All Things Rowdy

Today three friends and I went riding out at Corral Canyon OHV. BM was needing some photos for his new businesses website and had asked me to be a photo model. I was the only one on a supermoto and the rest of the gang were on XR650L, Husky 125 two smoker and a TW200 with Distanzias on it. I was the lone guy out on street tires. But at least I had e-start, great suspension and my mountain biking skills to help me out. Yeah for my bike and the short time I spent on my TTR-125. We did a 28 mile loop around and through the park. I only fell over twice. Once while turning around I dropped my bike and kept the clutch in and just picked it right back up and rode off. The second time I was moving along and was a little too confident in what my tires could do. Hello ruts and rocks, hello too much throttle. Hello ground! Scuffs and scrapes on the bike but I was totally unharmed. Yeah for good gear! I got yelled at by a ranger once for going to fast on the paved road up to the look out tower. He...

So tomorrow I have another "modeling" gig. This time I am supposed to get shots taken of me for a motorcycle touring/rental website. Basically just me in action on my supermoto on and off road. Wear my cleanest, nicest coolest gear. And tear around on my motorcycle over and over for the photographer. From 0930 till about 1400. And when I am not needed for photos I can just ride around and do whatever where we are shooting with the other people. Fun times! random shots of me on motorcycles: (i loved this motorcycle as much as any machine could be loved. i miss it soo badly)

Is a shemagh. Or a scarf even. And I have two, each with a funny story. While wearing my bought in Africa, black and white checked keffiyah, traditionally associated with the PLO, in Morocco I was almost kidnapped. True story. Now I have a somewhat more fashion oriented keffiyah bought from the Arab American Museum. (who knew such a thing existed?) This one is black and green and while nothing funny has happened while wearing it, it is too new yet, my receipt is the definition of ironic humor. Look closely and following "thank you for your support" is a very un-Islamic "Merry Christmas". I am sure this is only getting me closer and closer to the no-fly list. Going to Muslim run countries multiple times, having a degree with radiation, working in Iraq and Kuwait, visiting jihadi websites in Arabic and ordering propaganda items that get shipped to my house from place like say oh.... Iran. Sun Tzu said it best, "To know your enemy, you must become your enemy....

For Christmas vacation this year I went to Utah to see family that now lives there and to receive my present of snowboarding for a few days. Overall I had a great time and will now just give you stattaco machine gun bursts of pictures, ideas, impressions and such from my week away. I'm glad I am back and I hope you are too!! Over the break I drove almost 2,000 miles!! No wonder everything below the waist is numb! (I'm sure I will recover) I need to write a poem entitled, 'Ode to Road Rage'. Seriously. When did the left lane become the slow lane and the right lane the fast passing lane?? If you are going 70 in the left lane you need to move the heck outta my way moron! St. George has to be the white trash capital of the I-15 corridor. A beautiful natural area, but boy.... the locals.... I'm so glad TCB got us a great place to stay when I decided to make a stop there. My last day at Brighton was one of my top 5 ever days snowboarding. 10 degrees is freaking cold! So ...

So yeah, after a butt numbing 12 hour drive and three major episodes of road rage I am back home in SD!! Pictures, funniness and a report to happen tomorrow. After a long hot bath and many hours of sleep.

Merry Christmas dear readers. I happen to be in snowy Utah, USA going snowboarding and visiting family. No matter where you live or who you are with, I wish you the best. And if you are Christian, I wish you the best in celebrating the Savior's birth. Merry Christmas to ALL!

Mon-pack. drive to St George. eat and sleep. Tue-drive to SLC. family and food. snow. Wed-snowboard at Brighton. watch the Utes in their bowl game. cold. Thur-food. family. fun. maybe four wheeling. frozen. Fri-presents! gift exchange! more family! snow. Sat-snowboard. sherlock holmes movie. K's birthday. gray. Sun-drive from SLC back to SD. tired. There ya go friendly readers! I will look forward to "being" with you again as soon as I return. With pictures of course!

