January 28, 2005
happy birthday joe and marie!
Happy birthday to my friends Joe and Marie!
Their story is amazing: They've only met a couple times, they're several years apart in age, and are connected only by the few of us that know both of them. But they're both born on the same day, and they're the only two people I know who are allergic to Coca Cola. I just think that's weird. Regardless, happy birthday!
January 26, 2005
levitra couches, yahoo email
Looks like it's been a few days since I posted anything that wasn't bad-adult-material related. Been super busy at work, and have had things to do most evenings, so posts have been fewer and further between.
All that said, not much is new. Had a good time at Pechanga this weekend, even though I didn't win. Every time I go, that place is either larger or has new construction going on, and I tend to find myself there three or four times a year. Glad they're putting my money to good use.
We've all seen discarded couches on the street, but did any of them mention "Levitra"? Rob Cockerham's found quite a few. Can you help solve the mystery?
Speaking of mysteries, here's a good one. Someone is using my Yahoo email address, but either doesn't know or doesn't care that "mikedoss@yahoo.com" goes to me. He seems to have the same name (there are several hundred people named "Michael Doss" in the US), and has so far subscribed to Classmates.com, a couple newspapers, and various other sites. The worst part, however, is that he signs up with otherwise correct information, so now I know where he went to high school, his EA Games member account and password, and his new AOL screen name. I'm not entirely sure why he A) doesn't care that he doesn't have access to the email address he's using, and B) doesn't think there might be someone real on the other end. He's just lucky I'm not the kind of person who'd use this information to get something from him.
January 25, 2005
horribly translated porn
If you're somewhere where you can look at adult material and looking for a laugh, check out "COMICS PORN". NSFW, but horribly translated to the point of absurdity.
January 21, 2005
Pechanga!
Woohoo. Change of plans means I'm going to Pechanga tomorrow for some real life poker action. They have a $20 + $5 No Limit Hold 'Em tournament on weekend mornings. It's a good place to practice my tournament game for not a lot of money. Last time I went, I placed 13th out of 218, so hopefully I'll do as well or better.
busy three weeks coming up
Another Friday before another beautiful weather weekend in Southern California. What kind of plans do you have?
We're just about to start a rather busy few weeks, but it's a fun sort of busy. the short list:
January 22 - Game night
January 23 - D&D
January 30 - Anniversary
February 5 - Maggiano's trip
February 12 - Mardi Gras party
February 14 - Valentine's day
February 16 - Atheist Meetup
February 17 - Queensryche Concert
February 18 - Day off
February 19 - Ryan's Birthday
Not to mention 40 hours of work each of those weeks, plus trying to get work started and finished on my bathroom. Still, it should be a good time, and I love keeping busy.
January 18, 2005
slashdot posts
I've been posting more to slashdot lately, but it's always fun to get moderated up, then down, then back up and replied to over and over, mostly negatively, for saying that no one deserves to suffer.
January 17, 2005
weekend wrapup
What a great, busy weekend. Started out Friday night going out to Thai food with Marek, had the guys over Saturday for Strato, then had a mini-Adventure!™, then dinner and beer-drinkin'. Sunday went as planned, with Indian food and a trip to the Huntington Library. The weather was perfect (it's going to be 80 degrees today - compare that to Minnesota, where parts got down to 54 below).
Busy week this week, with Atheist Meetup on Wednesday, and some other thing sprikled throughout. Good times!
January 14, 2005
rainless weekend, Adventure!
It's just about the weekend, and the first rain-free, non-holiday weekend in quite some time, so I'm going to take advantage of it. Tomorrow we've got Strato in the morning, then some free time in the afternoon, then some sort of fun in the evening, to be determined. Sunday we're going to head up to Rosemead for some tasty Indian food, then go to the Huntington Library to enjoy the gardens.
Saturday afternoon might be a good time for an Adventure!™. Any suggestions?
January 12, 2005
rain holiday, 2005, gambling
Today's the first day in several weeks without a chance of rain. Welcome sunshine! It's friggin' spectacular out there right now.
I'm still finding it funny to say "2005". That's halfway through the first decade of the 2000s! I'm still waiting for my full immersion virtual reality, cheap supersonic transportation, and replicators. We might reach singularity before those come around, though, so that'd be OK too.
