He's on his way back folks!

More than just a nice body

I will have this memorized in the next two weeks!

Just another manic Monday....

0730-1000 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

1130-1200 Laundry

1400-1530 Downhill Mountain Biking

1800-1900 Yoga

Somewhere in there I am also eating and showering a few times. That's only 5 hours of exercise in one day, so pretty tame. I haven't even added any strength or conditioning training to my regimen yet. (that starts next week. and adding an extra hour of bjj three times a week)

Happy Birthday TCB!

Love ya dad! Thanks for teaching me how to do and fix stuff. How to work hard. How to have quiet confidence. That a person can change for the better. How to manage money. How to shoot guns and ride a bike. How to drive a manual transmission.

Love ya!

If your dog has to live in the house and stay home alone all day while you're at work, maybe you shouldn't have a dog. You think of it as part of your family but you wouldn't treat a human child that way. Right?

If your dog can't live outside, eat its natural food and be free to live a natural life then you should think hard about the real reason you have this animal around.

Animals are not supposed to be surrogates for human friends. They are not to be used for your emotional self fulfillment.

Animals are awesome creatures. But they are not "more" than that, they are animals. But with their own unique entities. Think about whose interests you really are looking after..................

You're already here, so....

So why not make some money reading my blog? If you read some of my goals or projects for the year you know I want to turn the previous years of my blog into books.

Money. Money. That's all you've been hearing since reading this post so let's get to that. The site I am using to make my posts into book form would prefer to have them in PDF form.

So I would need you to convert each year of my blog into the pdf form acceptable to my publisher and that will also be good looking as they don't fool around with it too much from how you give it.

Do you read my blog? Quick with a computer? Want some extra $$? Then email, comment or contact me however and we can talk about it. Your technical questions can be answered by going to www.lulu.com and reading their submission requirements.

For pay, I'm thinking 10 cents per entry, so roughly $40 per year. I've been blogging here for years 2008, 09, 10 and 11. You have the potential to make about $160 by doing all four years.

Time frame, I'd like to have all of them submitted within 4 weeks of starting the project.

What do you think???????

The Sun!!

It's smiling, it's smiling, it's smiling tiiiiiiime.
Though it was technically easy ride down, still an effort for me to push a 40lb bike up the Big Rock trail on Cowles. Man a dh bike feels weird after soo much time on the bmx bike.

My days are shaping up like this......Rinse and repeat.
Brazilian jiu jitsu at Atos with Andre Galvao for 2 hours in the morning.
Lunch with Killer or Super D
Resting and housework
Either cycling of some sort or yoga at Pilgrimage of the Heart in Normal Heights.

Driving home from the 0730 jiu jitsu class this morning, the sun in my face and a breeze through the window I had a very strong, distinct pleasant feeling. Or impression.

It was that the health and healing I am experiencing now really is a miracle. I've had an honest to goodness miracle happen to me this month.

And that is the kind of feeling I'll never forget in my life. Or where it comes from.

Automatic "Debt" Machine

That is what I like to call atm's, automatic debt machines due to the stupid fees one has to pay for convenience in using different branches.

But I also learned something new about atm's yesterday. I learned what happens when you go to the atm, do your business and then walk away; leaving your card unloved and behind in the machine.

The bank keeps it! In a locked box, with all your information. Until you realize about 3 hours later what you did. That no one stole your atm card and nothing else from your wallet. That it didn't just fall out of your pocket mysteriously.

Just walk in, saying "Hey, I think I left my card in the machine." They look at your drivers license and boom, you get it back in like 30 seconds.

Phew.

Just goes to show you can learn something every day!

Sharp as sharp can be!

Ice, Water, Steam.

Going to the PM's wedding last weekend has made me reflect on my own life a little bit. The changes we go through, the things we wish for ourselves and how those two intertwine.

I've been to 4 weddings. Two family, two friends.
I've been to 4 funerals. Two family, two to support friends.

So it's an even draw there. Not really much to say about them now that I sit and think about it. Just that the two funerals I went to were for grandparents that when I was younger I didn't feel as close to as the other set. Whose funerals I did not attend. Odd.

Ruminating in the shower about how I might interestingly write about the above topics my thoughts drifted to all the things I wanted to do or be when I was a young child.

Things I Dreamed of Doing of Being Ages 5 to 9.

