One night this last weekend I went over to my Dad’s and watched Adaptation and ate steak.
On another night this weekend I went over to my Mom’s and watched Punch Drunk Love and ate steak.

I was somehow able to relate to the main characters in both movies. And the steak was really good.

I was feeling lonely on Sunday. So I went and got coffee and ran an errand but it was a phone call that saved me.

I played ultimate this week and won. I played like shit though.

I had a total time last night too.

I never actually gave much thought about what it would be like to have a twin.

On friday night I went out to have a few drinks and to try and meet some new people.

I went to one of my three regular bars. After my first beer. A older man on a Rascal drove (scooted?) into the bar. The doorman helped him into the chair next to me and took his sccoter to the corner of the bar. He ordered a beer.

He was in his early eighties. He had thick plastic glasses that enlarged his eyes and seemed to have windshield wipers when he blinked. He introduced himself as Ken. Talk with Ken was sparse at first - “Who won the Rockies game?”, “How often do you come here?”, “Do you work?” But as the bar began to fill with drunk patrons, scantily clad young ladies, and guys looking for tail, our conversation quickly developed. The subjects quickly changed to family, women, what we did with ourselves and why we did it, how we fill our days. Ken had some great insights and had me in stitches a few times. It turned out we were two lonely men at the bar with a fair amount in common besides our age. And some new ideas to share with each other.

Two hours later - after Ken finished his beer, and I had finished three - I got up to leave. And Ken asked the doorman for his scooter. I shook his hand, missing it the first time due to some jerkyness from his degenerative desease and my slight buzz. Ken asked if I wanted to come over to watch videos sometime. I said sure and found out his apartment number. I promised him I’d stop by before the end of August but still wonder if I actually will.

Earlier this week I had my ultimate game. We beat one of the two undefeated teams in the league. This should put us in 3rd or 4th place of about 25 teams.

I’m trying to put a kickball team together for this fall but I’ve only been able to get three people to commit.

The other night I walked around my neighborhood drinking a big coffee mug of wine, smoking cigarettes, talking on the phone, and laughing lots. It was a lot better than it sounds.

Yesterday we had a fire in our office building. Apparently there was a welding accident. After the alarm went off we started filing down the stairs. I’m on the thirty-fourth floor. By the time we got to the twenty-fifth floor we could smell the smoke which was a little unnerving. It took a while to get down all thirty-five flights. By the time we got to the bottom the fireman and put out the small fire and were loading up to go. If there is one thing I know about firemen it’s this: they’re pussy magnets. This girl in my office was watching them load up and she was literally starring at them with unblinking eyes and jaw dropped. I walked up to her and said “you better close your mouth and put on a smile for those cute firemen.” She quickly snapped out of whatever fantasy she was having. Giggled. Smiled. Blushed. Then ran off.

Lots of times I can’t seem to figure it out. Lots of times I can.

Busy busy busy. I have been a lot happier the past two weeks. I think I may be starting to emerge from a funk. But to be honest with you, I mean me, I’m really haven’t been in touch enough with my own shit lately to tell.

Anyway, I had a great weekend. It all started with an unexpected call from my brother asking me over for margaritas and to then go over to the LoDo Music Fest. After a couple of margaritas with some of the weirdest salt that almost made them undrinkable - it was so sour, we headed downtown. The Trout family came along and brought their press passes so I didn’t have to pay for my ticket. The rest of us conned a scalper (or actually refused to let him con us) for cheep tickets. United Dope Front was finishing up when we got in. Then we caught a half set of the Rebirth Brass Band that were a complete blast. We also caught a half set of Medeski, Martin & Wood who are just a little too improv for me these days, they’re just not that accessible. And then it began to rain. And it rained hard, there was a ton of lightning but it stayed pretty warm so we just danced in the rain and drank rum and cokes that we snuck in. It was only minutes till we were all soaked to the bone. A box of cigarettes turned into a wet wad of paper and tobacco in my pocket and my wallet is still a little damp. After a while, the girls in their sun dresses started to get cold, and all the guys started to get hungry, and it became apparent the next band wasn’t coming on so we left. On the way home we went by a flooded shopping center, rescued stranded drivers, and swam around in the nasty waste deep water.

On Saturday I attended the first annual 80210 House Crawl. Me and about twenty friends on road bikes, scooters, stollers, rollerblades, and one convertible (for emergencies and pitstops) rode around to each others houses. At each stop was a drink, a game, and some food. It was an absolute blast. The games started at 11:00 AM and continued on till 11:00 PM making for a long day of drinking and sun. The events went like this:

Last night I went to a local bar grab some dinner (shrimp quessadilla) and drinks (bourbon and cokes). Next to me at the bar was a couple on a dinner/bar date. The women was above average looking, very well built with pretty, long, brown hair. The man had was also well built, expensively but smartly dressed, and very metropolitan looking. Things I learned from him:

When you love someone, let them go.
If they come back, they’re yours forever.
If they don’t, call them up drunk the next night.

This weekend was boom and bust.

When I got back from work on Friday I found in my mailbox the sweetest gift from Sassy Little Punkin. It a beautiful hand-painted coffee mug with a delightful inscription on the bottom and a thoughtful and heartwarming note inside. Thanks so much slp. It been sitting on my nightstand and replenishing me throughout the recent nights.

On Saturday I went hiking. We hiked up Mt. Sherman. Which is the 8th of Colorado’s 53 Fourteeners that I have completed. It involved waking up at 5:15 in the morning, which is way too early for a weekend. But don’t feel sorry for me, she only got two hours of sleep. Unfortunately, we had no sparks but she’s a nice girl. Of course a combined nine hours of sleep and a lack of oxygen don’t help in these matters and I’m sure we’ll be hanging out again. It was a relatively easy hike though, particularly for a 14er and an enjoyable day overall.

