Off to Australia

Happy New Year to you. It sure has been awhile since I've sat down to this mess of a blog. I do have a couple posts, right off the hop, to bring in the new year. A lot has gone on, for the better, in 2012. I'm still processing how absolutely amazing my friend is, to be quite honest. She's truly one of the very few, very special, very attractive, and very amazing people in my life. I think I'm just going get into the list before I start missing her already.

So, without further adieu, in no real order (because I've lost track of days)... My amazing trip to Sydney.

• I watched The Bourne Legacy, and Ted on the way there ...The Avengers, and The Wrestler on the way back.  Ate four plane meals, snacks in the meantime, listened to hours of music, and slept.
• My friend met me straight off at the airport, with a huge smile, a kiss on the cheek, and a "where the fuck have you been?" type of look, 
• We walked all around Sydney, 
• We saw the Sydney Opera House, 
• We saw the Sydney Harbour bridge, 
• We saw Hyde Park in Sydney, 
• We went down to The Rocks, 
• We took a ferry to Manly for some beach time, 
• We put our feet into the Pacific Ocean, for the first time, in December, that I've been in an Ocean, 
• We took a train to Sydney Olympic Park, 
• We rode in all sorts of public transportation, 
• We watched a live Twenty20 Big Bash cricket match and she explained what was going on, 
• We went to a great wedding, for a long time friend, and she met most all of my friends that I have from growing up. 
• She danced the night away at the reception, while I sang the tunes on the bus to the after party. 
• We ate some proper fish and chips, burgers and chips, Chinese, sushi, Mexican, and a brunch that consisted of French toast, maple syrup, bacon, and vanilla ice cream (twice on the brunch), 
• We watched the New Years Eve fireworks, from the stands of a cricket grounds in Valcluse (so there weren't as many people and we could see the whole harbor), 
• We watched the World Series of Darts (to which she even found me darts with American flags), 
• We went to an amazing 20,000 seat stadium for an A-league match and hung out with all the officials after the game (because she just happened to know the center), 
• We watched the sun rise on Bondi Beach on New Year's Day (just to see the sun rise on the beginning of a great year for both of us), 
• We got thrown out of a bar, after I drank three beers, because there was a fight, the police was there, and I was tired (read: "looked drunk"), 
• We got asked, "Who do we sing for?" To which the correct response is "We sing for Wanderers", especially while wearing an USA away top. 

I'm sure I'll think of more that went on, but I'm currently in the process of trying to shut down my brain and go to sleep. No matter what, you can see from the list above that my friend certainly showed me a lot in a five day span. I'll never be able to repay her for the hospitality and generosity that she's showed me, but I surely hope that I have the chance to try. I'd really like to see her again.

Winds of Change

So, I know it's been awhile since I've written here, but I needed something to take my mind off work ... so I can focus on my first Division I middle today.  Yep, soccer season starts again today, and with that goes my summer and chances to play golf.  I played really well though this spring/summer.  Shot in the low 90's on multiple occasions, with real shots at shooting in the 80's.  All in all, a good off season.

But the real changes could be coming soon.  The house seems to be working it's way through layers of lawyers ... going in a direction that works well for me, just getting there a bit slower than normal.  That means that during soccer season, so at some point over the next couple months, I should have bought a house, made it what I want it to be (not what the previous owner "thought was great"), and moved all my stuff.  Living by myself for the first time in my life, in a house that is 100% mine.  It'll be a nice feeling.  Also, I'm in the process of talking to people about a new job.  My current job is going ok, but it's not what I want to do.  Honestly, it feels like a waste of my talents.  I need something new.  So maybe add new job to new house, in the near future.  I've already added a "new job" since I've started to get clients to take pictures of.  A little bit of money here and there, in order to upgrade some camera equipment and take better pictures.  It's quite fun and very creative ... at least as creative as I'm going to be.

It seems like good things are on the way, hopefully by year end and I can ride that wave into 2012.  This year started off really well ... too well honestly.  Now I'm looking forward to something good happening again.

New House, New Job, New Chapter.  It's on the way.

Good Quotes

So ... here you go. Some quotes that I've run across. I'll probably keep updating this one.

