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Sunday night, Manish and I went to Pie In The Sky to eat pizza, drink beer, and watch the Lakers game. However, when we sat down at the bar we were surprised to find that while the game was on, womens college softball (UCLA vs. Georgia) was clearly taking precedence over the Lakers game (It was on the middle TV and the volume was blaring). It was then that I looked around and noticed that out of the five other groups of people that were there with us, two were “lady couples”.

Manish and I would walk into the one bar where the clientele are ladies that are probably in domestic partnerships, are rocking short hair cuts, have life insurance policies naming each other as their beneficiary, and own a home together.

While that’s cool, if go in again and we’re watching the LPGA, I’m going to suggest that we start going to a different bar a little further up the road that shows sports that people actually care about.

Yesterday I helped a friend move some things to her mom’s place. After we were finished she asked if she could buy me some coffee to show her gratitude for my ability to both lift and haul things from point A to point B.

When we got to Starbucks went went through the drive-thru and ordered our drinks. After the guy handed us our order he asked, “Do you need any napkins?”. Which I replied, “Yeah we could use a couple.”

He then handed us two…

While I realize that you can define couple as two items of the same kind. My definition of couple is always a small indefinite number. I like to think that it’s a range between more than two less than six. So far I think this is about the only time I’ve really been disappointed with someone’s performance on this issue. Perhaps Starbucks isn’t making enough money charging me $4.70 after tax for a Grande Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino and their trying to cut cost. Then again, perhaps this guy had the mental equivalent of an 8 year old. Who knows?

As odd as it might sound, Wednesday and Thursday night last week were two of the best nights that I think I’ve ever had.

Wednesday, I went to a bar close to where I work and played trivia with three of my friends. This bar is actually located in the Hillsboro Village area of town, therefore putting it right smack in between Vanderbilt and Bellemont. Needless to say, we got creamed playing against those kids. Damn those schools and their high admission standards.

Thursday, I went to a Nashville Sounds game with some other friends. It was “Thirsty Thursday”, the weather was beautiful, I met some interesting people, and I saw some old friends that I hadn’t seen in a really long time.

Although, nothing particularly interesting and/or exciting happened either night, I just really enjoyed myself. It’s weird…

Just to fill you in; I was in Seaside, FL all last week for my Cousin’s wedding. It took place this last Saturday and it was great.

Now that you’re caught up, the joke that I kept making before going on this trip was that it was going to be a week of drunken debauchery and I’d come back questioning my morals and wondering what I was doing with my life. Oddly enough, that was accomplished by Wednesday. Go me!

Just to give you a quick recap and hit some highlights of the trip, my cousin, Sam, and I drove down late Saturday night. We got to Seaside at roughly five in the morning. Luckily we were able to get into one of the many beach houses the families of both the bride and the groom had rented. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the beach before we had to start the process of picking more people up from various airports. The next few days were spent enjoying the sunshine, laughing, joking, going to the only bar there, dancing, and all around having a good time all while more and more friends and family kept coming in.

There was one particular night in which I literally talked to every singer person in the bar that was full of at least a hundred people. I even made friends with the DJ that night and walked her to her car that evening. We hung out for a while and talked about random stuff. I now know that she feels bad for how crazy Brittney Spears has gotten, she has a day job working for an architecture firm, and she’s going to the University of Miami in the fall to study architecture. (On a side note, I’ve been told that I give off a very nonthreatening vibe, and people just open up to me.)

After I had walked the DJ to her car I came back to the beach house and several of my friends were still awake waiting for me. It was that evening that I got the nickname, “the Mayor of Seaside”. Apparently most people don’t just talk to everyone; and they then gave me a much deserved hard time for it.

The rest of the week was pretty much a continuation of this fantastic path of partying that we had set it on.

However, when my cousin’s wedding did roll around, I was surprised at how great it turned out. It was absolutely the best wedding that I have ever been to. They had it and the reception right there on the beach. They even built a dance floor out there on the sand. While I’m sure not everyone danced, I think I picked up the slack for those who didn’t.

Here’s a few pictures. For some reason, I somehow avoided having my picture taken most of the trip. I don’t know why I did this, but I do remember dodging out of the way several times. Perhaps as more pictures start to surface, I’ll post them. (Side note #2, this trip made me realize that I need to get a camera.)