Ugh, so I just finished paying over $1,000 to get the CEU's I need to keep my nuclear medicine license, both nationally and from the state. This sucks because I won't be seeing this returned to me in anyway until tax time in 2011. And because I haven't even worked in nuclear medicine for a year. And I'm still paying my freaking student loan for this degree. Which I don't use in any way. So I am going to a SNM conference. (No not that kind of s&m) In February. In Albuquerque New Mexico. My first hotel choice was sold out. Flights are at cruddy times. The hotel I could finally find a room at has a 53% rating for its reviews. Can you tell I am soooo totally happy about this? Why couldn't a mid-winter meeting be in Phoenix? Or Las Vegas? Any place but some crappy little town at 5,000' altitude in the middle of winter? With just junky hotels and no real attractions? I knew I should have made a u-turn at Albuquerque! PS-The weekend of the 24th I am in Santa Cr...

Because I hate ketchup. Even on a late night snack of fries, scrambled eggs, canadian bacon and hot sauce. All served up on the classically classy paper plate. I also happen to have eaten my very last can of chili as well. The HORROR! It is a good thing I am driving the 742 miles on Monday to where I can get some more. Maybe I will bring back three cases this time as I don't have to deal with putting it in airplane luggage. There is a Dimitri Martin joke in here somewhere...... I have brownish hair now. Fun. I did it myself, kitchen beautician style. It will wash out in 28 washes for all you weirdos who seem to think red hair is good. (I don't see you with it) And to close, a cell picture of the sunset from my back deck.

How can Taco not smile while we are out having fun??

I WILL see this movie. Sometime, somewhere, somehow.

Plan your New Years Eve! And I know what I want to do this year. Lately I've been falling asleep on the couch well before midnight and that is not gonna happen this year! I am going to do something fun! Well, my definition of fun at least. I don't drink alcohol at all, I don't smoke, I don't really "party" so I am going to do something nontraditional. Red Bull. New Year. No Limits. Yep, I am going to go to Long Beach and watch Travis Pastrana jump a rally car into the bay. Now just to convince MM he needs to go as well and buy tickets! Info here! http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Sports/Motor-Sports/New-Year-No-Limits/001242797773354 Video here!

drop a box of q-tips down the stairs I make sure I drop ALL of them. say my 6" trail bike only weighs 30lbs I am not guessing, I know. make smoked salmon it even LOOKS like a salmon.

Everyone has their favorite holiday, for various reasons. For me, Christmas is normally pretty low on the list. I much prefer 4th of July, Thanksgiving or even Memorial Day over xmas. (I prefer to write it as 'xmas' so that I don't even have to type the word Christmas) I'm even super happy to live some place that doesn't snow so it even seems less xmas-like during the season. But that does not mean I have a heart of obsidian or no sense of fun. The proof? Check out these hand made paper snowflakes in my front window! The Rowdy Holiday Enjoyment List 1. 4th of July 2. Thanksgiving 3. Halloween 4. Easter 5. Memorial & Veteran's Day 6. My birthday 7. Valentines Day 8. New Years Eve 9. xmas

I just got "To live or to perish forever" a book about the author's experiences in Pakistan. This book is a new release and I bought a hardcover version. It was featured in the NYT magazine a few Sundays ago and the author was on NPR last week. So it is getting some current popular press. I had lent a SEAL buddy of mine a book entitled "The Art of Deception. A guide to critical thinking." I had owned this book before and it is really great at showing you how to logically make a case and more importantly all the ways to deconstruct another's argument based on the way they present it. Well, he must have liked it a lot as I never got it back. (To my knowledge, I'm not accusing you of anything if you're reading this. You're just the last person I know I lent it to....) I have also received some early Christmas gift cards and they are going to be turned into books as well! So, thank you!! The three books dealing with more modern issues in Vietnam were...

I had decided that this day was to be an outside adventure day. So after much poking and prodding K decided on a hike. I then decided we would hike out to --------------, let's just call it a future Secret Squirrel Summer Skinny Dipping Spot, so I can't give you the name. After about a hour drive east we had a hike that took us up and over two ridge lines for a few miles. The rain was light and it was cool to see steep hillsides, fall colors and foggy mist. Not what you would normally think of as "San Diego" typical scenery. About 3 hours after starting we were back at the truck and california burrito bound! It was a steep hike at times and we finished it pretty well soaked, but well worth it to see the falls. I will be back! Los Photos: