brought an expert in the field on as a contract worker. I bought the domain name. I was rolling and ready to do this, "go live" before the end of summer. The feeling was amazing. I had an idea and was working towards it. I would have been my own boss and working hard for something I was in control of. Finally free of the fickle job market in San Diego. So many needs were being met in me by this project. And then..... The first email I read Friday morning at work was the launch of an EXTREMELY similar web service by the university I currently work for as a temp!!! I had no idea someone else was working on this project and it was done almost exactly as I wanted to plan it...

It looks as most of you would rather show a little extra flesh in public than eat hot dogs, break a bone or get caught picking your nose. Full disclosure, I voted for the Speedo as well. "Where is my $20 Marlo?!?!?"

I like good food. I like food that makes me feel good when I eat it. Oahu did not do that for me most meals. Here is a good sampling of what it is like to eat in Oahu. "My sushi makes you scowl!" Yummy, thanks I'll be sure not to go back. (I did have a massive tummy ache after eating there!! I guess I was warned.....) And that is exactly what I am sure it tastes like.......and smells like..... Fook Yuen too pal! See if I leave you a good tip! Fancy a burger made by a old blind man known for his hijinks?? Me neither.... And finally the best thing in all of Oahu, Candy Bead cookies!! How could that not be just delicious!

So you know what that means? A list and a self portrait! Woo Hoo! I know your excited. Lets start with the list.....hmmm.... but what to list about? Injuries I have sustained 1. sprain both ankles simultaneously in jump off something as a kid 2. burned both palms putting hands on wood stove 3. branch for rope swing breaking and hitting me in the head 4. jumping up to see something and splitting head open on cupboard door 5. concussion falling off roof of house and hitting fence with head on the way down 6. bruised right talus bone 7. type II ligament tears on right ankle (one year of rehab) 8. broken right radial head/elbow 9. broken right navicular bone in wrist 10. torn ligament snowboarding crash at Mt Bachelor rt shoulder 11. knocked out front tooth goofing off on park toys as an adult 12. concussion wrestling with brother-in-law 13. broken rt thumb punching someone wrong 14. knocked unconscious wakeboarding 15. broken fingers X3 16. broken toes X5 17. 3 stitches in thumb sliced op...

Scenario 1: I was "just looking" at a motorcycle dealership in Gilroy California one weekend and I made an impulse buy of a 2005 Suzuki GSXR-600. It was a great motorcycle and I loved it. But as I was not prepared to buy one that day I needed to buy a helmet and such to ride it home the 70 miles to the East Bay area. I had also let my motorcycle endorsement lapse, so to the sales people at the dealership I looked like the most beginner of motorcyclists and an accident waiting to happen. When it came time for me to ride home that afternoon it started to rain. Motorcycle tires need to be "broken in." Whatever compound they have on them from their manufacture makes them very slippery until they have a bit of initial wear on them. So they need a little bit of use before they are grippy. As I left the dealership the whole staff came out to see the 'idiot kid' ride away a brand new, high powered sportbike with new tires, in the rain! I did pay extra attention whil...

You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge...

This is an entry I wrote Tuesday Sept 11, 2007. I don't feel to well so I am giving you some of my greatest hits. I meet a new friend today. He is kind of famous in that he only has one name, Stingray. Oh I'm sure he would tell you he has some sort of fancy Latin name on his birth certificate if you pressed him, but no one really cares about that one. I learned quite a few things about my new friend today even though we have only known each other a short time. I never knew someone could get sooo upset about being surprised while they are just laying around, doing nothing. As an example, Stingray and I were at the beach today. I was surfing and he was just lounging in the shallows. My friend Scott was there, getting some good practice and having a great day. I was starting to feel water logged so I said to Scott, "Just one more good one and them I am done." Surprisingly the very next wave was quite nice, I got up well and even turned down the line. At this point the w...