"You don't change, you just become more like yourself"

"If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody is not thinking."

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

"The Greeks did not write obituaries. They simply asked, 'Did he have passion?'"

"I trust everyone. It's the devil inside them I don't trust."

"If you are never scared, embarrassed, or hurt, it means you never take chances."

"If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal... then you become something else entirely. A legend."

"If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room."

"It is amazing how much harder people work if they feel they are treated right by their bosses. But the reverse is even more true, if people feel mistreated and disrespected they will perform poorly regardless of their pay."

Greatest Trip Ever (Remix)

Well ... I've made it through the greatest trip ever, and I've lived to tell about it.  All in all, it was a good trip.  I think we used enough Bullfrog to make the French mad, and the black speedo was a fantastic success.  I think the remix should just be a list of thoughts ... since that's far easier for me.

1. Topless women on the beach:  Some of these topless women are hot ... and I mean really really hot women ... and some are not, however it's not really that big of a deal.  I've seen it before and I'll see it again.  Thank you for pointing out every girl sunbathing without a top on.
2. Resort Club Music:  I understand that I'm in another country, and I understand said country might have their own type of music that they listen to.  However, when the only person that likes all of the music being played is the DJ ... someone needs to be fired.  I could have run a better club using a tape player.
3. Champions League Final:  I did have a lot of fun watching the ManU v Barca Final, in another country.  It also helped that we could have cared less who won the game, so no yelling at the TV was involved.
4. Asshole Americans:  At a resort like this, it's very easy to see why people throughout the world think that Americans are assholes ... we are.  I mean, not all of us are, but the vocal assholes are louder and believe they expect things for being American.  I knew it, I'm surrounded by assholes.
5. This is more of a story and less of a thought.  So, on the night of the wedding (the reason I'm on this excellent adventure) ... I decide that I'm drinking enough to see if I can get hungover.  I rarely get hungover, and nobody really knows how this happens.  So we start as soon as the wedding is over, champagne, red wine, more red wine, rum and coke, and a select group of people are left over late into the night.  At about 2 or 2:30am, the four of us decide to head to the "open all night" cafe ... where we find we're the only ones in the place.  A botched answer to the question "Do you want champagne?" turned into bottles of champagne being opened and the idea of staying up all night.  Since this is a far better option that actually waking up to take pictures of the sun rising, I say I'm in and turn back into the room to get my camera before sunrise.  At 5am we leave the cafe, take to the pier to get pictures and celebrate the rising of the sun.  By 6am, we're back to the cafe and drinking mimosas ... I mean why not, we've been drinking for 12 hours.  It was this moment that I remember I committed to playing soccer at 10:30am.  I head back to the room, drop off the camera, grab soccer playing clothes, and change out of the wedding clothes and into soccer clothes on the field.  I'm ready to go.  Somehow I didn't throw up and I wasn't hung over.  A fun night ended without a hangover, and there certainly won't be a hangover part 2.
6. French Lesbians:  I can't wait to see how many people find the blog because of those 2 keywords now.  Well, the story goes like this -> I asked my friends to scope out the landscape and see if there was anyone to talk to at the resort.  Since I can't get a girl in Maryland to return a phone call or a text, even after asking if she wanted to go to a concert with me because of an extra ticket ... I thought another country might be my way to go.  My friends did a great job too and found a couple girls that didn't have any guys with them ... great success.  The first night I'm on the island leads us to drunken ping pong, and it just so happens these girls are there also.  I figure that I can't lose anything by trying, and ask them if they need anything to drink since I'm heading to the bar.  The girls aren't very responsive and tell me they don't need anything ... this is right before they start speaking to each other in French.  My high school teacher would be proud that I even understand that it was French.  Well, a little bit of time goes along and the girls end up leaving ... arm in arm, and one with a full on ass grab on the other.  Should I be happy that my friends tried to hook me up with French lesbians?

All in all, the trip was fun and there were a lot of places I could take pictures.  I put together about 525 pictures over the week, but this is before paring them down and figuring out that a lot of them look exactly the same.  Good thing I have a ton of pictures to remember the greatest trip ever.  I now look forward to heading to the NHL draft at the end of the month ... which is in Minnesota, so obviously can't be anywhere near as fun as this trip just was.

