Holy Schmolholics Anonymous! It's my 100th Blog!


Or so says my blog service. Yup, just rechecked. This is entry number 100.

Just got a few things to chalk about, if I may have a word. Yesterday at work was the first time I've had alcohol on the job! Well... here's how it goes...

It was my co-worker's 20th or so anniversary, so she gets to take the whole department to lunch. She chose this very cool but pricey Mexican restaurant called La Golondrina at Olvera Street (I hope I'm spelling all this right).

Okay, so the company pays for $200 of the bill. The rest has to be made up by the diners. So, since the bill is usually just split evenly between the number of folks eating, you have to get your fair share. If you're offered a drink, take it. If you just get a water, you're gonna pay for a drink anyway.

A whole mess of us went; a whoppin' party of 19. That's only a little over $10 per person. So anyway, I ordered chicken fajitas (not pronounced fa-jeeeeee-tahs) and then the question of whether anyone wanted a margarita was raised. A bunch of us did, so we got three pitchers ($28 each).

It was pretty weird drinking in front of my boss and his boss and all the bosses on the floor, but whatever. It wasn't as if I was taking 3 shots of Crown Royale. So I drank the small glass that was poured for me and it was pretty lame. It was all frosty ice and very little alcohol. But it was fun.

Fast-forward to today... we got the bill for the remaining amount for the luncheon. Turns out, they decided to only bill the margaritas to those who DRANK it!!! They didn't charge those who got a soft drink beverage though. That bit.

So I was tied for the most expensive lunch. That sucks!

But I'm over it because, guess what. It's the friggen' weekend!!!

One last note, working in Los Angeles has given me a greater boldness for trying hole-in-the-wall food outlets. Before LA, I was always too afraid to try little random food places around town, so I never did. But in LA, and especially since there are barely any food eateries around where I work, I've learned that the best stuff come from holey's! Without a second thought, I tried this Japanese restaurant right next to my house and it turned out to have great great food! I can't wait to try other places that are just a hop, skip, and a jump away from a bloated belly.



Kidding myself about the diet,

Ricky

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Still Working... Still


I just got word today that I'll be working in Los Angeles till the end of August. The job is pretty kick back and all, but it's kinda getting on my nerves now. Well, the fact that it's always the same, every time... I've come to the conclusion that I can never be satisfied by any one job. Oh well, I'll just shut up and do the work. Hey, I sure could use the money as always. I'm really digging the iPod minis...! : )

This afternoon leaving work, we took the subway. Now, you may or may not remember that I raved about the Los Angeles subway system. Anyway, I don't know if I just don't remember how dingy and urine-soaked the New York subways are, but the Los Angeles stations and trains have gone to the crapper. There are more homeless folks hanging around the stations and overall, it just feels a lot dirtier. I still enjoy riding the subway and would love for them to expand it greatly, but where are those cops on Segways I saw the first time patrolling?

This Sunday continues the barely reviewed "Summer of Fun Fun Fun Fun Fun" (or whatever I called it earlier). A bunch of us will be seeing the show Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Ahmanson. I really don't know what to expect... I guess just something really classy and entertaining. Ellvin Kelvin saw the show in New York and said it was really good, so I decided on seeing it. Also, my uncle was up for a role in the show, but I guess it didn't pan out as well as we had hoped. Next time...

I won't waste anymore of your time. That is, until next week when you read this boring thing again. I have to go to sleep anyway.



Vindicated,

Ricky

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It's Been a Bad Day. Another Bad Day. And All I Wanna Do is Grab Some Food and Eat it All Day.


Some things have been down in the dumps lately. Why? I dunno. Things for some reason or another are going bad for a few friends around me. And add to that, I'm pretty bored and pissed at the same time. And I don't know why really.

But I guess things will work themselves out in due time. Wish you guys all the best.

In other news, Father's Day is this weekend. I'm not exactly sure which day it is, but there will be a party. I hope there's an ice cream cake *hint hint*.

Oh! And I'm on my very first diet. Yeah, I've been eating a wee bit unhealthy lately. Okay, let's face it. Ever since I got this job, I've been eating a ton of crap. Donuts every week, big lunches, snacks, candy, food food food galore! I think I've been gaining weight, but I thought I'd take some preventive measures before I actually popped my belly.

