Trouble is around the bend....or should I say, dogleg...

Yep, for the first time since last year, I'm returning to the golf course on Saturday as part of a family outing celebrating my Aunt Margi's 50th birthday. I'm expecting mass hysteria, and some sort of death. Likely a chipmunk or something, as I scald another ball along the ground.

As my Dad's side of the family knows, I used to be a quite excitable and cursing golfer who could shoot in the mid 80s on really good days, and was generally right around bogey golf at 90. But the game is just so incredibly expensive that I can't afford to play at a level necessary to maintain that pace. At this point, I know that I can hit the shots...I just can't hit them with any consistency. It's so frustrating.

Also tonight, I'm playing a little poker at the invitation of my friend David. They're playing Omaha, which is a game I'm not quite familiar with, but I'm going to try and learn on the fly. We'll see, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I also would like to post some pics on here at some point from Australia. The entire catalog is up at facebook, for all of my facebook friends. I should really put them on flickr or something, shouldn't I.

Good weekends to you all.

Wow...my sleep schedule be trippin!

First, let me just say that Glenn's idea for a 30 bar bar crawl was horrible, and I'm sorry for anything that may have happened after 7PM on Saturday night.

Now, that being said, let me just say that I'm looking for any suggestions on how to recover from my jet lag. I'm really struggling with it right now. Again this morning, I woke up at 2:30, and just sat there. I did that last week too. On Saturday morning, knowing a long day was ahead of me, I took some nyquil to go back to sleep after waking up promptly at 4. Sunday, despite staying up until 3:30, I woke up at 6:30. ARGH! I've never had to deal with this before. I probably need a weekend to just get things back in order, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

I have had the suggestion of getting back to a normal exercise routine, and hopefully I'll be able to get to that over the next few days. Today will be a nice day at the gym, and then some golf and a run tomorrow, if everything works out correctly.

Outside of that, things appear OK. I'm just hoping to get back to normal this week. That would be very nice.

Random note

I'm going to try and drop about 10 pounds, and get to 160. I don't have a date when I want to get this done, but I'm really hoping losing some weight will greatly help the stress on my knees.

Well....if anyone is looking for a birthday present for yours truly....

Remember that Tauntaun sleeping bag that was supposedly for sale on Think Geek but wasn't, because it was April Fools and they were only kidding? So many people wanted it and got angry that it wasn't available. The company has now decided to try to bring it to life for real--if the suits at Lucasfilms will grant them a license.
Think Geek has done great April Fools prank products before (caffeinated meatloaf, anyone?), but this one was exceptional. It had the head of a Tauntaun, a fur outer lining, an inner lining with an intestine pattern, and a tiny light saber on the zipper to simulate the slicing action Han Solo performed to open the animal up so he could stuff Luke into it.

Think Geek's PR guy, Shane Peterman, talked with me on the record about the perils of Tauntaun sleeping bag pranks.
Will you ever sell the Tauntaun sleeping bag for real?

We are definitely trying to make it in to an actual item to be sold 
on our site. As of right now, it's still an "if," but it's turning in
to more of a "when." Things are looking pretty good, we just don't want 
to get too far ahead of ourselves. There's certainly been enough of a
demand, both from customers and from those of us that work here. Right now, we're aiming to have it available 
for the holidays, or at the latest, the 30th anniversary of The Empire 
Strikes Back next spring.

The joke price was $39 bucks. Is that how much it will really cost?

The price will very likely go up a bit once we actually make the
sleeping bag. Since we haven't gotten to the production stage yet, it's hard to say what the price will be, unfortunately. I think it's safe to assume that the kids size will be at a lower cost than the adult size, that much I'm pretty sure of. The cost of material and the actual production of it will dictate what the retail cost will be.

http://blogs.laweekly.com/style_council/interior-decor/tauntaun-sleeping-bag-april-fo/

Back at work....

.....and we're back.

In la. Sadly, not for the memorial for billy mays.