Some of us guys… Day 1

Bart and Colin… Day 2

My cousin… Some random golf outing. As you can see it’s going well.

Some Auburn girls we met. I kind of got cut off in this picture. I was busy chatting with the girl in the black and white dress all night…

The bride, Sam, and Colin… I think we’re on day 4 by now.

The newly weds

Going back to the concept of me reading books that I’ve read articles about. Generally this is always the case. Every time I’ve ever just “picked up” a book, I’ve always been disappointed in it. However, recently the new thing is that I’m starting to read books that people recommend to me. Currently my list includes a book recommended by a guy I work with, a book recommended by a guy who works for my cousin, and a book recommended by a beautiful young lady I met on the airplane back from San Diego.

I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m hanging around people who actually read or what, but I’m eager to see the results.

I’m not sure if it was in Popular Mechanic, Esquire, or some other random magazine I was just reading, but I recently read an article about these new Java Monster energy drinks by Monster Energy. Oddly enough a random fun fact about myself is that if I read an article about something and I’m intrigued by it, I will usually try and/or do whatever the article is about. This particularly holds true when it comes to reading books.

To get back on topic; I stopped this morning on the way to my little brother’s graduation and picked up one of these drinks. Surprisingly it was quite delicious. So if you like the cold Starbucks coffee drinks that you can get in gas stations, I would recommend that you try one of these Java Monster drinks. You’ll probably like it.

On an unrelated, although important, note; my little brother, Kyle, graduated from Columbia State Community College today with an Associate of Science Degree in General Transfer with an emphasis on Geography.

I wanted to post pictures of my “janky” hotel in San Diego and I didn’t really have a chance to work it into the last post. My boss and I picked this hotel because it was close to everything and essentially all the other hotels were booked. Although I know it was probably Victorian themed, I got more of the “old lady house” impression.

The lobby

A “paper mache” horse in the lobby…

Picture of my room #1

Picture of my room #2 (The TV was behind the mirrors above the fireplace)

Well I’m back from my week in San Diego.

Here’s a recap.

Sunday: My boss and I flew out early that morning and arrived to unseasonably hot 100 degree weather. Since we had time to kill before the events for the day started, we went to a Padres game. The Padres lost, but it was still nice. Later we went to the opening reception for the convention (free food and drinks). After hanging around for a bit, we hiked a few blocks up the road to a reception given by one of our insurance brokers (more free food and drinks). Once we handled business by successfully hobnobbing and chatting with our business contacts, we hiked a few more blocks back to the Padres stadium for a desert reception hosted by a big insurance company (even more free food and drinks).

Monday: After having a big breakfast and listening to a few speakers at the convention, everyone was sent off to see the convention floor (ie. vendors from things like insurance companies, medical case management, lawyers, non-slip shoe manufactures, etc. were all there trying to sell their services). Later we attended a few classes before heading off to a dinner hosted by our property insurance company. After filling ourselves with sushi and beer, we caught a cab back to the convention center for the Hootie and the Blowfish concert. An interesting note, we were on the front row and the floor of the convention center is designed to move because of the earthquakes. So once everyone started rocking and the floor started moving it was a really awesome experience.

Tuesday: More classes then a delicious lunch with our other insurance broker. Then more classes. That evening we went to a dinner hosted by a competing insurance broker and ate a lot more delicious food. Then we hiked up to the house of blues for an event hosted by some other big insurance company were they had a U2 tribute band and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy performing. Note: I hate U2 and I hate the U2 tribute band even more.

Wednesday: More classes all day. To kill time before the Cirque Du Soleil performance, my boss and I decided to go to the hospitality suite of our property insurance carrier. While there one of the guys we know invited us to a really nice dinner at some swanky restaurant. So we hopped in a chartered bus and rolled out. Although we missed the Cirque Du Soleil performance from what we heard the next day it sucked, so it was a smart move on our part to be entertained yet again by the property guys. Then once that event was over I went to a party at the Hard Rock Hotel hosted by some other insurance related company. My boss decided to not go because it was kind of late and the party was kind of jumping. But I hung out and drank more free beer and chatted with some lovely ladies from North Texas University.

Thursday: Just more classes before heading off to the airport and then flying back.