Cross training, Rowdystyle. Biking and pull ups at the same time.
African Ice. Sooo yummy. Look them up next time you are in SLC. And tip!!
Prompted to remember the fireworks while I'm using gasoline? YES!

Italy visits 1 and 2

To celebrate going back to Italy for the 3rd time, here are some pics from my first two visits. Enjoy the inspiration for your own travels!!!

poll for naught, but not a naughty pole

Well, vacation is now planned. At least as far as the actual destination is concerned.
Drum roll please............... Rome, Italy.

Yes yes I know, it was not on the poll. But after much discussion with everyone involved that type of destination and the things to do there fit everyone's ideas of vacation better than my four original ideas.

This will be my third time to Italy and I still enjoy the place. Despite speaking zero Italian.

The new twist this time will be staying in a rented apartment rather than a hotel. Definitely feeling more local that way.

A week in Rome in the summer. It hardly seems like a consolation prize, now does it?


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Right now I am in Utah doing family stuff. And also somewhat in denial about where life has taken me, hahahaha. I just feel "old" but yet not at all, at the same time.

Utah is full of crappy drivers. Easily the worst drivers in the Western US.

It rained a rain here that was primarily composed of dirt. It rained dirt.

Gasoline is no cheaper here than in San Diego. Disappointing.

People's penchant for alternative name spellings is out of control here. Silly. And wrong.

It also seems extremely insular and provincial. For a state with a large percentage of people who have lived in other states and countries doing missionary work it is surprising the things you hear people say or see them do here.

Hopefully this does not make me persona non grata in Utah. I still enjoy recreating here and am obliged to visit family who lives here. It works for them so they choose to live here and I of course love them and will always visit.

*******************************************************

Coming up the first week of June I have the WORLD championships of brazilian jiu jitsu in Long Beach on Friday and then the first race of my mountain bike season on Saturday.

Am I ready? More so than last year but not where I could be. Laziness has been its own reward, so I am sure I will be shocked at how little natural talent carries me and work harder.

I'll be back in SD on Monday and will hopefully be at the beach with all the Zonies who invade SD each weekend.

Remicade and me

And Pentasa now too!

cursed anatomy

evidently your teeth are supposed to fit together a certain way when you bite down. well the other night i was out to dinner and i bit down funny. it felt like i had bit down on a chunk of metal or something.

i immediately spit out my food thinking i would find a filling or something. nothing. but having a history of getting hit in the mouth and breaking teeth i was sure something was wrong.

getting home and brushing and flossing and running my tounge over my teeth found nothing immediately evident. but then i went to sleep and woke up feeling like there was grit or sand or something in my mouth in the area where i was suspicious of a problem.

as i have never felt that before in my mouth i can only assume the worst and that i did some damage to a tooth. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i hate my freaking teeth. cursed anatomy.

Place

Is it really my place in the world to just be a professional "funster"?

Where do I fit into the grand scheme of the world? What is my destiny?

What am I preparing for?

Have I already peaked?

Just thinking out loud...............

May 21

Mr T, Pac Man and I all have the same birthday! That's pretty telling if you ask me....

This year I received sessions with a sports psychologist! So amazing and insightful. (both him and the gift!!)

Here are some early Rowdy photo collages to celebrate my birth and some early facts about my life.

Enjoy.**************************************************
I was multi cultural at an early age. And obviously chubby. And a fan of motorcycles and orange underwear.
Mickey Mouse t-shirt, Dutchboy haircut, dead ducks, junior prom king. Oh and me riding a horse!!
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I was born on May 21 at 11:36am. I was 7 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long.
My mom started feeding me baby food at 17 days.

I would hold my breath when I was mad starting at one week.
My favorite toy was a musical elephant given to me by my uncle Jack.

On my 6th birthday I had a party with my cousins where I received monster colorforms, a book, laser disc gun, clothes and a blimp.

When I was 7 my interests were dinosaurs, sharks, football and monsters. For that birthday I received Star Wars toys, a Hulk action figure, plastic toy dinosaurs, Evel Knevil motorcycle stunt set, money and clothes.

At 12 years old I got a .22 rifle. At 16 I was given a skydiving jump. Which I wasn't able to use at the time but I have sense gone many times. One birthday I received my first pair of good flip flops. Twice I've gotten motorcycles on my birthday!! And one birthday I spent eating pound cake from a MRE in my tent in Iraq.

This week's poll explained

This week's poll I asked if I should delete my Facebook account. The replies were 1 for yes, 2 for no and 3 for why.

The reasons for possibly doing it are that I duplicate much of my effort from here to there and vice-versa. Also some real concerns about the integrity and safety of whatever data I share with FB about myself. And it is basically just the evolution of Friendster to Myspace to now Facebook. Do I really want to continue riding that train?

Dear Readers,

Have any of you been to the Galapagos Islands??

Thinking of going.....Tell me what you know.

Thanks!!!

May 20- International Draw Muhammed Day.

A simple act done in total freedom, against fear and in the face of threatened violence.

30 years ago today....

I was a young kid and I saw the sky go dark in the middle of the day.

I watched snowplows in the summer move ash to the side of the road.

And in my childish state, first realized the world really could possibly end. And was an incredibly big and complex place.

on fire, no longer burnt out

My Nemesis

Today in church they handed out Big Hunk candy bars during my men's Sunday School class as a 'thank you' for something we did a few Sundays ago.

If you are a new reader this candy bar has hurt me before. Twice. The first day of a new job in 2004 I broke my fake front tooth in half doing a great white shark impression on one. The second time was this year, on my very first bite I crushed a tooth that ended up getting crowned to fix the damage.

But did that stop me today? Well.....I was afraid to accept one of them knowing my history with them....but I went for it! I'm not afraid of no candy bar!

