Rowdy Review

Hmmmm, with no peeking or other outside prompts let's just give a quick review of the past Rowdy year.

-going to Palm Springs in January and having medical nightmare #2 begin
-being in the hospital on Valentine's day
-getting a brand new motorcycle, Triumph Daytona 675.
-running the Warrior Dash and Camp Pendleton Mud Run
-getting a GoPro and learning and doing all the movie stuff with it
-being on TPN multiple times at home for months on end. lots of home health nurse visits.
-competing at a jiu jitsu tournament mere weeks after getting out of the hospital
-going to some good concerts
-seeing my brother in Colorado three times while downhilling and snowboarding
-meeting the Prime Minister's fiancee
-getting a downhill mountain bike and getting into that scene
-getting a bmx bike and getting into that kind of racing
-selling the Porsche and getting a Mini Cooper
-yo-yoing in weight from 123 to 142 and now down to 130
-Killer's graduation
-not going out of the country for the first time in 6 years

Vroom

Going to the San Diego International Auto Show today. Only $12 a ticket and I will also get my daily walk in I need. New cars, recovery exercise and being with family.

Sounds win-win to me!

PS-my mom arrived in SD yesterday to help care for me while I recover from surgery. It's very nice. And she even brought me some of her cookies I love as well.

PS2-I did see the lights of the Goodyear blimp a few days ago, I think they did say today was gonna be a good day.

Xmas mythbuster

Going 30mph in reverse and slamming on the brakes will not slide one's xmas tree out of the back of your truck and into the recycling pile.

No, it must be picked up one handed and thrown javelin style if you really wish to make a memorable departure of the tree from your vehicle.

How do I know? The bane of 6-8th grade, the science experiment. AKA doing it yourself and seeing what happens.

R++

I'm feeling pretty good today. But I still need to shower and such. But I feel just a tad bit more alive. Less zombie.

Scrooge that I am, I am also super happy that the tree and lights have been disposed of as well. Farewell to thee xmas stuff!

I really only have one project left, so I'm pretty happy about that. And it should only take like 3 hours or so as well. Basically adding some backing to my matchstick style panel blinds. To make them more sun shady. I'm getting broiled on the couch each day from noon till 4pm.

Ten more days till my staples can come out as well! And of course I will gopro it for you!

GO!!!!

Tintin

I went to watch the Tintin movie in 3D last night. As far as the story goes I was engaged till about half way through then stopped caring. The animation was exquisite and the best of its type. Makes Avatar look like I drew it with crayons.

And since I happen to have a particular look..... Well I figured I might as well dress up as Tintin! I think I pulled if off pretty well.




What do you think?

Happy Birthday Warthog!

Mossberg, Ruger, Benelli, Remmington

As the title suggests, this will be a shotgun post scattered all over the place. Look out.

Sleeper's block.
In the hospital I wrote a sitcom treatment in my mind when I couldn't sleep. The other night I wrote a short horror story. Last night I walked through the Pantheon in Rome. I've been there 3 times so I could visualize it all very clearly. Then I redesigned it in my mind to be even 'more' than the interior of the Sistine Chapel.

Church.
Christmas was on Sunday, so what does one do in the morning but go to church? Well, after all the presents and such. I don't remember much of what was said but the hymn "Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful" was the one that just really touched me.

Ick
The post surgery antibiotic I have to take for 3 months (more like 2) makes my pee brown, coats my tongue and everything taste horrible. I hate it. I need to be maintaining weight, not losing it. But everything just tastes horrible and is unsatisfying for the most part. I am 132lbs currently.

Nightmares.
I was jolted awake the other night by what I thought was a noise of someone in the house and me yelling "Hello!" while reaching for the gun under the bed. False alarm. Then last night I had a dream where I was living in these people's home and the host dad was a horrible man. He had smuggled in a girl to use for prostitution and was pressuring me to pay for her. When I said no we got in a fight and she jabbed me in the calf with a syringe of heroin and injected it into me. The nightmare ended with me getting as much as I could into my truck to leave and the Rage Against the Machine song Bomb Track pounding in my head as I then prepared to burn their house down, with them in in. Horrible.

Art.
The movie "The Artist" is very good. You have to adapt to the pacing of it, but for 'true cinema' it is a great movie. And more than one person has told me I look just like Tintin so I think I will be dressing like him as much as I can when I go see that movie later in the week.

Vanity.
My latest vanity project is going to be self publishing each year of my blog as a book. I was looking through the google image file of all my blog photos and I just really felt a need to have all I've written in it on paper. In a quality book format. So I'm going to. As soon as I can find someone who wants to make money converting each entry of my blog into a single pdf file and then saving them in order chronologically. Including pictures. And making each year its own complete folder. 2008-2011. Then when that is done I can send it off the the publisher I have chosen and I will get my books! MY books.