Later that evening I went to A.P.s wedding reception. He got married in Mexico a few weeks back and had a party consisting of free food and drinks, and several piñatas for all those unable to make it south of the border.

On Sunday I woke up early and laid around for a while first I tried to call Sabrina but she has cancelled her phone service and I don’t know her new number. Then I tried calling Ray but she never answered. My other phone call that evening was answered by a machine. So my luck with communication was down on Sunday. However, I did have a really enjoyable afternoon at my brothers which consisted mainly of trying to avoid the heat by playing with the garden hose, laying around watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and going to the convenience store for refreshments. Overall it was a pretty satisfying weekend.

I got a call yesterday afternoon from my father. He was calling from the emergency room and needed me to take him home. He had been in a car wreck. He got T-boned in a major intersection by a lady who ran the red light. He’s ok. Lots of back pain, bruised ribs, bruised kidney. His car is totaled though. I went and got stuff out of it at the towing place. I cleaned out the glove box and boxed up all the belongings he had. The we went and got a prescription filled for some pain pills. Strong stuff. He’ll be passed out most of today, which is good cause he’s going to be hurtin’. I worry because back problems can stick with you and haunt you all your life. Yesterday I told him he was lucky. He just looked at me and laughed. He sure didn’t feel lucky, but he knew what I meant.

I’ve had various nicknames throught my life. Some good, some bad, some thoughtful, some random, some mean, some sweet, some just are. Below is a good representation of some of the more unique nicknames I have, or, have had been regularly called.

Hubs - This is my main nickname in real-life (and around here) and is as close as can be to an actual name without being one. Nearly everyone knows me as Hubs. Some only know me as Hubs. My friends introduce me at parties and other gatherings as Hubs. I respond to Hubs like it’s my given name. Some people also call my brother this but drop the ’s’. I like it. I’ve been called it for as long as I can remember.

Did you ever think when a hearse goes by,
That you may be the next to die?
They take you out to the family plot,
And there you wither, decay, and rot.
They wrap you up in a bloody sheet,
And then they bury you six-feet deep.
And all goes well for a week or two,
And then things start to happen to you.
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The ants play pinochle on your snout!
One of the worms that’s not so shy,
Crawls in one ear and out one eye.
They call their friends and their friends’ friends, too,
They’ll make a horrid mess of you!
And then your blood turns yellow-green,
And oozes out like whipping cream.
[Spoken] Darn, me without a spoon!
Your eyes fall out, your teeth decay
A rotten end to a lovely day
So never laugh when a hearse goes by,
For you may be the next to die.

It was a great weekend. One of the better one’s I’ve had in the last month.

It started off on Thursday by IMing with Chevy all day. That night I went to play ultimate. We won and I took this as an omen as to how the rest of the weekend was to go. This win puts us in 7th place of 24 teams.

Afterwards I met a bunch of friends at Nallan’s Irish Pub downtown. It was the first time I’ve gone out to the bars with a whole groupful of friends in a long time and I had a blast. All my drinks were bought for me. Everyone seemed to want to catch up and talk with me and I was really excited to catch up with everyone else. I didn’t even have time to visit with everyone I wanted to. I felt really good. I stayed till the bitter end, no thanks to a Red Bull & Vodka drink brought to me later in the night that seemed to wipe away any sort of cobwebs I may have had.

As a result I slept in rather late on Friday and spent some time on the couch in the morning. I went to a 4th of July BBQ later that afternoon that was tons-o’-fun too. Highlights included:

Because I refuse to leave the last negative entry sitting here for three days - a few positive things going on.

I’m a pessimist no doubt. I was a pessimist long before I knew what one was. It’s a trait I was born with, and much to my disappointment, although I have shown improvement, it’s a characteristic I have been unable to shake. It’s unattractive and distracting.

When I was in fourth grade I was having trouble with one of my teachers, Mrs. Potillos. She thought I was a troublemaker. I thought I was well behaved for a fourth grader. Many of my elementary school teachers praised my maturity. One day I went home crying to my mom.

“What’s the matter hubs?” my concerned mother asks.
“Mrs. Portillos!” I immediately blame for my being upset.
“Why, what did Mrs. Portillos do?” my mother asks.
“She called me a tessimyst!” I ball.
“You mean a pessimist? Do you know what that is?” my mom chuckled realizing the situation wasn’t severe.

This is a perfect example of how my pessimism has permeated my being. I had no idea what the word meant. But I automatically assumed it was bad. In fact I thought for sure it was insulting, and possibly a cuss word that should never be uttered. I assumed Mrs Portillos said something so mean it should send me crying to my mom. And I have had a part of some pretty evil cut-down contests and name calling on the blacktop by this time.

On Monday night I watched Novacaine. It was pretty good. I really like dark humor and this is the best thing Steve Martin has done since The Spanish Prisoner, which was the best thing since Roxanne, which was a long time ago.

I forgot to call my Dad. It was his birthday. I realized it at 12:30 that night so it was too late to call. I called him first thing in the morning. He gave me a bit of a hard time but didn’t seem too upset. I’m taking him out to dinner tonight, I think that will make up for it. I felt really guilty though. Sometimes I can be a terrible son.

Last night I went out to dinner at Shushi Heights with Sabrina. I gorged myself. I ate so much that I began to develope gills. This didn’t help with my swallowing.