Greatest Trip Ever

Well ... the greatest trip that I will ever take comes up a little less that 10 days from now.  I'm hoping it's all that it's being made out to be.  There should be a lot of awesome places to take pictures of giant checker boards, people on the beach, and sunsets.  It's awesome that I can eat whenever I want to, and eat great food prepared by someone else, and drink beer or soda or bottled water whenever I want to ... without having to pay any more than I've already paid.  It should be cool that I can hang out on a beach and play soccer or read a book or take pictures of the clear blue water.

All that should be sweet.  Don't tell anyone, but no matter if I meet the girl of my dreams or end up with a week long sexual romp with some girl that I'll never see again down in the Dominican Republic ... in no way, shape, or form will this trip be any where close to my trip to the Mediterranean.  Sorry.  I understand that a lot of people are all sorts of pumped up for this trip, and "it's the greatest trip you'll ever take" since everyone I know is married and are planning on having kids at some point soon.  I'm not ... on either account.  It's not going to be the greatest trip I've ever been on ... and I'm sorry to say that it's not going to be the greatest trip that I'll ever be on either.  I have a lot more fun planned in trips to England, back to Sicily, or NHL drafts than I do for this week long "vacation".

The good thing is that I got in when the getting was good.  This week long excursion to another country doesn't cost me anything more than going down the ocean would cost for a week over Memorial Day weekend.  Sure, I could have used the money for house stuff ... fixing things up or creating something amazing once I buy my own place ... or going on a trip that I wanted to take.  At the end of the day though, it's not really the money.

I'll check back in once I'm back, that way everyone can read about the greatest trip I'll ever take.

Back to my Life

Well soccer season is over.  I've made it through another fall season.  This season I didn't referee as many games as I have in the past, however most all of them were college level games and far more intense.  Thankfully I'm in a place now where I have nothing to do and a good mental defrag can finally occur.  It's time to get my life back in order now.

Once Thanksgiving is over, it's time to actually see friends.  Hang out at Capitals games or at the bar.  Catch up on what I've missed over the past couple months.  Start reading the Bourne Trilogy and rewatch the movies one by one.  Get out and complete my holiday shopping, although completing the thought of what I'd like to get for important people in my life is probably a good first step.  It's also time to look into my house hunting ventures ... hopefully I'll have a new place to call my own in the near future.

So, the transition begins however not without a bit of time to sit and relax.

Honesty

Do people really want honesty?  This is something that I struggle with often.

When someone asks me a question ... 1) If I know you well enough, should I tell you exactly what I think?  2)  If I know you well enough, should I tell you what you ultimately want to hear?  3)  If I don't know you that well, should I just lie to you because you won't know the difference anyway?

I feel like there are actually some people in this world that want to know the truth, for better or for worse, because they are actually trying to become better people or learn more about themselves.  The problem, I find, is the tweeners ... the people that tell others they want to hear the truth, but then use that truth to prove that you were wrong, don't know what you're talking about, or just don't believe that's what you just said.

By trait I am pretty shy, actually I'd say reserved.  I'm probably the most perfect combination of my mother and father that you could possibly get.  A chameleon, if you must ... someone that's quite shy, however can hold a conversation with just about anyone, and in the right situation can feel quite comfortable holding that conversation.  I'd like to change.  I'd like to become more out going, as I've gotten older.  I'd like to be able to tell everyone the truth, but that's the problem.  That's where the "more out going" turns into "going back to what I've always known".  Avoiding confrontation is something that I do really well ... I've taken tests to prove that.

It seems to me that people don't want others to be more out going by becoming more truthful ... they want others to become more out going by just doing whatever the group is doing.  Hopefully my observations are skewed or even flat out wrong.  I'm not sure I'd be happy living in a place where I'm trying to always be a chameleon, in the sense that I need to change in order for people to accept me.

What's in a Title?

So, I've started sending this blog out to some friends, mostly for the enjoyment of approval and the fact that I can only read my own thoughts so many times over.  I have gotten a question back though ... "what's the title mean?"

