Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

I am only a white belt and I have years more of learning to do, BBBBUUUUTTTTTT I did tap all the other white belts, stripe or not, that I rolled with today. I was aggressive and feeling good!

Heck, I even rode my pedal bike the 4 miles to class and back!!

Here is a picture of me from class today.

bow wow wow wo yippe yo ie eh

Snoop Dogg is in the house. So D and I went to the Unity Tour concert at Cricket ne Coors Amphitheater down in Chula Juana (Vista).

The venue was easy to find and it is down the street from my favorite motorcycle dealership, South Bay Motors, and it had good parking for FREE. We were in the first seated section behind the pit and it was a good spot to be.

Opening was FrictionPlane. What I want to know is at what stage of your life do you wake up and realize, "hey, I sound a lot like Sting from the Police when I sing?!" As it has been proven soo many times, they are better live than on CD. I think only Cake is better on CD than live...

Then we had the man, the dogfather himself, Snoop come on and do his set. It was pretty good. The crowd was really into it and everyone was dancing and screaming the lyrics. He drug out (hahaha, drug) the end of his set, but it was all good.

The final act was 311! They came out and just rocked it right way, opening with "Down", their first big radio hit. Very active on stage, good lighting and lots of energy.

I amazingly can still hear, my voice though was a little weak this morning. And the contact high induced trip to In-n-Out burger at 11pm on the way home didn't come back to haunt me this morning.

Finally, in the "It's a small world after all" department, guess who was standing right next to me?? A girl I work with at the temple! HAHAHAHA. She was stunned and felt awkward, but it was cool. Funny......

Sounds of Summer

311, Snoop Dogg, this friday! Oh yeah! Down f'shizzle.

U N I T Y

Walmart is a Chinese company with an American board.

"Walmart: The high cost of low price" is an excellent documentary. Watch it! I am never going to shop at a Walmart again and I encourage you to do the same.

Now, there is some propoganda in the movie that I think is somewhat deceiving in that some of these folks would of had a crappy life no matter where they worked. But the parts that are specific to how Walmart treats people and their competitors..... horrible.

It is no good to have a place where you can buy a $30 microwave if you don't have a job that pays you more than $7.50 a hour!!

"We cant to talk about quality of life and they want to talk about cheap underwear."

If all you care about is cheap crap and nothing about small business owners and how employees are treated, then fine, shop at Walmart. You will never see me there.

If you don't want to take my generalized rambling about it, research it yourself. Just to start out, know that Walmart costs California taxpayers 67 million dollars a year........

WAKE UP!

Happy Music

Iv'e been listening to Jack Johnson for about 8 years now. Well, I finally get to see him here in concert in San Diego.

One evening, under the sky, this August I will be seeing the man live. I'm already smiling.

A true warrior would have jumped on it, like a beast

I went to jiu jitsu from 1100-1215, 1730-2000 for a total of 3.75 hours of training in one day!! And then I went back again today at my lunch hour!!

Tearing it up!

I don't really need 4 wives....

I must just go to the wrong websites....I never get spam emails for Viagra, improving my cars mpg, work from home or anything like that.

In one of those rare instances where I do get spam this latest one is definitely the most unique one I received.

From:AL-QIRAN (essam_soliman33@hotmail.com)
Subject:ÕæÑ ãÔÊÑßÇÊ ááÒæÇÌ ÇáÇÓáÇãí

this is not a spam (such honesty, really, i truely believe you)




AL-QIRAN.COM

القـــــــــران

زواج اسلامي

قم بالبحث عن زوجتك بين 500 الف مشترك

التسجيل و البحث مجاني

اضغط هنا


HMMMM, I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED THE SERVICE OF AN ISLAMIC DATING WEBSITE!! I really must be more careful about my online presence.....

Things I didn't know about San Diego until I moved here

1. May Gray/June Gloom
Who would think that what are beautiful spring and summer months everywhere else are dull, overcast and cooler here?

2. Tijuana
Tijuana, or "TJ" as it is called, is really not that fun. It is dirty and repetitive as a tourist destination. I mean it is souvenirs, pharmacy, dentist, liquor store repeat infinity. And the bull fight rings are in great disrepair as well. To top if off you face sometimes a 3 hour wait to get back into the US after you are all done. Just not as fun or 'neat' as you would think. Notice I didn't even mention the violence......