But I am excited that I have tickets to Wagner's Tannhauser opera. In honor of it I present to you this:

Saturday was a good day. I bought the domain name for my new business and fleshed out some other things. Good brainstorming. While that may have been exciting, the fun part of the day was going out into the desert to shoot. I have been shooting guns since I was about 5 years old and have owned them myself since about 12 years old. Younger if you count BB and pelet guns. I have a membership at an indoor range here as well. So shooting has always been a fun part of life for me. We went out past Jacumba to the spot everyone goes to and of course mid-day on a Saturday it took some driving to find a spot. (I am THE ONLY person to regularly take their Lexus hybrid SUV off road I think) Handguns and shotguns were the order of the day. Fun times.

Wow, I really need something for sleeping! I am starting my own business and each night when I fall asleep, all I do is dream dream dream about it. It is as if I work 8 hours while I sleep, my mind just racing. I am off as it is MLK Day, so surfing was supposed to happen but my two buddies cancelled on me. It is now looking like it is going to rain as well... I should be paddeling out, not typing right now!! Normally a day off for me is a blaze of fun fun activities. Today, not so much. I might have to pull a good story out of the archives, so you have something good to read!

List for the week Countries of visitors to my blog 1. Unites States 2. Australia 3. Spain 4. Japan 5. Argentina 6. Hong Kong 7. Sweden 8. Finland 9. Italy 10. Palastinian Territory 11. Canada I find this all every amazing. I wish you would leave comments!! Hahaha. I would love to check out your blogs! Muchas Gracias!

As promised, here is the weekly self portrait. This one is me driving at the Skip Barber Performance Driving class I attended in 2006. The class was two days at Laguna Seca!! Woo Hoo!!

They are only $15!! I think I would need one for each arm! And maybe an old 'Clash of the Titans' Krakken Halloween mask. Buy 'em here: http://www.gaiastore.com/servlet/Detail?no=221

So when I was in Iraq I would often have conversations that went like this; "So you came to Iraq and you've never been in the military?" "Nope", I would say. "Well, what did you go to college for to get this job and how much do you make?" "I went to school and got my BS in Radiological Science, I was a Nuclear Medicine Technologist for 6 years and I make like $11,000 a month here. What did you go to school for and how much you make being enlisted?" was my normal reply. Might as well cut to the chase. There is a fraction of service people who are really anti civilian contractor, so this dialogue is usually not in an innocent tone. "Uh, I didn't graduate from high school and I don't know, (expletive deleted) you make more in a month than I do in 3 months!! I wish I had your job!! (expletive deleted) What makes you soo special?" "Cream rises to the top", I would say and follow it with "We all make choices to end ...

So yesterday I mentioned how chilly it was riding to work. Well, there now is a part II of the story. In response to my frozen ride I decided to wear some extra layers, windstopper fleece, balaclava and such. I was like the little kid in A Christmas Story in his red snow suit. Noticing I could run out of gas before getting to work this morning I decide to zip into the gas station quickly. I pull in to the pump, hop off and go inside to the cash register and tell the attendant "Fill it up on pump 5." "......", was her reply. I say that because my helmet, balaclava and earplugs were still in place. Trying to read her lips I just hold up my hand with my fingers spread and say louder, "Pump 5!" Gas and go, $5 later I am on the road zooming along at 74mph trying to still be on time to work. I roll into the office and the two other people there are kinda making fun of my new anti-cold motorcycling attire. My torso and face were much warmer this ride but not real...

This morning it was 40 degrees outside when I went to ride my motorcycle to work at the University. Which is quite the chilly Farenheit temperature for San Diego! So you add a 70mph wind to a 40 degree air temperature and you get a felt body temperature of........ 24F or -5C for you international readers. How I miss the commute in Iraq. And there you could machine gun someone who was in your way!

To help keep things interesting for you Dear Reader, but at the same time give some consistency to my entries I have "a plan." Each week I will make sure to include one photographic or video self portrait and one list of some sort or another. Do not despair, for it will be a Rowdystyle list and thus avoid the appearance of your grocery list. Finally, as a sad sad confession, I have bought a book on HTML to see if I can't add something to your reading experience. We will see.....

