Visiting Java Junction

This is where I go to check my emails and chat quickly while in Santa Cruz. It is the "new-ish" shopping center at the the top of town. I usually get a nice apple juice and slice of banana nut bread to support the place and relax before hoops. They are really nice and turned me back on to the English Beat - see previous post. This time they were talking about a Depeche Mode concert that Kristin is actually thinking of going to in San Jose.

Friday hoops was good and no one was injured this time - which is a very good thing.

How I live my life?

How You Life Your Life

You seem to be straight forward, but you keep a lot inside. You're laid back and chill, but sometimes you care too much about what others think. You tend to have one best friend you hang with, as opposed to many aquaintences. You tend to dream big, but you worry that your dreams aren't attainable.

How Do You Live Your Life?

Think Tank

I tend to go the Starbucks when I need to think or write. It is nice to get out and have a place to go to consider the tough decisions and clear your head. I like seeing different people come and go, and feel like I am observing the world around me without having to really interact.

Today was hard as I have to decide if I would travel in search of a job. In the end, I decided not to go, but only after some hard soul searching and making an extensive list of the pros and cons. The "think tank" came in handy - but ultimately this was a choice that I had to make for myself.

Old Tunes...

I downloaded this album from iTunes, as I heard some English Beat songs when I was at a coffee shop in Santa Cruz. I remembered how much I liked these guys, and had downloaded a number of their songs already, but was missing some too. I found this album on iTunes and so figured I would go ahead and pay for it rather than go looking for it online.

I also found out that Mugglenet has some pod casts on iTunes and so downloaded those as well. I have only listened to parts of them, but they are pretty interesting. I wish HPANA was doing more of this kind of stuff!

Drive Home

I went to Sacramento today to help my brother with some things and to watch the San Francisco 49er game. Unfortunately I got the time of the game wrong and so we were only able to watch 3/4 of the game - DoH!

As I drove home there was a great cloud formation and so I took the picture above. I really should take more pictures as I do like to do it, just have to remember my camera... The blue colors were just amazing!!

Feeling "Normal"...

I went to get my Friday basketball fix today. Basketball is one of the only things that makes me feel "normal". Lately I have felt so cut off from the rest of the world - Like the experiences and feeling that I am having are uniquely my own, and that I am a bystander in life and the rest of the world is busy living.

Basketball is my only escape from these feelings, my chance to "fit in" and interact with people in the "real world". I can laugh, play, make mistakes and have successes in a safe place. It allows me to feel less like an alien on this planet for a few hours.

The games were good although one of the guys broke his nose, I think, yikes! He hit it on another person's hip and it was bleeding pretty bad. He put some ice on it and it seemed a bit better before he left the gym. I hope that he is ok. Otherwise it was good to see everyone, get some running in, talk with some friends, and feel "normal" (if only for a few hours).

Power of pets

My cat Isabella only has to have me in the room, to begin purring. I am sure that I represent comfort, safety and happiness to her as she knows I will take care of her and give her love, attention, and anything else she needs. She just rolls onto her back and is happy and content just knowing I am in her presence. I know I feel better hearing that purr in the background.

I have had people in my life who have given me these feelings as well. That just being in their presence makes me feel more like the person I want to be, that I am loved. This kind of connection are rare and when they are gone it can you feeling lost and alone. It is amazing the power this type of connection (and pets) can have...

Hooping it up

Well I went and got a little exercise at the gym by playing basketball for a few hours. I needed to get a good run in as the last few days have been pretty hard on me and I have not been sleeping very well either. Luckily we had some good players show up tonight so the games were more spirited and faster paced. I like when that happens (although with the Tuesday night crowd that is usually not the case).

I also am reconsidering a couple of job offers that I had been thinking of turning down. My local job search is not going all that well, so I may take another look at these other offers. The reason I had not been focused on them is that accepting them would mean some significant life changes... but the more I think about it, the more I think it might be nice to get a fresh start in a new place and spend time working on myself and figuring out what the rest of my life is about - well see, stay tuned.

Lafayette Art & Wine

Since the annual Art & Wine festival was taking up all of the main street of Lafayette, Kristin and I figured we would go down and check it out. The Lafayette Art & Wine festival had tons of people and lots of food and art. I did not see so much wine, but that was ok by me. There were tons of people at the event (see picture above) and it was good to get outside as it was a nice day.