So yesterday, I actually established the fact that I'm on a diet. That made today my actual first diet day. Let's just say it didn't turn out so well. You see, I have a low tolerance for not eating whatever the hell I want. I just don't have the Punky Power. So today, even though I remained strong as I passed up the day-old donuts, I did eat a chinese tamale, Udon noodle soup, some teriyaki chicken, two California rolls, shrimp tempura, two white chunk macadamia nut cookies, tuna salad, tofu, veggies, and a mess of M&M's. Oh well. Maybe I'll behave better tamale.



Eating,

Ricky

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I Catalogue These Blogs Now


So, Timotei and I went to the Dashboard Confessional concert today. It was pretty fun.

The first opening band was The Format, who played for a whole 10 minutes! We barely caught their set, but from what I heard, I'm glad we missed it.

The next group was The Get Up Kids who were really good, surprisingly. The lead singer was, ironically, this oldish looking overweightish guy. Just thought that was weird. But they rocked.

Then came Thrice. Just about everyone came to the concert for them. The crowd went nuts. It was the worst looking (or most painful looking) mosh pit I've ever seen. It seriously looked like some sort of brain hemorrhage on crack; the kids were crazy. Thrice was awesome. It was funny because their music is really yelly and hardcore, yet between songs, he would address the crowd with "We just want everyone to have a good time. Thank you so much for supporting us. Please help each other up if someone falls. Come to our charity gig next month." They were really nice, which was freakin' cool. They're on my iPod now.

And finally Dashboard came. They were really really great. They played a whole mess of songs from all their albums. I didn't get to hear "A Plain Morning" though which was kinda disappointing, but they played an extremely long set, so it was well worth it. The way their concerts work is a lot safer and arguably more enjoyable to attend. Since their music doesn't really warrant brutal insane behavior, everyone kinda just stands around and sings along. I really wish I knew the songs better because I wanted to go down there and sing my lungs out with everyone else, but I'm still a little rusty with their tunes (from Swiss Army Romance and Places...).

So anyway, that was that. I have a new Dashboard t-shirt from the concert. I learned my lesson when I failed to get that Rufio shirt I wanted, so I snatched up a shirt at the beginning of the night.

Work is well and we're finalizing our plans for the Florida trip this week. This makes numba three baba!

Sorry for the dull update. I realize many of you don't give a crap, but oh well.


Seizing the day,

Ricky

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Ah, Sooooo Sowwy


Okay, I feel bad. Real bad.

I have been holding off on writing another one of these because, well, because I guess it's too hot? Or I just didn't have the time? Or because I didn't have the patience to really sit down and write one when I could be doing something else with my precious time off?

My precious time off.

Anyway, things have been well at work. It just feels routine right now. Always the same, but tolerable. It sometimes feels like work and sometimes doesn't and I just cope with it.

Let's see... anything off the top of my head?

My Disneyland annual passport is expiring soon and I don't think I'm going to renew it this year. Tower of Terror is fun and all, but I just don't think I'll be going to the resort much often anymore with Angel Wing Jasmine moving back up north after graduating college. I don't go much anymore at the moment either, so I think I'll just spend the money elsewhere. Of course, I'll probably just buy a new pass when the 50th Anniversary comes along.

Tomorrow is the big Harry Potter day! My favorite of the Potter books because it's so damn satisfying (the action, the twists, the ending). I'm going with Erico Suave and MacArthur. And because I get to go home from work early on Fridays now (throughout the summer), we get to see an early showing! Man, I can't wait.

Also, this weekend are the Tony awards. I have never seen a Tony awards ceremony because I never really cared about the shows that won awards, but this year Avenue Q and Wicked are nominated and performing! You gotta watch because the numbers they're doing are gonna be great. Sunday night.

I guess that's it. I thought I had more stuff to talk about, but I guess I was wrong.

Check back to my website. I'm trying to come up with more Poster Spoofs to make.



Running for freedom,

Ricky Strong

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The Season of Four Craps


Ev'ry so often there comes a blog that no one wants to read.

Welcome to that blog.

I don't know what it was I ate for the past few days (or perhaps it was because of what I didn't crap it out for the past few days)... (nah, I'm pretty sure it was the Mexican food I ate), but my stomach hurt so much at work today.

I got to the office and ate breakfast. Then I sat down to do some work and my stomach started grumbling and hurting. Really bad shooting pains and crap. Well, I held off till I couldn'tst holds no more and I went to the potty room. In the morning, no one really goes to the bathroom, so I was cool all alone, farting up a storm and such.

When some other dude came in and sat in the stall next to me, it was time to leave. I just can't poop when someone else is crapping on the other side of that thin stall wall. So I packed it up and went back to my cubicle.