Some things I have seen recently... "luxury Kabul hotel", I mean really, could there actually be a luxury hotel in Afghanistan? I have only been to Iraq but I can't imagine that the A-stan has greater infrastructure and posh hotel that hasn't been shot to crap. Think about it... "bifidus regularis", This is the one that really gets me! Remember the Wiley Coyote and Road Runner cartoon when they would freeze the frame on one of them and have the fake Latin name underneath them, like "luncheous velocitus" and such. That is how I feel about those stupid Activia yogurt commercials. I can just see a bunch of nerdy food scientists in their white coats sitting around with the hipster marketing people thinking this crap up. "Hmmmm, what fake name can we give to regular bacteria already found in yogurt so that it will appeal to constipated housewives?", say the marketing people. "Daily Dump is too crass for our sophisticated customer. Easy Ou...

"Shark in the water? Cage go in the water, with the shark?"-Quint in Jaws So one of the neatest things I have done is do a little cage diving with some sharks here in Hawaii. The outfit is called North Shore Shark Adventures and I would recommend them to anyone. Without going into a huge narrative, it is basically like this, you drive yourself to the North Shore to a tiny little town and the boat dock is right there easy to see. You hop on the boat and 3 miles out to see later you cut the engine and BOOM, sharks are instantly at the surface. No maybes or hopeful scans of the horizon for that dreaded fin slicing through the water. Just 6-12 sharks there, in the water, waiting for little ol' you. Snorkel gear on, jump in the shark cage and they push you away from the boat. Then chum is thrown in to make it a little exciting for you, as if your heart is not going 160bpm anyways, and you just swim around in the cage for 20 minutes or so and stare at these beautiful creatures....

Should my little minions ever turn on me, I think I could take 'em! http://www.howmanyfiveyearoldscouldyoutakeinafight.com/ I scored 25. You?

Back home in San Diego I am a reluctant surfer. I snowboarded for years when I lived in Oregon and I really liked it. This last time in Utah I went I took right back to it. But I really just surf here because I live in that kinda of area and it is a thing to do here. No snow, then surf. So I do. If it is overhead or anything I don't go out. On the other hand if it is glassy and small I don't bother either. I started up again with my friend Scott W. since he was new to so-cal and wanted to go. So I seem to go about 3 times a month now, cold or not. Normally I am just so-so and not really into it. But going more often with him has made a difference, building up an experience base. So here on Oahu at Waikiki beach it was pretty easy to just jump on a rental board and paddle out. I caught more waves in a hour here than I do in a month back home. I also had longer rides and was able to turn a little bit more and such. When I was done, in the vernacular, I was "stoked". I d...

Driving in Hawaii is fun! Easily a dozen red lights run, 5 illegal u-turns, 3 illegal park jobs and driving 75mph in a 45mph. Of course none of these misdemeanors were witnessed by anyone, so they are not "real" violations. =) Soon I will be back in San Diego and able to drive like normal. Rowdy Style. In Hawaii, wearing the below, I would be wearing more gear than 80% of the riders I have seen here. No one wears helmets. Gloves are an unthinkable addition. Shorts, flip flops and sunglasses are very much the norm.....

So far, I have been to Pearl Harbor, and it was very emmotional for me. I have been to Wiakiki beach. I have hiked up Diamond Head. I have swam with sharks in a cage off of the North Shore. Today I went to the Kuoloa Ranch to mountain bike. Tomorrow is parasailing 500' up in the air, Friday is an hour long helicopter ride around the island and Saturday will probably be a mountain bike re-do. I will have to fit in some more exploring, surfing and going to China town in there somewhere as well. I of course do not have a tan yet, or at all. But I am having a good time and the weather is really nice! Wish you were here.....

Alright, I am sure someone will ask why there needs to be both a Rowdy Style and Tenaciousgirl blog... Well the reason is that I am ROWDY, my own man. So since I think different things and of course do many different things, I need my own place to express myself, my uniquely "rowdy" thoughts and actions, in my own Rowdy Style.

Alright, I caved in and joined the internet evil army. My blog on 360.yahoo was not getting the traffic and comments I desire and crave. If you have a yahoo ID and really really wanna read it while I am in the process of transfering over here, it is www.360.yahoo.com/ultra_rowdy So, now begins a new era of me, sharing my "rowdy style" with anyone who wants it. Yes, I am that easy. =)