New Career Option

Well I may have found my new career, building office furniture. I spent a good couple of hours assembling the file cabinet my brother Russ bought (pictured above), which I think it came out pretty well. I guess if I don't find another job soon, maybe I can offer to build these for people... I am not sure I would make that much as it took me quite a while to assemble this one, but who knows maybe I would get faster.

Otherwise, I helped set up his home office and a wireless router. We managed to arrange the room the way he wanted, but our trip to buy cables ended up being a big waste of time as we bought the wrong length printer and ethernet cables - DoH!! Note to self - always buy longer cables than you think you will need!! But all in all a good productive day.

Santa Cruzin'

I decided to get out of town and head to the coast and Santa Cruz. It was a great day, as you can see, and there was a nice swell so the waves were pretty big! I played basketball with the guys at 4:30, and it was nice to see my friends and get a little exercise. I got back in time to still have some mexican food and watch a movie (Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy - I had not idea what was happening so the movie was only so-so).

One more time...

They say that a man will come to a point in his life where he'll want to experience things, "one more time". Well I officially went there today and bought a skateboard "just for me". It may seem silly, I know, but I figured "what the heck?" and it was fun cruising around on it at the local skate-park (see picture in previous post).

The park was pretty empty so I didn't have to worry about hitting anyone. And while I was a little rusty after all these years, it was still fun and I got some good exercise, so there you go. Plus it is a Santa Cruz board (with a "sick cat" on it) - can't go wrong with that.

Hoopology

Today was a hoopology day, as I played basketball for a few hours this morning. It was good to do something with friends and be active. After that I watched a little of the 49er football game and surprisingly they won! Unfortunately Andre Agassi did not win the U.S. Open tennis tournament. I just spend time chatting with friends and plan to just chill this evening. I have a lot of thinking to do and this week-end has given me a chance to start on that.

Today's events

Today I went to the local Moraga Pear Festival - There were lots of crafts and such, but not so many pears.. what is up with that? I think the best part was all the inflatable play areas for the kids. They had obstacle course of differing shapes and sizes, as well as the slide below. There was even a race course where participants put on harnesses and tried to run in an inflated lane while pulling against a weighted rope attached to the harness.


I also took the opportunity to check out the skate park nearby. I remember skating for hours when I was a kid, but we didn't have places like this to do it in. There was a couple of good rides and lots of kids trying different moves. It was a really nice day for skating as it was sunny, but not too hot.



This morning, I watched the University of Michigan game against Notre Dame - which Michigan lost. I could not help but think of my recent trip there and sneaking into the stadium (see recent post below). While Michigan lost, it would still have been a lot of fun to see a game like that in that stadium when it is full of people. It looked like a great day there as well.

Roller-coaster of life

This picture illustrates my life at the moment. I seem to be experiencing many highs and lows in rapid succession, which is exciting while you are riding the roller-coaster, but can make you dizzy and disorientated as well. Not so much fun! I think I am going to sit on the bench for a minute and catch my breath and figure out where to go next.

Its' in the hole!

I went to play some golf with my good friend Ruben (who took this picture). Neither one of us really played all that well, as we were doing more talking than focusing on our golf game. We have both recently gone through our share of difficulties and so it was nice to catch up with each other.

Moved more stuff...

Russ (my brother) came up from Sacramento and helped me move a few more things into my new place. I added my desk, dresser and end table and lamp. It is so much easier to update my blog without having to sit on the floor! :D I am not really sure how long I will be here, but while I am it is nice to have more furniture to live with.

Otherwise a quite day and did not do much besides hoops this morning. Holidays are always hard, as most of the guys are doing things with their families, going on vacations, etc. It sometimes makes me a little sad and to some extent alone - that I don't have anything in my life to keep me from playing... but then it is good exercise and it was nice to play with the guys that do show up for a little bit of a run.

View of my room

This is the view from the bed out of the window of my new room. It overlooks a quite street with its' own deck. The interior is a little dated, but at least the carpet is the same color. It has a private bathroom and deck, but I'll be sharing the downstairs kitchen and living room. I was able to get the cable modem set up so at least I have internet access again and can update my blog with a few pictures.