One hour later, the stomach starts acting up again. So I hold off and hold off until I couldn'tst holds no more and ran to the bathroom holding on for dear life. Well, it was nearing midday, so the stalls were occupado. So I made like I just went in there to wash my hands and then I left (thinking I could hold it for a while). Well, I couldn't. So I took the elevator down to the first floor and went to that bathroom.

It's so nice! There is no one in there (save for an occasional man needed to urinate) and there are many many stalls. It also feels cleaner. So I sat there and did my business (keeping real quiet when other people came in, but letting out an occasional cough to alert them that they're not alone in case they want to fart aloud). So I finish and run back to my office.

I'm feeling better and it's lunchtime, so we go to Phillipe's for some famous French dip beef sandwiches. They were good and made me really crave The Hat. Need. Pastrami. Dip. Now. But I'm afraid it didn't help my stomach any...

An hour after lunch, my stomach hurts like hell again, so I immediately just ran to the first floor potties and crapped. Yeah... today was basically the worst day in the world. Even when I got home, I had to take another poop. Season of Four Craps.

Okay. You may all return to eating your pudding and such. Small tidbits:

1) Lee Leman, Cousin Spacey, and I went to see Urinetown the Musical last Sunday. I thought it was a lot of fun. It was really political and stuff, but done in a fun manner.

2) The 24 finale is next week! I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK! THAT WAS THE BEST EPISODE EVER!

3) I bought the new New Found Glory album and they did it again. I can't believe it. The first thing I said after I put in the Sticks and Stones album was "Wow, they did it again." Well, they did it again again. Catalyst rocks. I'm a little disappointed that the last song on the album isn't as great a ending note as the previous albums. Ballad for the Lost Romantics and The Story So Far (and even The Goodbye Song) are all great departing notes. Not sure if Who Am I? lives up to my expectations yet. To be honest, I haven't really given it a good listen yet. I'm addicted to All Down Hill From Here and This Disaster.

Okay, I won't say no more. Oh one more thing... the picture from my last blog doesn't work. I hate this crap.



Losing my sense of scent,

Ricky

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Where Depression's Just Status Quo


The work weeks go by so slow. Must... endure... for the... moola.

Anyway, this week at work, I spent a lot of time staring out of the high rise building window at the E3 (Electric Entertainment Expo) video game convention. I watched for three days as a whole mess of people got to see new games and systems unveiled. I hate them all. I wanted to go. I want to see the new Playstation Portable. I wanted to see video game junk. But alas, nope. I had to work. Plus, I think you need to be invited or something. Well, just for that, I'm not gonna invite any of those E3 Conventioneers to my fancy shindig. So there.

But one cool thing that happen was a military helicopter show. I guess the military was doing a demonstration of their chopper and it came flying by each convention day. It was cool seeing a helicopter fly at the same level you are at; it's just kinda weird. Anyway, it flew around in circles and came pretty damn close to our building. Pretty crazy shizmo.

Also, I ate my first Tommy's burger! It was pretty damn good. I think it gave me diarrhea though because yesterday at the gym, my stomach started rumbling with violent poop. Anyway, I got a cheeseburger combo with chili cheese fries and a bottle of cherry pepsi. It's quite an experience in itself eating at Tommy's. Well, maybe eating at the original one, as we did. You just grab your burger and stand at a counter and eat your grub. No chairs; nothing. Just you and the food.



This weekend starts my very ambitious "Summer Whiz Bang VavavaVooooom Boom Scootie McFlume" series of things to do. It starts with Urinetown on Sunday. Stay tuned... there may be some more additions to the series... perhaps a certain show about big hair and spray...

AND... the summer series might just end with a huge kabang! It's not for certain yet, but it looks as if I'm headed back to Walt Disney World.



Loving everything (including the fact that I now know how to add pictures to my blogs),

Ricky

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I LOVE LA!


I don't know if you remember, but a few days ago I saw the weirdest thing go down in the Los Angeles River. A helicopter and two cops were chasing a pimpmobile. My explanation: they was blocking a scene for a movie or something. Well, that next Sunday, FOX 11 news reported that a show was filming in the LA River and startled people (because they used fighter jets and blew up a helicopter). An instant flag went up in my head. Could this be the same thing???

Well, it turns out that it was 24 that was filming and they aired that episode tonight. Freakin' AWESOME episode by the way!!! Anyway, they didn't show a helicopter/cop car chase under bridges though. But what other show could have been filming down in the LA River? I think they might have been testing out the possibilites of filming in the river. So, yeah, I'm still convinced that I watched 24 being rehearsed down there... and that's why I love LA.