Hello auckland. You look quite pretty from up above. Preparing for papeete. Wtf is papeete?

It's truly hard to express

how I feel on this last night in Australia.

I think over the last year or so, I've been doing really well of staying in the moment, and focusing on what is at hand, not getting ahead of myself, or looking back too much.

After an experience like this, it is impossible not to do both.

I have truly experienced two major cities half a world away. I have lived as largely as my means will allow (maybe too much so), and experienced culture quite different from mine. I never believed I would be at a park, feeding wild kangaroos. I never really thought I'd get to see the Sydney Opera House. I never would have guessed I'd be letting the waves of Bondi Beach rush over my feet. I never could have imagined being able to walk in the bowels of Rod Laver Arena.

I am so thankful for the opportunity. I've said it multiple times here, but I really am so happy my mom was able to give me this chance. I hope that I've done enough to live up to it.

At the same time, it is hard for me to think about the fact that this might be the one time I ever get to do this. I do not regret much of anything on this trip, except that I did get tired too early some days from doing too much! That's a good problem. I just wish I could say that I KNOW I'll be back in 10 years. In 15. That's part of the beauty of life, however, that you have to experience and make sure to live each moment, no matter where it may be. Tomorrow, for me, it will be Auckland, Papeete, LA, Dallas, and home. I hope I will be able to focus on what that experience will be like.

I am also so thankful to have friends like Ali and Craig Tiley. Despite tragic and deeply saddening circumstances that shortened our time together, I think we made the best of it, and they provided me with experiences in those 40 hours that I would not have been able to do on my own. And they also trusted me with their house and their wonderful cat for 5 days on my own. I can't express how lucky I am to have friends like that. Ali has been one of the closest friends i've had over the past 13 years or so, and I'm so glad that it has been able to endure the last 4 years that she's been here. Craig has is the person who taught me what it meant to be successful. To be a leader. I don't always succeed the way I'd like to, but there are so many moments when I think of the lessons he's taught me over the past 10 years, and realize how lucky that makes me. So to both of you, and Maks, thank you. Very, very much.

So I will keep my chin up for the next 38 hours, and hopefully get home safely, and remember that I'm lucky to have all of these people in my life, no matter where I may be. And thankful that I have so many other loving, caring people in my life, who I haven't mentioned in this post, including the family and friends that read this blog.

Sorry I'm being so sentimental today. I tend to get quite emotional when I have experiences like this. It's been an amazing one.

I hope that once I get home, where I have real internet, I will post a slew of pictures. There are some great ones.

Til I get to the US.....

m

Sorry....I'm not getting great internet connections.

You know, Ali and Craig have the crappiest internet ever. It's like dialup! :)

Seriously, it is slow.

I'm going to try and put one picture here, but it'll probably take 5 minutes to upload. Literally.

Things have been well. I've been trying to relax a bit the last couple of days. I've played a little bit of poker (not as good...couple of bad beats, and a couple of times I just got beat), shopped a bit, walked around the city quite a lot, and watched more Arrested Development. I'm having a very good time, and enjoying some time away from work and all, for sure.

Craig and Ali arrive back in a half hour or so. Its 7PM here in Melbourne.

This afternoon, I made it to the Melbourne-West Coast Australian Rules Football Game. I love the game. I think it's continuously exciting. Unfortunately, the team I was cheering for, West Coast, lost by 20. Their midfielders, if that's what you call them, were terrible. They just gave up possession after possession. ANd too many hand passes!
Also of note, they gave away free red bull. And I liked it. Who knew?!

The thing that strikes me most about Australia is that people are so much more polite here than they are in the states. I realize I'm saying that on the 4th of July, but it is true. Everyone is courteous, respectful, and just kind to each other. Its fascinating to watch.

Maksim and I have had some nice time together over the last couple of days. I hope he still talks to me once Ali and CT get here.

Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll get to see the tennis center. Then, I head back to Sydney on Monday, and back to the states on Tuesday.