I'm 50% Norwegian...

...but I still enjoy, nay love, Donald Duck. It may be the tradition of my other Scandinavian brothers the Swedes to watch his cartoons as a national xmas eve celebration, but I'm going to anyways.

There are Swedes on youtube have put up tons of the classic Donald cartoons, so no worries finding them, even in English. Don't pull my viking card.

Speaking of xmas and celebrating I ran across this quote from John Adams about celebrating Independence Day here in America.

"...will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. . . . It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

Pomp, parade, shows, games, sports, guns, bonfires and fireworks!! This is freaking awesome. One of our founding fathers has commanded the best way to celebrate. No one has ever told me to celebrate xmas with this sort of amazingness.

But no matter what you do, I hope you are happy this Christmas and holiday season.
Enjoy and celebrate.

These babies have been custom framed and hung in the tv room! Wolfman and Mummy are the same artist so they are side by side. The other two are on separate walls.


These are going to go into my will, that is how awesome I feel they are. And looking at the secondary market they have already gone up in price.

Anyways, I love the classic black and white Universal Studios monsters. And I love interesting art so I'm happy, sooo happy, these were able to be the xmas gifts for this year.

Thank you!

The Big xmas Reveal Pt. 1

THIS LINK should give you an excellent idea about the 'art' that is my xmas present for this year.

Hint: Universal

While in the hospital I started writing a treatment for a new sitcom entitled "Home Game", about two neighboring stay at home dads. I have a character treatment, history and first season episode outline for perspective parties. If you are interested in the initial rights they are $60,000.

If you are awake in bed from 2am until 345am, you should probably get out of bed.

Do not take your health and physical abilities for granted. Similarly do not let your disease or weakness become an excuse.

Pain pills can mess with my mind. I say things I wouldn't, hear things that aren't there and have thoughts go through my mind I wouldn't normally. Annoying.

"The Prime Minister" better be on birth control or she is gonna be in for a big 7lb surprise sooner than she would like.

Flaggyl, the antibiotic I am on makes everything I eat taste horrible. Sad.

I hardly lost any weight at all during this past surgery. That is good! My plan is to do nothing more than walking until February. Then a month of yoga, starting calisthenics right after Valentine's Day. If that month all goes well then in March I can begin cycling and jiu jitsu again.

I'll go from a 4 digit numberplate down to a 2 digit numberplate, less than #38 even, for bmx racing in my district. I'm tired of rolling up with 4859 on my number plate! I'd rather have my newb show by my riding than being able to have it spotted instantly.

some super knowing soul sent me a shark necklace and frankenstein cuff links!! what a great start to xmas.

and then some of my, and possibly your, prayers have been answered. what a great start to Christmas.

i know you see what i did there.

CA is not always CA

Sometimes it is California, sometimes it is cancer. Thankfully my two biopsies came back as negative for small bowel cancer.

So this time it is just California.

Thankfully.

And I know what's good, exactly because I've been there before

hospital

so today is day 4. each day seems to get a little easier. still not eating or drinking. still requiring pain medicine.

have a foot long scar/row of staples down my abdomen. surgeon is happy with his work and how it all went. took little over 4 hours. only had to remove 4cm of intestine to to hopefully resolve the fistula issue.

will hopefully go home thursday.....

this is not easy, but i hope it is my last hospital visit for a long time.

at least they have free wi-fi for patients now! sadly i dropped my computer out of my hands and dented it/broke the case. so we will see how long it lasts.

now it is all just about the slow road to recovery!

blog you later

I'm off for surgery #5 of the past 15 months...... Be writing again with all the news in a week.

Hopefully.

Heavenly Father, I am thankful for all the things thou hast blessed me with. I am thankful for prayer, for freedom of religion and for the knowledge of thee.
I am thankful I have health insurance and access to care. I am thankful for all the prayers and kind thoughts of those who care for me.
I am thankful for my trials and challenges, knowing they are for a purpose and to strengthen me.

Please bless those who operate on me and care for me today. Bless them to perform their tasks with the utmost precision and meticulousness. Bless me that I might have the strength to endure the pain of recovery. Please bless those who have had me in their hearts and minds that they might too be comforted and their prayers answered.

This I pray, knowing all things come from thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I hate being a red head

90% of the time, I hate being a red head. The other 10% I just happen to be wearing a hat or have forgotten the fact.

bicycle crashing, i'm doing it right

Sorry for the poorly lit cell phone pic, but I was in a hurry. Ya know, 'cause I got so much to do.
This bruise goes half way around me, from my right kidney to almost my belly button and then down to my 'groin' as well.
When I crash a bike, I really crash it!