1. Being an astronaut. Going into space.
2. Being a fighter pilot. Flying planes.
3. Being and icthyologist, specializing in sharks. Seeing sharks in real life.
4. Being a soldier. Shooting guns and fighting.
5. Going to exotic countries. Learning new languages. Seeing new things.
6. Be a ninja. Know a martial art.
7. Race cars or motorcycles.

Thinking about all those I feel I exceeded my childhood dreams completely in all but #1. And that just really can't be helped.
#2. I've got to sit in an f-16 and f-4 flight simulator. I've seen the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds. Been to 5 airplane museums. Flown in different aircraft while in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Seen MiGs on the ground in my world travels. Flown in many private planes, sometimes with me at the controls for a bit.
#3. I've got to cage dive and free swim with sharks in the wild. I've touched sharks in real life. I've been to the best aquariums on the west coast.
#4. I worked in Iraq for 3 months in 2007. I've owned at least 20 guns and had tons of fun shooting. Medical reasons kept me out the 3 times I tried to enlist.
#5. I've been to at least 13 foreign countries. Wow. I can speak 3 languages and am able to get around fairly competently in exotic locales. The things I've seen... I can't even begin to list. Standing on ruins looking out on only jungle. Wondering how to escape from people in Morocco. Playing badminton in a park in Hanoi. The Coloseo. And on and on.
#6. I like sushi. Hmm, years studying Brazilian jiu jitsu. Fighting and competing, even at the state and national level. Sometimes taking home medals. Meeting the modern greats in BJJ. My physical fitness, my confidence and everything has been made better by a martial spirit and life.
#7. I've got to ride and own almost every motorcycle I've ever dreamed of except a RC30. Track days dirt and street. Two wheels and I click on a cellular level. Cars, from the basic Miata to the exotic Porsches and Lotuses. Driven as fast as I could around Laguna Seca. MotoGP race trips here and abroad. Even a few trophies here and there.

I'm soooo happy right now that my guts seem to be healthy and it makes me think of some of the other things I've been happy about. Reflecting on the good things in life. People do change, things do happen. But I can only control myself and my reactions to them.

Right now I'm only happy about how life has been for me, in the whole. So thank you to all who've been/are a part of it. Love!

The "M" is for mischievous

I don't know why, I'm not Freud, but this just makes me feel sooo warm inside. And smiley. Double bonus! Want to know more? Read on..........

While at the surgeon's office yesterday I picked up a flier in the waiting room, drawn to it by the picture of drinking glasses filled with sugar cubes. What started as an interesting article about the history of sugar turns into some hateful propaganda piece about how evil sugar is. Give you cancer and lies like that even!

The end of the article goes on to suggest you quit sugar entirely! Even offering a website and local meetings to go to, with a 12 step program! To quit sugar?!?!?

So guess what mischievous Rowdy does? He signs up online for the meeting. And then when I get there I am gonna drink a Slurpee in front of them, tear off my shirt and do push ups in front of them, telling them sugar is delicious. OK, maybe I am going just to cause a small disruption by asking pointed questions. And learn their 12 steps so I know how to avoid them!

You know all the myths about a 'white god' to ancient or primitive tribes? Sugar.
What is an all natural plant product? Sugar.
The word we use as synonymous with love and affection? Sugar.


Sugar rules and I am going to go to this meeting and ambush them to let them know!

Rowdy style!

TFSA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had my post surgery appointment with Dr T today. He feels I am healing very well, at 4 weeks I'm as good as I would have been at 6 weeks. He sees no serious issues and said I could go for it. Or in his words, "Go do your bike racing and MMA or whatever it is you do. Just ease into it, but other than that, yeah go for it."

HALLELUJAH

All of the things I've waited now since August of 2010 to do, I can begin to do. EIGHTEEN freaking months of heartache, toil, suffering, confusion, pain and underlying it all hope. Hope that it would one day end in a good way. Resolution.

My crohn's disease is not gone. It is not cured. But my quality of life currently is great. And I see it improving. Prayer. Perseverance. Humira. Never quitting.

TIME FOR SOME ACTION!!

Monday through Friday in the morning at 0730, brazilian jiu jitsu at ATOS with Andre Galvao.

Two nights a week racing bmx at Kearny or Cactus.

Three times a week doing some sort of other exercise away from activities.

Don't call it a come back!!

Now and Later.

Now, meaning today I ran 1.7 miles this morning at a very slow jog. With zero issues. Then I did an easy yoga class for 90 minutes. With zero issues. Looking good.

Later, meaning sometime later this year I hope this movie comes out. It better be real!
Looking good.