I've been watching all sorts of televised gambling lately. Mostly poker, of course, but Game Show Network also has celebrity blackjack (tournament style) which is very entertaining. I'm also looking to improve at Omaha poker, which makes Texas Hold 'Em strategy look like child's play. I do think it's time for another invitation poker tournament...it's been many months. Who's in?
January 10, 2005
rainy weekend wrapup
Another day of rain in Southern California, after a weekend of pretty heavy rain. It'll rain again tonight and tomorrow during the day, then it's honestly, really, truly going to clear up and be rain-free for a few days. I'm quite looking forward to it.
Had a great weekend celebrating Beth's birthday with delicious food and karaoke. Also did some shopping for blinds for our sliding glass door, and did some work on the master bathroom (well, I did very little work, my girlfriend did more - it's her project). Hopefully we'll have some dryer weekends, and be able to finish more work on the house.
We're now officially in the "holiday wasteland" (at least at my company), and there aren't any work holidays between New Years Day and Memorial Day (at the end of May). Lots of group birthdays (including mine), and "party" holidays (valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Mardi Gras), but no more days off. Doesn't that seem too long?
January 09, 2005
January 07, 2005
Mom's tomato sauce
Dinner tonight, and I wanted to have it written down somewhere. Enjoy!
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Mom's tomato sauce.
Ingredients:
3 28oz cans whole or crushed tomatoes
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 small white onion, diced
8-12oz white mushrooms, sliced or chunked
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons butter (Oil or even water can be substituted)
Italian seasoning
Red pepper flakes
In a large pot, simmer tomatoes on medium heat. If whole, crush first with a potato masher or with your hands. Add olive oil, then spices and pepper flakes to taste. Allow sauce to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. In a medium saucepan, melt butter on medium heat then add mushrooms. Add onions 1-2 minutes later. Add garlic 1-2 minutes after that. Cook until onions become transparent, then add saute mixture to sauce. Stir in and reduce heat to low, stirring occasionally. Sauce can be eaten at any time, but slow cooking for 2-3 hours allows flavors to meld. Sauce can also be prepared ahead of time and reheated.
for vote joz
Because she's my friend, and because I feel somewhat responsible for unleashing her blog on the world, please vote for jozjozjoz for Best Overall Blog in the Best of Blogs Awards!
You can vote once every 24 hours.
January 06, 2005
dinners and more goals
Reading through some of Garrett's old entries, I really love his idea of a weekly dinner with friends, where we get together on a Friday night, make a homemade meal (or have a potluck), and just sit and talk and hang out. It's such a simple idea, it's cheap, it's a great way to reconnect, but it's something we just don't do anymore. I'll add that to my "goals for the new year" list - get together with friends more. Oh, and while I'm thinking of them:
That's it for now. I've been in a "writing" mood lately, so we'll see what else pops up.
January 04, 2005
6th grade reunion
I noticed something interesting today - While my 10 year high school reunion isn't until next year, 2005 is the 15th anniversary of my leaving 6th grade. While that's not a big deal to some people, it represented several "endings" for me. It was my last year in my elementary school, which I'd been in for 7 years. It was my last year of "GATE" (Gifted And Talented Education), a sort of honors program in the elementary level, and it was my last year with a lot of friends who went on to different junior high and eventually high schools. There are plenty of people from Mrs. Winders' 6th grade class that I'm curious about, and most I won't see at next year's high school get-together. I wonder where everyone is, and if anyone ever does 6th grade reunions at all.
January 03, 2005
goals for 2005
I've never been a big believer in resolutions, though I do make them from time to time. I prefer the philosophy of doing what you want with your life every day, though I see the appeal and usefulness of re-evaluating your goals yearly, to see if what you wanted then is still what you want now.
Last year's "goals" went largely undone - in fact, I didn't accomplish any of them as listed. At the same time, I'm very happy with how my year went in 2004 - I feel like I did a lot (I bought a home, I became even more comfortable in my job, I maintained my weight and not-unhealthy lifestyle). There's still time to do the things on that list, but I realize it's just as important to take opportunities as they come to you - I think I'm very good at that.
All that said, I do have some goals. Let's see how I've done around this time in 2006.
There are plenty more small things out there. But I think most fit into the above categories, especially the last one. What are you going to do in the new year? What's on your list?
2005!
Happy New Year! I was too busy celebrating to post this on Saturday. I hope it's the best year we've ever had.
That said, it's starting out darn rainy. Even our "off days" are still cloudy and have some drizzle. Is it too much to ask for a few weeks of good weather? This is Southern California, after all.