Apparently the title has a completely unintended meaning, and that needs some back story.  For most of my life I've had issues with allergies and polyps within my nose.  I've had surgery to clean it all out, and fix my nose ... however they just come back.  For most of my life, I haven't been able to breathe through my nose or smell much of anything.  Recently, my new doctor, has had me rinsing my nose with a Neti Pot and a water/steroids solution.  It's worked tremendously ... sleeping well, breathing better, not really any issues with allergies right now, and being able to smell things.  Thus, I was asked if "An Awakening of One's Senses" pertained to me being able to smell again (by the way, look below for a pros/cons list of being able to smell again).  A fantastic question, but not what I was really going for.

The real meaning is tied to Australian tribal jewelry.  The above picture is the symbol that I've been thinking of getting as a tattoo for nearly 10 years now.  That's just a picture of the necklace charm and by using Microsoft Paint I've erased the piece that physically goes onto the chain.  If I ever decided to actually have this tattoo put on my body, then I'd get one of my friends to draw it for me.  I'm not sure why I became so enamored with this.  If it's the actual design of the intertwined moon shapes, or if it's the thought that it's tied to an awakening of one's senses.  Something has me continually come back to this one design whenever thinking about getting a tattoo.  Maybe I'm just weird.

So for all those asking, now you know ... and knowing is half the battle.  For a little extra time however here's my Pro/Con list for having my nose opened up again:

Pros:

• Bacon smells amazing
• Sushi
• Easier to run/cycle, being able to breathe through my nose and mouth at the same time
• Easier to sleep
• Food tastes better
• Beer tastes different (some better)

Cons:

• Needed to buy an air freshener for my room because it smelled different
• Some perfume/air fresheners smell weird
• My roommate farting
• Exhaust smells
• Cut grass
• Eat more because it tastes good
• I've started to find some food or beer that tastes different than I remember, not in a good way

Slingbox

Well, it's set up ... I think.  There was a bit of a hiccup last night.  I got the Powerline adapters last night and went to work.  Moved the entertainment center, so I could get behind it and then set up the adapters ... one goes to the router and one goes to the Slingbox.  After about 15 seconds they were up and running ... ethernet light is on.  I even went the extra step of setting the security on the boxes, which I'm sure I wouldn't have needed anyway.  Then I moved onto setting up the Slingbox, putting all the cords in the right place, and the ethernet light is on the Slingbox too.  One more step ... setting up the Slingbox by using the website.  That's when the fun started.

I tried about 6 times ... "No Slingbox is detected on your network" ... No Slingbox!?  But the lights are on and everything.  So, out comes the laptop.  I connect it to both Powerline adapters and reset them, in order to take the security off.  That has to be the problem ... I'm sure of it.  I tried about 6 more times, on the laptop connected directly into the router, this time.  Still no Slingbox detected.  Here's where I start to panic because I've exhausted my vast knowledge of how to troubleshoot devices like this.

and then ... I did what any good troubleshooter does, reset the whole damn thing.  By holding the reset button for 5 seconds, the Slingbox went into convulsions.  Lights blinking everywhere ... a set of lights blinking that I didn't even know were on there ... and then all of the sudden, it all stopped.  I figured this was my chance, so I head back to the laptop.  Not very surprisingly that's what was needed the whole time ... apparently I needed to reset the Slingbox in order to erase all of my friend's network information. "Slingbox detected" pops up and I move onto setup.  In no time at all, I was watching my TV, on my laptop, from a room in the house without any TVs in there.  I even got it set up so I can change channels, use the guide button, and whatever else I could do sitting in my room.

Next step is to try it somewhere else and find out if I set it up correctly to watch in other places.  Hopefully I can try that out tonight, since it's pretty worthless to watch TV, on a computer, in a room without a TV ... and not just walk up the steps to actually get to my room.  Update to come on that one.

UPDATE (Friday night):  It works.  I went to my parents' house, went to the website on my mom's laptop, and started watching my TV.  My dad might be watching Fox Soccer Channel, from my house, while I'm at work.  But all is a success.  The British should be able to watch hockey now ... which is sweet for them.

UPDATE (Sunday afternoon):  Looks like I set it up correctly.  It works in England.  Great success.  

What a day.