This is gonna look really good when I'm undressed and on the operating table.

My "last" meals...

With surgery on my bowels Friday morning I need to have not much in them. So on Thursday I just get liquids, hardly worth telling you about that.

But that makes today's meals the last solid food I will probably eat for about a week! Though I have gone without solid food for months before....I digress but continue.

Breakfast: 5 home made blueberry muffins. Orange juice.

Lunch: Cajun shrimp bahn mi sandwich. Cherry Pepsi.

Snack: Salt water taffy. Pumpkin pie fudge. Milk chocolate honeycomb.

Dinner: 4 ground beef tacos. Black cherry ginger ale.

Not really that fantastic on paper, and today didn't really require date with the electric chair style of food devotion, but I'm happy with it.

It's the final count down...

41 hours, 10 minutes until I check in for surgery......

Fine Arts

First off, I wore my new shirt, tie and velvet vest tonight mentioned a few posts below. I must look pretty good in it because even some gay dudes checked me out.

Enough vanity though. Tonight I went to watch the NYC Ballet Company's Nutcracker at the movie theater. Yep, the movie theater. Quite different than the one time I went and watched a UFC at the theater. But still very nice and better to have gone than not at all!

During the intermission I got to thinking about my cultural likes and dislikes. Because I either like something or am on the verge of detesting it when it comes to fine arts. And as lists are the easiest, most prevalent form of entry for a blog, that's what you're getting. (it can't be all motorcycles, mountain bikes, world travel and funny business!!)

A list of cultural things I like(+) and dislike(-)

Opera. +
Musicals. -
Sculpture. +
Photography. +
Ballet and Dance. -
Painting. +
Orchestral/Classical music. +
Theater. +/-

So I guess I don't really like performance art but for a very few things. I like acting, I like music. But other than operas I can't stand them together. Musicals put me in a foul mood for some reason.

Theater earns a plus minus as I've been to some things I like and some I hate. If there is singing or dancing I don't like it at all. I just want straight up acting and I really prefer just Shakespearean plays. Who knows, I used to hate American football as well, but now I really like it so maybe I'll come around on some of these as well.

Maybe I just don't understand all the subtle nuances or don't know the genres like I should, but quixotic me, this is what I like. And yes, I do realize I gave dance and ballet a - grade right after I said I enjoyed going to the ballet. I guess it is just the company I keep that helped me enjoy it and my strong desire for the 'classics' over anything modern. (And I didn't have to go back to NYC again. But my only trip there is another story......)

Success!

rowdy STYLE

For those of you who've been tricked into coming here thinking it is some sort of "fashion" blog I'm sorry.

Rowdy style has nothing to do with finding the latest and greatest fashions. It has more to doing things in a rowdy way. My style.

But occasionally even I like to look good. Or even great.

So I replaced my lost tortoise shell Ray-Bans with a black pair.

I bought a dark green dress shirt, tie and black velvet vest from Express Men. To wear to the ballet tomorrow.

Finally I added a new 3 piece suit from Macy's. Charcoal gray. And a new green and gray tie to go with the colors for the wedding I'm going to in January.

Maybe I'll get to wear my awesome J Crew woolen pea coat over it all as well. I never get a chance to wear it here in SD that's for sure!

This blog ain't Lookbook. No pins for Pinterest. (Though I will probably post some pics of all said outfits if I can get better pictures than self shot cell phone ones)

All Killer, No Filler.

Rowdy style.

??

How come the housekeeper is afraid of my dead shark in a jar but really likes my new 1931 Dracula movie poster?

The shark is dead. Dracula is the undead. I don't get it, do you?

I am awkward and awesome.

Rowdy rowdy.

Magoo!!

SuperD likes to tease me, in a nice way, when I get hurt doing something 'rowdy' by calling me or what I did as "coocoo magoo".

I'm sure it is a amalgam or portmanteau of coo coo meaning crazy and Mr. Magoo, a semi blind cartoon character who is constantly a half step away from major disaster due to his bumbling.

My reply is normally in a horrible Hindi accent, "I am NO magoo! You are magoo!"

Well last night, I am totally a magoo. Sad face. =(

I was racing bmx and it was the final moto. I honestly had no chance to make the main but I was racing like a freaking gold medal in London was on the line. I do not remember the crash (just like I didn't remember the day when asked while laying on the track) but I'm told I was going tooooooo fast for the line I had, I was tooooo low in the berm and started drifting the bike.