And in a related story, riding the train home today, we saw three cars (very nice) spinning donuts in the water, around a photographer snapping pictures as it splashed about. I'm surprised at how much goes down down there. I thought that river was only good for carrying our collective craps down to the ocean, but I was wrong.

And I just realized that Paula Abdul couldn't really sing! I remember her being a lot better, but all her songs sound extremely synthesized. Shame.



Killing one childhood joy at a time,

Ricky

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Boy is My Face (and Hair) Red


Yes, my face is red. Not because we just stuffed our fat little faces with endless amounts of baby back ribs from Lucille's for Mother's Day.

Nope. It's because in my big bolded title above, where it says "Visit the mind of a truely sarcastic saint... with a few disturbing twists," I've been spelling the word "truly" WRONG!!!

Crap weasels. Or should I say: Crap Weasleys...

(Talk about a segue!)

Right now I'm watching Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone. They're gonna be showing some scenes from the Prisoner of Azkaban, which I'm psyched as all hell to see. Anyway, the real importance of bringing up Harry Potter is to say that I've settled on a name for my pod.

In my immediate group of friends, we were kind of the Harry Potter nerds. Anyway, I was Ron because of my red hair, naturally. So, my pod's name will be Pigwidgeon (until I feel it's not the right now). I like it though. See, first I wanted to name it Hedwig because the pod is white just like it, but I don't really care much for Hedwig and the name is kinda boring. So I figure, even though Pigwidgeon isn't white, it'll do.

Now, back to work tomorrow. : (



Hiding in the cupboard under the stairs so that I don't have to go to work,

Ron

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Smother the Mothers Day!


Firstly, lemme just say Happy (belated) Fifth of May Day for all my hispanico brothas out there! Can I getta wha wha?

Please don't. You're embarrassing yourselves.

Okay, now that that's over with, I'mma tell you guys about something cool I did at work today.

The thing at work is that I have four mothers. It's been the running gag even before I started working there. It's so because my mom works with me and the other two co-workers in our immediate department (they also helped a lot in getting me the job) are female. So they're all my mothers looking out for me. I also got "adopted" by our sweet mail lady.

Just about every morning, they bring me something to eat for breakfast.

Nothing really to that little tidbit. I just wanted to boast.

So anyway, with Mother's Day coming up this Sunday and all, I thought I should definitely take the opportunity to do something nice. I mean, it was sort of a given. So yesterday, with my mom's help, I went to CostCo to get a bouquet of flowers and then to a Chinese bakery to get a grand cake.

This morning, I gave each of them 3 flowers each, which they loved, and we cut the cake after lunch. The cake made me feel a little dizzy for some reason (my guess is a bad kiwi). Anyway, they loved it and were surprised. I think my mom's a little disappointed that she didn't get the opportunity to be surprised, but I have a few plans for her this weekend. She'll see.

On another note, as always, the final episode of Friends is on tonight. I still remember the first time I watched Friends. I think the first episode I saw was the One where Chandler gets trapped in the bank with the hot model chick. Man, it was so damn funny back then. I told everyone about it at school. Then it started going downhill. I remember when the season finales were a BIG deal. They were the greatest cliffhangers TV had ever seen (for my generation anyway) and the talk of the town for the summer. I think after Chandler and Monica got married, it started getting too comfortable with its own humor... that is, it thought it was funnier than it was. I also think Chandler got incredibly unfunny after he got fat. Odd huh? And then there the fact that Ross got married too many times and then became just a little too neurotic to watch. He was striving to be funny by the way he acted, rather than the situations he was put in. And Monica got too loud and obnoxious.

Anyway, all in all, I think it has gotten better in the previous seasons, but I'm really glad it's finally ending; and on such a perfect season count too. Season Ten. I'll definitely be watching tonight and who knows, maybe I'll be sad.

But I'm already sad, if you really want to know. In a couple of hours, I have to go back to work. That depresses me. Not so much the work, although the days have their ups and extreme downs. It's just the fact that I no longer have much time at all for myself. I used to be bugged by Disneyland because I went so much, but I miss it now. It's probably because I'm dying to ride Tower of Terror again, but I really want to go. Having conflicting schedules with my friends doesn't help neither. It just plain sucks.

Well, I've bored you enough about my jolly problems. I guess things could be a lot worse.

I could drop my iPod for one thing.



Without wax,

Ricky

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