28 Days Later

Zombie tummy Rowdy, 28 days after my latest surgery. This is surgery #10. My scar in total is now 10" long as they keep cutting my midline, just at different spots.

The little hole under the bandage should be totally healed in like 3 days as well! I was going to include a gruesome 'before' pic and a sexy 'best' pic of my tummy, but I don't think the value you as a reader would get is worth it. Am I wrong? So here it is, my zombie tummy, back from the dead as of today.

A week away photo-blog

And this is why I hauled a huge pair of snowboots up there. Burrrrrrr.
My poor mom.... She takes a fall on ice and re-injures an unhealed scaphoid break. To the point she might need a pin in it. And now it looks like her brain tumor might be back...She is the toughest woman I know. I wish her the best in all this.
Trying to be funny while in the ER I took this off the wall to have her take home. I also tried ummmm, acquiring a hazmat suit while I was there but was overruled.
Shooting contest with one T of the TNT's. No time limit, 10 yards, shoot the best smiley face. I won!! And it would be perfect but for one 'tooth'.
"two in the chest and one in the head and even the jolly green giant will fall down dead"
My nieces and nephews mobbing the pool!

You're so vain, I bet you think this blog is about you. Don't you.

Well actually it is. And yes, I am a little vain. Now if i truly have the right to be is a different story.... (short skinny red heads not being considered traditionally handsome)

I gotta find some pics of me in my suit, 'cause of course I'm hot in it. But here are some pics of my in my sexy black velvet vest.

The PM's wedding!

Really, one of the most beautiful and touching days I've had in years! Wow. I love them both and I think they are a great couple.

Once I get a cd of pics from the real photog I'll put them up. Until then you have to be satisfied with my crappy cell phone pics.

Ideas for the future

I'm still out of town with limited internet access and no way to transfer pics from my phone to here either. So any real awesomeness will have to wait. But in the mean time I have been thinking of ideas for posts when I do get back to my real life.

-28 Days later: a picture comparison of my tummy now that i am 28 days after my last surgery.
-Dog Days of Rowdy: a post about the dogs I've had as a child and their stories. Then a little bit about the documentary about the origin of dogs I just watched this month.
-Photo bomb: I have pics I took at the PM's wedding. I have pics I took while at the ER with my mom goofing off. I have pics of me looking super hot in my new clothes. Shooting range pics. So I want to get all of those pics up here, with commentary or not.
-Fitness February: My plan for getting back to the real rowdy. Rough, rugged, ready. Rowdy.

There ya go, a little preview of the creative posts in store for you! Read them in a few days!!

the curse! the curse!

At the end of 2009 when I was vacationing in S.E. Asia my mom stayed at the house and looked after everything. While she was there she decided to go for a bike ride around Lake Murray.

Little bit of downhill, little bit of speed plus a whole lot of front brake equals an over the bars crash. And when you endo over the bars you break your scaphoid bone. And when you break your scaphoid bone you get a cast for 3 months and hit heals very slowly. Very.

So here it is almost 16 months later and the curse strikes again. Mom was holding one of my nieces and running, yes running, across a somewhat icey street. BAM, slip and fall. Along with dropping said neice.

She gets back and we're able to convince her that ice and ibuprofen might not be enough. 4 hours later at an IHC emergency department she is leaving with pain pills, referal to a hand specialist and a hard splint.

The curse struck again! Her scaphoid never healed the first time, so she broke it apart more and then also displaced the scaphoid and navicular bone. (sorry, college anatamoy and physiology class for me was in the late 90's) I'm betting she is gonna have a pin placed and another cast.

I guess it's called a curse for a reason......

no NIMBY, but YES!

If you're unfamiliar with it, nimby is an acronym for not in my back yard. It's for people who don't want a prison, freeway, powerplant or whatever near them to be built.

So I have a Mini and a Tacoma in my driveway. But they sure aren't a Mini or Tacoma like either of these versions that are currently competing in the Dakar rally in South America.


But I do wish they were in my driveway! YIMD!

And I'm sure you will see my totally unneeded, greedy, rowdy wish-list of possessions to acquire this year as well. OK, why wait. I know what I want already.
Sig Saur P229 pistol in .40s&w $750
Sig Saur 556 patrol rifle $1,200
lots and lots and lots of ammo for both $500-700
small Honda gas generator $1,000
either a Transition 250, Commencal Supreme 8 or Intense SS2 freeride style mountain bike. $3,500-4,500
my own e-reader. $??
and surprise, a motorcycle is not on the list. yet.