Then my weight wasn't really where it needed to be over the bike in that situation at that speed. There I am cranking along thinking I'm going to make it at least a close race. Prove that I'm getting faster. A threat.

Next thing I know my vision is filled with sky, dirt, bike, sky and then dirt. Followed by exquisite pain. Sharp, searing, burning pain. From my tail bone, to the top of my hip bone, down to my groin and all through my hip/butt.

I'll spare you the lame story of laying there on the track, evaluation of my injury and such. But the end result is that I crashed sooo freaking hard, sooo fast that I can barely walk today............... I'm almost ready to try and get my crutches out......

Magoo.

I could be a....

part-time model.


Actually I went on a few dates with a model in college and she said I had potential as a male model. She wasn't trying to get with me, so I'll believe what she had to say.

A few times I have also had people ask me, "are you someone famous?" I hope they weren't thinking I was Seth Green. Or heaven forbid that freak Carrot Top. (please no!) And Fry from futurama isn't real.

Well a long time ago I was just wandering around San Diego when I was approached by a female photographer. She said she was doing a series on red heads and asked if I was willing to have my picture taken for her work.

Heck yeah!

She took a few pics and I gave her my information and asked for a copy of my picture to be sent to me. This was like 9 months ago I think.... Well I finally got my copy in the mail today.

And here it is!

Since I have surgery coming up and that entails a long recovery of low physical effort I have taken up fishing. Since you don't need a license if you are fishing from the pier, that is what I am doing.

Rod, reel, lures, bait, tackles box, bucket and so on. Just a little over $130 into a new hobby. Which is much better than the $700 I spent on a guitar I ended up abandoning. The fishing pole will pay for itself if I catch about 14 fish.

Here are some pics of a few days at the OB and Crystal pier in PB.

So far I haven't caught anything. Killer brought up a few crabs though, so I might end up getting a crab net. As long as they aren't Dungeness and over 4" in width you can keep 'em! And it's much less technique dependent than fishing.

Enough exposition, here are the pics!! (and yes, I have short hair now)

I miss training Brazilian jiu jitsu soo badly. It makes me teary to think of the year(s) I've lost from the sport due to illness and the resultant surgeries.

I miss my friends, the competition, the training. I miss it all. And no amount of bike riding can really truly replace it. I'm a barely average bike racer, but I know I can be great at jiu jitsu.

To all my friends from my days at Fabios' I miss you. To all my friends from my time now at Atos, I miss you.

Infamy

Both of my male grandparents served on the west coast during WWII. Seattle and San Diego.

I've been to the site where a Japanese balloon firebomb killed a group of Sunday school kids in Oregon during the war. Poignant. A monument rarely visited.

I've been to the locations of 3 different internment camps for Japanese in Oregon and California. Awestruck and shocked. These places at the time you could just walk right up to and had no restoration or protection. Forgotten history in another decade.

I have and wear a memorial bracelet for a MIA, later listed KIA, serviceman.

Pearl Harbor. Been there, all the tours, all the monuments. Overwhelming feeling of sadness at the loss of life. I cried and didn't try to hide it.

This is not just any other day, and should be remembered. Breed Hill, the Maine, the Alamo, the Lusitania, Pearl Harbor. So many things in American history that should never be forgotten.

Dear Anonymous,

To answer your question, yes I do believe that the government you asked about is monitoring the internet and cellular communications of protesters and dissidents.

A state security apparatus would be foolish not to and it would also be silly for those on the other end to think anything they send, say or type is secure or not being monitored.

Peer to peer encryption should be used on top of a cypher, giving layered security to your communications.

I wish you the best with a successful regime change.

Rowdy

just rowdying around

Hmmmm, what's going on here?
Oh, just up in a tree. Hanging xmas lights.
Just another scar. This one is from those darn pedal bikes I'm riding all the time.
Best teriyaki chicken kabobs ever. Evah!And I made them.

12 Days of Rowdy

I have 12 days till hopefully my final surgery for Crohns disease/surgery complications. And although some people hate to hear it, since I'm not a fan of xmas I don't mind co-opting a seasonal song to my own ends.

Here you have it, my own original creation, The 12 Days of Rowdy. (Subtitled ''till surgery')

12 hot showers enjoying,
11 chances for pizza eating,
10 nights of dreaming,
9 football games
8 hours of fasting,
7 (not for family reading)
6 bmx races,
5 coats to charity donated,
4 months 'till jiu jitsu training,
3 new books for reading,
2 shots of Humira,
1 hope for health!!

Who's #1? You know!

i suck... but i wont quit till i win

vacay slide show

See you in 5 days!

Colorado trip #3 of the year in 11 hours! See ya again in 5 days precious readers!