3. Tourists
I guess I really have to believe that tourism is the #3 industry in San Diego. When I lived on Chelsea St in La Jolla I could never park at my own house, streets were filled with non resident bikers, joggers and such. You can't surf anywhere here on a weekend without being within arms reach of someone. I try to stay as far away as possible from 'touristy' stuff during the summer months, especially on the weekends.

Don't bother eating anywhere in the Gas Lamp district either. It is entirely there to fleece conference and cruise goers.

4. Wages
I was actually told by a HR woman during a telephone interview, "We pay you in sunshine," in her best cheery voice. What kind of crap is that? I may like the sun but it sure doesn't feed me or power my motorcycle. In the bay area I made $48 a hour and $23 a hour carrying the pager. It was easy to make $130,000 in a year as a nuclear medicine technologist. Here in San Diego the best I could get was $31 a hour and $7 a hour to carry the pager. That is about 75 grand a year. Crap. And all the left-over Navy techs do all the call, weekend and per Diem to make up for their miserable enlisted wages.

To top it off, my profession is very insular here so you really have to know someone, you get no where if no one knows you. And then one of the hospitals here runs a tech school pumping out new grads each year.

5. Pizza
First, I do have to say that SD has the best Mexican food of anywhere I have ever been. Whenever I leave the US all I can think about is getting some good Mexican food when I come back. But if you want a good pizza, SD is a wasteland with the infrequent oasis.

6. Public Land
You drive around and see all this open land, but you sure can't do anything on it. Over regulation at work.

7. Motorcycles
The desert and off roading rule here. If you ride on the street everyone assumes you are an immature squid from Camp Pendleton who is going to be a statistic soon. You can't park your bike on the sidewalk without security getting involved. Almost no one lane splits. Very few parking lots have motorcycle designated parking. Just the accommodation for motorcycle enthusiasts here is really lacking. I think it is due to the huge poseur presence, it makes it hard to be taken seriously.

8. Condos
You mean to tell me this two bedroom apartment from the 80's is now a "condo" and it is going to cost me $400,000? (or $800,000 like ones I looked at in LJ)

Personally, these were all contradictions to what my mental image of San Diego was and it quite surprised me. I have now lived in California more than any other state as an adult, in spite of that though I can still see some of these things as an outsider. All very interesting things I never knew about America's Finest City until I lived here.

The Real Manwich!

No, not a "Sloppy Rowdy." But this is what I call a Fathers Day burger!!!

Dreams

I have quite vivid dreams. My dreams cause me to wake in the middle of the night frequently. Occasionally I cry out or appear to be in a physical struggle.

Last night the final dream I had before waking up for good is something I think unique enough I am going to turn it into a short story. Thanks to a connection through Tenacious Girl, I know an actual 'real life author' who might even answer one or two of my email requests for help and guidance.

Ahhhh, another project.

Fathers Day

This is going to be an essay when I finish and you will get to see it progress as a work. When this entry is finished you will have some history of me as a person and insight into some of my different relationships with family. As well as my thoughts, hopes and feelings for the future.

Roughly right now I plan on covering these areas.
1. My role as a son of God, him being my Heavenly Father.
2. The role and relationship with TCB, my dad.
3. The story of connecting with my biological parent, LK.
4. Me being a father myself and how I feel about that, what it has been like for me.
5. What I wish for GC, the real "dad" and day to day parent of J,K & M.
6. Advice and concerns I have for K and M as they grow into being men.

As you can see this is quite comprehensive and I will be writing and updating and bringing pictures and stories in over the next week. So please, if this interests you, come back, comment and see how it progresses.

If you happen to be reading this and are one of the proposed subjects, don't be afraid to contact to discuss how you feel about my writings.

One of my favorite things

Years and years ago when I worked at Al's Bike and Toy as a bicycle mechanic I used to ride my mountain bike everyday. If you have ever ridden a bike like that you know hydration is important. At that time I just drank out of a water bottle like everyone else.