Today, my friends, was a good day.  Let me list what happened:

1. Took off work yesterday, in order to set up today's festivities
2. Woke up early, to get in 18 holes of golf.  It was an overcast day, in the area, but with no sun out and the temperature around 85 degrees, it was amazing.  A little blustery on some holes ... I hit a driver, short I might add, into a par 3.  I made a fantastic putt for par on a par 5.  Ended up shooting a legitimate 101 (meaning that I don't approximate scores and I make my putts) ... I missed a 6 ft. putt on 18 for a 100.
3. Stopped off at Little Caesar's on the way home for a bit of a cheese pizza and some crazy bread.  Which, by the way, is apparently just what a friend of mine was craving.  I bribed her with pizza, and went over to hang out with her and her 1 year old daughter for a couple hours.
4. All in all, a great way to spend the day off.

So, it might not seem like much to some people, but to me it was perfect.  This just becomes a good ending to what was a good couple of days.  On Wednesday, another friend of mine gave me a Slingbox that he wasn't using anymore.  In order to figure out what a Slingbox does ... Google it, Google can help you with everything.  If you'd like to "Giovanni it", then I'll tell you.  A Slingbox takes what you have on your TV, runs the video and audio into a tiny computer like device, and broadcasts all of that information through the internet and onto a website that I can see wherever I am in the world.  I can even change channels on the TV, sitting in my room, from wherever I am.  It's a pretty sweet gizmo and it even works with internet phones too.  So today was also a good day because I  figured out how I can connect my Slingbox to the wireless internet in the house and to my FIOS box.  I'm getting some powerline boxes ... these things take the internet from one spot in the house (near your router), plugs it into the power lines that run throughout your house, and pops the internet connection back out on any power outlet in the house.  So basically, I'm taking a wire from the router to one powerline box that's connected to the outlet, and plugging in another powerline box into the outlet near the Slingbox.  Viola!  Internet to the Slingbox and I don't have to worry about the wireless connection.

What can I say, it's the little things that make me happy.  And with that being said, it's time to make the rest of the day just as fun as earlier today was.  A couple Golden Monkeys should do the trick.

My 101 List

As you can see from my "Websites I follow" section to the left there, I follow Ted's Take pretty often. A while back, July 2008 to be exact, I ran into his "101 List" of goals/expectations for his life (and just recently I finished reading his book "The Business of Happiness"). I find it amazing to see how a successful public person values his family and what he wants to do with his life.

Many things were changing, in a fairly fast paced way, at the time, so in a fit of slowing down I created my own 101 List. Now I don't have 101 things yet and at the time I post this entry I've completed about 25% of my list (it will continue to be updated), however feel free to give a read, help out if you'd like, or just take in what's going on in my life.  Mr. Leonsis ... thanks for your inspiration, and I'm sorry for copying some things.

Who knows if/when I'll accomplish these goals however dropping them into a public place like this certainly allows for some added and needed incentive to become a happier person. Thanks for reading.

** Updated September 15, 2018 ... 48 out of 96 accomplished **
** Updated to remove lines that have passed me by, and replacing them with more realistic goals, as of this moment in my life. **

I Family Matters
1. Be fully stable being single
2. Enjoy my time alone
3. Enjoy my time with my friends
4. Help others accomplish their goals
5. Take care of mother/father
6. Leave all financial matters in shape for family members upon passing on
7. Be a part of my nephew growing up
8. Be a part of my friends' kids growing up
Fall in love and get married
Have a healthy child
Take care of in-laws
Take care of extended family
Have grandchildren
Have children become individuals and socially well rounded

II Financial Matters
9. Pay off college debts (11/18)
10. Have enough savings to not have to worry about money
11. Keep debt to a minimum of good debt
12. Make money doing something that's "not a job"

III Possessions
13. Own a house by myself (11/30/11)
14. Own a Sports Car (Subaru WRX STi)
15. Own a Porsche
16. Own a Motorcycle (1999 Honda CBR600)
17. Own a personal collection of Oakleys
18. Own a mountain or beach home that stays in the family
19. Own a great piece of art
20. Own a great personal collection of watches
21. Own a good collection of "coffee table" books