And guess what? I killed it. Totally ate the whole thing and it didn't bite me back in any way.

Success!!

The Bronze year

In 2009 every Brazilian jiu jitsu tournament I was in that I medaled, I was in 2nd place. Every one.

So far in 2010 every tournament that I have medaled in I have been in 3rd place. Pan Am and Fabio Santos Open all ended with me wearing the bronze.

Thus making 2010 my 'Bronze' year.

Hopefully then 2011 will be my 'Gold' year in bjj competition. I will have been a purple belt for a year at that stage, rather than brand new like I am now. I have also had to fight against the young kids more frequently as there just aren't any adults my age and weight and belt who compete.

I'm unique! A special jiu jitsu snowflake. Hahahahaha.

Pics from today:

Pics Galore!

Waiter, I think I'll have the brain surgery. Oh wait, today's special is open heart? Yes, I'll take that instead. Give me a full order of open heart surgery please.

Nosfuratu!! How the heck did I miss this amazingly awesome experience???
Vale Tudo, the fight of a new generation. Or if you're not a true fan or don't speak Brazilian Portuguese, it is what was in Brazil before there was the UFC or MMA in America.
Scooter helmet=Spaceballs

Service project at Mission Trails Park where we removed non native plants for hours. Always good to do something nice and especially at a park that I use frequently.

day one

so my first day of teaching ginastica natural at the academy........

no one showed up. =(



oh well, just keep pluggin' along........

Happy Mother's Day

For Sale

2,000 miles
clean CA title in my name
all stock, recent oil change

$4,500 cash only

If my parents would have wanted their kids to be losers they would have named us Dr Quinn and Medicine Woman

But they didn't, they named one of them Rowdy. And last night he was a winner!

Super D, RS aka Boy Genius (seen below) and myself went to a trivia night contest for the 3rd time last night. Boy Genius was a new addition to the team as we realized we would be a stronger team with a third or fourth member.

Well it worked 'cause we CRUSHED last night. We won handily and were in the lead the entire night.Each of us was able to answer a question no one else could, so we were a great team. Heck, we even got the half-time question and the final question right, for the first time! There were no sports questions that I can remember so that certainly helped in our DOMINATION.

First place won us a $30 credit where it was held, so next time we go FREE EATS and DRINKS for us.The winners.

Last night our team's name was "Brain Freeze" but I think next week we will have to be named something a play on the SNL Jeopardy skits.

Actually, I think I am just mildly depressed. I have normally such an amazing life that it makes the parts that aren't so, well just that much more affecting of my mood.

I just renewed my Nuclear Medicine license. Doing so prompted me to look at jobs in San Diego. Kaiser, Sharp, Scripps, Digi-Rad, staffing companies, sales and I only found one per-diem job that I know, from my contacts who work there that I emailed about the job, is a continually open job posting for them to pick and choose from.

I am sooo blessed to have Super D and her ability to provide. I truly am thankful for that daily. But still.... I don't know how to put my finger on it.

I am not sure if I am wasting a talent, a degree, getting into a rut where I will never be able to work full time because I've forgotten how to, a poor example to J, K and M on what a work ethic should look like.

I have also discovered the term HENRY High Earner Not Rich Yet. Though we fall into that class I can't help but wonder if things would be easier if I made a larger contribution. Well, I know they would be.

Couple that with the fact I am clueless on how to get K and M motivated in achieving anything that remotely resembles consistent completion of homework and thus good grades. FYI- a C is not a good grade. It is barely tolerable.

So here ai am doubting my ability to work, earn wages, use my education, teach and lead who I need to, and at the same time feeling like I am flailing in my hobbies. Feeling bad that I am not as good as I would like to be for all the time and money I put into them. Add in a little bit of unhappiness about physical appearance and you have a pretty good argument for being mildly depressed.

It's not horrible or anything, but just enough on me to make me feel like Eeyore with a little black rain cloud over me.

Fake Roxia

I feel like I am about the crappiest purple belt there has ever been. It is soo disheartening to always be the one getting worked.

I feel like I am an average blue belt, at best.

I am not going to quit, but boy am I in a funk with my performance right now.......

Sun Diego

Sunny downtown San Diego.
Sunny Sunday cooking on the back deck.

What could be better? Sunshine. Relaxing Sunday. San Diego. Cooking on the grill. Throw in some swimming in a pool and I guess that is the only way to make it better. Or add a bunch of friends.

stuff

I really don't form much of an attatchment to many of the physical "things" I own. Or have owned over the years.

But in looking at new prices for some things I have owned at one time I really wish I would have held on to them. Cases in point:

#1. 1984 Yamaha RZ350. I bought an old race bike and converted it back to a street bike, the white and red version. Spec II pipes, new tires, new rings and pistons, new ignition. I paid $1,200 for it.

What are they selling for now? Five to seven thousand!

#2. 1989 Yamaha YSR50. The very first motorcycle I ever owned. I paid $900 for it brand new and it was the most fun I have ever had on a motorcycle. Ever. I would ride it for hours just to ride. Mine was totally stock with only a few thousand miles on it when I sold it for $800.

What are they selling for now? Three thousand to four thousand!

#3. Ruger Mini-14 Ranch rifle. I was given one by one of my uncles. It had a scope, a sling and 5 different high capacity mags. I sold it for $350. My uncle was pissed.

What do they cost now? Almost eight hundred dollars here in California. And that is without all the extras mine had.

Guns and motorcycles. Guns and motorcycles. Just throw in really nice watches and you have the three things that are always as good as cash and sure to appreciate if you pick the right ones.

Silly Saturday

Here ya go, 'cause you know it is all about me.

Nor Cal
South Dakota
San Diego
Costa Rica
Venice, Italy
Here are some random pics off my computer for your fun and enjoyment!