Then when Camelbacks came along it was amazing. So versatile and the ability to carry so much more. We put hot stuff in it for snowboarding and I started using a mix of Mountain Dew and Gatorade on my longer mountain bike rides.

Last year though, I finally tried something I had always heard good reviews of and that is Cytomax. I was at Rich Olivers Mystery School sliding a little dirt bike around on the dirt track all day and he provided Cytomax for us to drink all day. I was amazed at my endurance and recovery using it!

Now that I seemingly am back into Brazilian jiu jitsu hardcore I find I am needing more than water during my two and half hour long training sessions. Let me tell you, for me, nothing beats Cytomax for use during prolonged exertion and as a recovery drink.

If not Cytomax is available I will use a GU packet and water, but that really can't compare to how I feel during the workout and how quickly I recover when I use Cytomax.

One step forward, two steps back

Last night I was given the honor of a black stripe on my white belt!! I have been training at Fabio Santos' Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy for two months now.

I told him I entered the South Bay Open and he told me to start going to the advanced class as much as possible. So last night I went to my first advanced class. This class is 90 minutes rather than the 60 minutes of the beginner class. And being soo excited about training, I decided to do both classes back to back, so I trained 150 minutes straight last night!

The end of the advanced class I got my stripe! Then I went into the beginner class and didn't tap anyone! hahaha. I just need to be humble and realize I am training, learning and growing. My pride was a little hurt that I was promoted in the advanced class and then didn't "show it" in the beginner class.

But you know what, my sense of what is going on during rolling and sparring has really increased, so in that sense I think it is worth it.

Position leads to submission.

My favorite glass

K was the only one of the three who got me a present for my b-day. He made me a glass with a fighter jet etched into the glass. It is the perfect morning time jiuce glass! I love it. And I have the only one like it in the world!!

Thanks K!

Summer Time!

I love summer, it is my favorite time of year! Even though this thing I go to frequently, called a 'job', is putting a small cramp in my summer style I shall still have fun!

1. Going to Wyoming, South Dakota for the 1st time
2. going to a MotoGP race
3. Camping and sea kayaking at Anacapa island with good friends
4. Competing in and hopefully winning my class at the Southbay Open
5. Attending the Scandanavian Festival up in Junction City, Oregon
6. Visiting with J,K,M
7. Buying more fireworks for my illegal show on the 4th of July
8. Supermoto track days at Adams

end is the only part of the word, that i heard-Cake

"Suspend"..........hmmmm, does that mean she is thinking about 2012? Ambition laid bare....

My feelings exactly kid.

Smuggling

When I worked in Iraq for SAIC, the equipment I dealt with was all about interdiction and detection of smuggled goods, weapons, drugs or whatever.

So how did I go from that to being in a hotel room with a nondescript duffel bag full of chili?

Nalley's chili is not sold in so-cal, so I have to "smuggle" it in from out of state. I can't help it, it is my favorite!

Let's do some modern, big city math. A gram of cocaine is $50. There are 28 grams to an ounce, so an ounce of cocaine is going to cost you $140. A can of chili is 15oz, so the equivalent of a can of chili in cocaine costs $2,100.

My chili costs were
-airfare $500
-chili $30
-duffel $20
-baggage $50
totally $600 for 24 cans of chili. That breaks down to $25 a can of chili, versus $2,100 for a can of cocaine.

I feel like I am getting a bargain!!!

Trial by Fire

July 26th I will be competing up in Torrance at the South Bay Open. I will be fighting Masters, Superfeather.

Rar!


Last competition I was in was one put on by Megaton Diaz in Arizona back in 2001. I think I was 4th and the only person my division winner didn't submit. Before that my last competition was the California State Grappling Games where I placed 2nd in my division in 1999...

So yeah, it has been a while since I have fought. But it is back on now! I just need to make sure I dont weigh more than 140lbs on fight day with my gi on.

Book Killer On Mass Reading Spree

Young Stalin-Biographical account of his life to about 1920.
The Road-Post apocalyptic story of a father and son trying to survive.
In Defense of Food-A rebuke of how science and "nutritionism" encourage what we eat.
The Man Who Made Lists-Biography of Roget.
The Lucifer Effect-A study of the Stanford Prison Experiment and Abu Ghraib.