IV Charities
22. Continue to give to Cancer Research/Boys and Girls Club
23. Continue to give to Western Maryland
24. Continue to give to Mount Saint Joe

V Sports
25. Go to a Stanley Cup Final game (06/04/18 v Golden Knights, Game 4)
26. Go to the Ryder Cup
27. Go to the Masters
28. Go to an Orioles Playoff game (10/8/12 v Yankees, Game 2)
29. Catch a foul ball
30. Go to an NHL All-Star Game
31. Go to an NHL Winter Classic (1/1/11 Capitals v Penguins)
32. Go to a Capitals Playoff Game (4/22/08 Flyers v Capitals Game 7)
33. Go to the Olympics
34. Go to a major Cycling Tour Event
35. Go to the British Open
36. Go to the World Cup (6/29/94 Belgium v Saudi Arabia)
37. Go to the US Open
38. Go to the World Cup, outside of the US
39. Go to a USMNT game, somewhere other than RFK (5/29/10 Turkey v USA, Philadelphia, PA)
40. Get a hole-in-one
41. See the Baltimore Blast win a championship (2005-2006 Season)
42. See DC United win a championship (Multiple on TV, none in person)
43. See the Washington Capitals win a Stanley Cup (2018)
44. Go to an EPL game (Jan. 1, 2014)
45. Shoot in the 80's.
46. Get Cal Ripken Jr.'s Autograph
47. Get Wayne Gretzky's Autograph
48. Go to the Frozen Four National Championship Game (4/11/09 Boston U v Miami U)

VI Travel
49. Travel because of a "career"
50. Go to Greece (2005)
51. Go to Italy (2005)
52. Go to Sicily, longer than 1 week
53. Go to Spain
54. Go to Hawaii
55. Go to England (2013)
56. Go to France
57. Go to Australia (2012)
58. Go to Alaska

VII Refereeing
59. Become a National NISOA referee (2010)
60. Referee a game on national television (10/13/10 #1 Akron at #25 Penn St., BigTen Network)
61. Referee a game on local television (11/14/08 Class 1A State Championship, Fox45)
62. Referee an ACC game (8/26/12 #7 Louisville at #9 Maryland)
63. Referee an NCAA Division One game (8/29/08 George Washington v Old Dominion)
64. Referee a Final Four game in any college National Tournament (11/6/10 NJCAA)
65. Referee in an Elite Eight game in any division's NCAA Tournament (11/18/07)
66. Referee in a D1 conference tournament (11/7/08 Patriot League)
Get flown somewhere to referee
Referee in the D1 NCAA Tournament

VII Photography
67. Get Paid to take pictures
68. Photograph a pro hockey player scoring a goal (9/14/18 @ Black Bears v Titans)
69. Photograph a pro soccer player scoring a goal (6/2/13 @ USA v Germany)
70. Photograph Ryder Cup matches
71. Photograph the peleton riding by
72. Own a really nice Digital SLR
73. Sell my photographs on the Internet
74. Take Photography classes
75. Start a "career" in Photography
76. Create a "coffee table" book of my photographs
77. Be credentialed as a photographer (DC United)
78. Create a hard drive of just pictures

VIII Face Off Hockey Show
79. Get sponsors for the FOHS (180s)
80. Get the FOHS on a radio station
81. Get paid to be a host on the FOHS (BlogTalkRadio 12/21/17)
82. Be credentialed for Capitals games
83. Hold a live show somewhere around the country (Columbus)
84. Be credentialed for an NHL All Star game
85. Be credentialed for a Winter Classic (Pittsburgh 2011)
86. Be credentialed for a Capitals Playoff Game
87. Run a fantasy hockey league with 70 players

VIII Random Stuff
88. Go to an FHM or Maxim party (9/27/06)
89. Learn Italian
90. Allow people to see who I really am
91. Run a marathon (1/6/02 Disney)
92. Play soccer in another country (2005)
93. Play Ice Hockey (12/18/10)
94. Find a girl, and get caught dancing in the rain
95. Kiss a girl, as the clock strikes into the New Year
96. Join a "Polar Bear Plunge" and jump into the ocean in winter (2011, Long Island, NY)