Things in 2012 I'm looking forward to!!

Going to the Prime Minister's and Einstein's wedding in January.
Seeing family all together in January.
Having Warthog begin his church mission service!!! Either January or March.
Going to the Supercross race in February.
Beginning jiu jitsu training and bmx racing again in March.
April?
Skipping my birthday for the rest of life in May. Anytime it switches to a "0" at the end of my chronological age, it is time to stop counting.
A three country tour in June. 4 days doing driving around Norway. 2 days in Barcelona Spain for the MotoGP race. Then two days in Tel Aviv Israel flying home from there.
July? Masters and Seniors in Rio de Janeiro?
August? Mountain biking in Colorado?
September? Mega birthday party for Super D? Dinner and a show in SF? NYC? Something in a Tiffany blue?
October? Visit Ravi in Australia? (only if you read this buddy!!)
November?
December?

There you have it. Family changes of the good kind, quite a bit of international travel and resumption of my physical hobbies. It is really looking like 2012 is really a "Time for Some Action" kind of year.

A person's deepest, darkest secrets

I've heard it said somewhere that all the secret stuff a person has to hide can be found in their bedside table/night stand. I think that's pretty true based on the times strangers have left me unsupervised in their bedrooms.

You really can learn A LOT by poking through a person's night stand. The only things more revealing would have to be reading their diary, medical records or some sort of mind reading sci-fi thingy.

So here you have it; I just pulled the drawer out of my nightstand and set it on the bed and took a picture. No finessing or editing of its contents.



From looking at the picture, here are the contents I see. Miss anything?
dogtag necklace, ring, flashlight, ring, extra buttons, ear plugs, eye mask, mouth guard case, cuff links box, floppy disk?!?!?!, leather cord, map of Hanoi, Vietnam, various writing implements, name tag, various business cards, 12 gauge shot gun shells, .22lr bullets, cough drops, note book, needle, addresses on scrap paper, ceramic tile I painted with a 'sharky' theme and finally a Swiss Army knife.

So, what secrets do you think you can learn from that??

Rulez

11 THINGS NOT TO SAY TO ME BECAUSE I HAVE CROHNS DISEASE

-You don't look sick.
-I know what you're going through.
-You've lost weight, you look great!
-You're soo lucky; you can eat anything and stay skinny.
-Have you gained weight?
-Oh come on, just eat some anyways.
-You must have a lot of stress in your life huh?
-Should you be eating that?
-Do you have to "go" now?
-Why are you soo tired all the time?
-If you just changed your diet....

And a bonus 12th one

-Aren't you scared of ______?

I don't mean this list as an absolute commandment, but more as something to guide your thoughts before you say it, especially if it is something you will say to me repeatedly.

And this part I mean seriously, if you honestly want to know why these particular things should not be said to me just out of hand, I will explain it to you. In a clear and friendly manner.

ps-It's been 3 weeks exactly since my last surgery and I am getting better each day. I just have one part of my scar that concerns me where my belly button used to be but other than it, I think things are trending upward.

Sins of the blogger...

Yesterday's post got me thinking. What exactly are the sins of blogging? I mean, I guess I could google it and see what some professional writer thinks but I don't care about them. I care what I and other just regular bloggers think.

So with no help from outside sources and just using my little mind, here are what I think are the sins no blogger should commit without really gauging the importance of doing so. Now in no particular order nor written on stone tablets

The Sins Of Blogging
1.Complaining about work. How many horror stories do you know of people who lost jobs or became infamous for talking out of turn about their job. I know a few personally...

2.Using real names. The internet is an omnivore that eats up everything. If someone pokes it into puking up data, don't let it find you easily. This is the time it is OK to role play you're a spy and give everyone in your blog a code name.

3.Over sharing. Your sex life, bowel movements, menstruation, arrest record, death threats and such should stay pretty private. I know it is fun to write a shocking post or to feel free and expressive but again, think before you type.

3a.Pictures related to sin #3. Guess what, google images has every picture you've ever posted to your blog saved.

4.Straying from the format and/or vain repetition. Most blogs seem to have a theme. Mine is pretty vague in that it is just what I do during my life. The theme is "me" in my entirety. But if yours is fashion and you then two months later only post about what delicious food you had for lunch, you're straying. Conversely if a reader has to read 28 posts in a row about one designer, how you miss your ex or whatever it is going to get old real fast.

5.Selling yourself. Blogger isn't Etsy or ebay.

6.Cross posting mania. Keep your content unique amongst the different outlets. The exact same thing should not be on blogger, tumblr, facebook, g+, twitter and so on. Keep them separate and you'll derive more interest.

7.Begging for comments.

8.Not knowing your intended audience. Who are you writing for? Really think about that because once you have a true answer it will be easier to direct your writing style and content of your posts.

9.Having an unreadable font and color scheme. A blog isn't a myspace profile from 2002. Get rid of crazy color combos and impossible fonts. The object should be for people to read it, not make Lisa Frank happy or impress your 3rd grade art teacher with how artistically obscure you can be.

10.Rarely posting. We are all busy but yet you chose to start a blog. So you actually do have something to share. So write, often!

And finally a bonus sin.

11.Thou shalt not cut and paste all your posts. Do not just constantly take content from another site and throw it up on yours. If a reader wants to see something they will find it. They don't need you to parse the web for them. Original content and presentation will win out every day over you posting 6 photos you took from somewhere else and just posting them to your blog with a "look how neat this is" style of caption.

Full disclosure, have I committed some of these sins? Yes. Have you? Probably. The trick now is recognizing it and never doing them again. Agreed? I beg of you, please leave a comment telling me what you think. (hahahahahahahahahahaha)

Breaking blog rule #1

THE number one rule of blogging is do not talk about your job. No matter how stealthy you think you might be, there is a high probability that it will come back to haunt you. Possibly in the unemployment line.....

But as I am between jobs I am going to risk it and talk about this subject a little. Sorry to my family though, you can just skip this post as you've heard this at least 134 times already.

Short story, nothing really has worked for me job wise since I moved to SD. I just went though another little process of applying for a job I'm qualified for, getting a rejection letter, then getting an email saying we want to talk to you, then another rescheduling the interview. Finally I sent an email today asking when we'd talk and was told the position is on an indefinite hold.

Sigh.

Long story, I had been working in a field of medical imaging where I was able to get a job within in about 6 hours of looking. For like 5 years it had been that easy for me. I figured it would be that easy when I moved to SD as well. I was wrong.

My first job here was working at a gokart track. Then I got a part time gig doing what I had before. It tanked.
So I went to Iraq. That didn't work out. I parlayed that experience though into a job at UCSD. I even got a promotion while there! But then I got sick and my funding was cut.
Then I turned down a job at the nuclear power plant, that I beat out over 50 people for the offer, to instead take a job closer to home. Which I then didn't make it past the probationary period for a variety of reasons.
I had to fall back on college work experience and went back to being a bicycle mechanic. That was just fine but then I got sick again and my medical nightmare has had me out of work for almost 18 months now......

My hopes were up for the job from today. But it didn't happen. Thankfully my life doesn't depend on me working right now. Still, I'd like to get this job thing figured out, my resume really looks like crap from the past 6 years of my poor job management.

A video of me 'fishing'!!

Me, doing a little self un-surgery....

If I can take out my own stitches I can take out my own staples!

The first day of 2012

Illegal fireworks for the new year! Yeah, you know me!


Still have all my staples in, so still a little tender riding in the car.


Sooo warm that this lizard was out by my front door. 82 possibly today! That is 29 to my international readers.

2012

My theme for 2012 is something of a work in progress. My original thought was "Back to Bad A**" or simply b2ba. But one of my other 2012 goals is to use less coarse language, so I really need to modify it.

2011's was "Kill or be Killed" and I think I was successful in that endeavor. All the things that tried to kill me failed. My body and spirit won. Winning! Last year's song was from Dead Prez, called "Way of Life." Again, I think it summed up the strength I would need that year to make it through everything.

So this year I'm starting kinda weak. In many ways. So rather than just having this be a survival year, I want this year to be one where I return to being a real rowdy. In shape, assertive, competitive, smart. Being able to help and serve others because I am strong. A force. A presence. A reckoning.

As I brainstorm everything sounds like a 70s action movie title. Return to Intrepid, The Year of Living Rowdy, A Year in Hard Core. Hahahaha. Any help or ideas dear readers?

For song choice one thing is currently coming to mind, and that is 'Red Right Hand' originally by Nick Cave, but I think I like the new Arctic Monkeys version just a tiny bit better. I hear it and I just feel cool, calm and collected. Like a Clint Eastwood character getting ready to do some damage. Never tense, never hesitant. All killer, no filler. (hmmmm, now that could something...)

Listen to the song, think about Rowdy returning to a 'real' self and let me know if you have an appropriate motto for this year. Thanks!