Conclusions of Variety A Personal Blog on my happenings and thoughts

NIN and the CornerPosted by cczernia on September 19th, 2005

Last Friday was the “Nine Inch Nails” concert. A friend of mine, Nathan, and I met at Fashion Valley Mall which had a trolley station. I grabbed something to eat and we hopped on the trolley. We pulled up to SDSU at 7:10pm. The concert started at 7:30 so we weren’t in a big hurry but still trying to get there in time. We talked to a security guy who was bitter because he had tickets to the show and couldn’t go.

We got turned around and showed up a little late and missed most of the first act. I’m not sure who it was. I bought a shirt and then we went back in for “Queens of the Stone Age.” I didn’t care for their music but the lead singer was funny. Nathan thought he was drunk because they got better the longer they played.

NIN finally came on and the show was awsome. The best concert I had ever been to was a NIN show back in 1995. This one looked like it was going to top it. I say “looked” because about an hour into it they shut everything down and you could hear Trent say there was a medical emergency with the drummer, Jerome.

We waited awhile and then the lights came up and they announced the concert was cancelled. They did say we could hold onto our ticket stubs and they would be back November 20th so I get to see them again

In other news I was walking back from the gym Sunday morning. I had done some grocery shopping and got a smoothie. I walked up to the corner of Ingraham and Garnet which is a wierd intersection. I have been heckled twice there.

As I walked I prepared to cross the street. Two women had just finished crossing and the walk signal had just switched to blinking red hand. There was a small SUV at he corner that looked like it was going to turn right but wasn’t using a signal. I step out in front and start to walk across.

About half way across I hear someone yelling at me. I turn around and see a guy yelling at me. His bald and a little heavy. He is turning red with anger as he is screaming about how you can’t walk on red, only white. My first reaction is to flip him off but he is still going berserk.

Well, he hit a button in me and I yell out “Fuck you! You want a piece of me!?” and started walking toward him like I was going to fight him. At the moment he jerked the car forward like he was going to go but stopped. I stopped. He checked for traffic and then zipped off.

Tennis DownersPosted by cczernia on September 15th, 2005

After 13 years (since I was 16) I have decided to start up tennis. I have thinking about it for awhile but could never afford lessons and didn’t feel confident enough to find players. So, I would play with friends occasionally (had a good run of tennis with Joe).

A week and a half ago I went to the Barnes Tennis Center and signed up for two months of lessons. I was incredibly anxious and really wanted to get out there. Yesturday I headed down to the tennis center with my raquet, and dressed ready to play. I got there a little before 6pm and saw a sign that had the classes listed on it and I saw mine “Intermediate Adult 14.” I assumed the 14 meant “court 14″ but I asked the guy at the desk just to confirm.

I headed out to court 14 and waited around for awhile. No one showed up so I went back in and found out the class didn’t start until 6:30pm. Woops. So, I walked around and stretched, watch to kids practice and then headed back down to court 14 where there was a woman. She was also in the class so we talked. A bit before 6:30 she ran back into the building to go to the bathroom. During that time an older man walked out also looking for the class. The woman came back and three of us chit chatted for a bit. Around 6:35 our instructor had not shown up so the woman went in and asked what was going on. She was told that Marco was a little late and should be out soon. So, we waited another 5 minutes. The old man had some tennis balls and we all hit until 7pm.

By 7 we were fed up and headed back in. We talked to the guy and suddenly it looked like he had an idea. He run outside, and then runs back in saying Marco was here. He was on court 13 with 5 or 6 other guys. I’m thinking, WTF, how could that happen? All three of us walked up to the front desk and asked the guy where the lessons were. And then it occured to me that we were all the newbies. All the guys out playing were in the glass before and knew who Marco was and I’m assuming the court 13 is the court he normally practices on.

We all rescheduled so technically I start next week. At least I’ll have a slight idea of what is going on and I got to hit some balls.

Up to LAPosted by cczernia on August 31st, 2005

I have lived in San Diego for almost two and half years and in that time I have never made it up to LA. The closest I’ve gotten was Anaheim for Disneyland and Gencon Socal. Due to a bunch of wierdness at work I ended up having to go to LA.

At work a bunch of people are taking time off and as a result people are scarce. About once a week my boss has to drive up to LA to take care of design work. He always takes someone with him so he can use the HOV lanes. I have never gone one one of these trips but this time I was the only one who didn’t absolutely need to be at the office. So, I was drafted.

We left at 6:30 yesturday morning, stopped by the office and then got Starbucks and gas. I ended having to drive as my boss talked on the phone and worked on a computer. The problem was that I was driving a Suburban which was huge and made me a little nervous driving it.

We made it to downtown LA around 9:30 and stopped by our fixture supplier. We picked up a few french mannequins and a lot of shelve brackets. My boss then drove into Simi Valley to the Reagan Library which we arrived around 11. We helped unload a truck of tables and fixture units and started to lay out the gift center. The problem was that a painter was slowing down the process. So, we had to do a lot of waiting. We were suppose to get out of there around 2:30, we didn’t leave until 4:30.

We stopped at “Jack in the Box” on the way home and I realized it had been almost a year and half since I went to a fast food restaurant. I got a small hamburger and a small shake. Both were pretty gross.

My boss drove half way and then I brought us back. We got in at 8pm and I was exhausted. So, my first trip to LA was pretty boring but interesting as we drove through a lot of downtown LA and the surrounding area (taking shortcuts to avoid traffic). And, I got to hang out at a conservative memorial, lucky me.

Seattle N StuffPosted by cczernia on August 15th, 2005

From Aug 8-12 Stephanie and I went up to Seattle, WA. Emily gave us a ride to airport and by 4:00pm we were in our hotel. I gave Nate a call and we had dinner at the “Barking Frog” which was real nice. On Tuesday we got up and visited the Seattle Center which included the Music Experience, Scifi Museum, and the Space Needle. In the evening we had dinner on the bay. The next we met up with an internet friend, Jessica and we all went to the Underground Tour which is a look at old Seattle that is under the city. We later walked around and went shopping. Stephanie and I both got Tom Bihn Bags and later visited a cool book store, toy store, and Pikes Market.

On Thursday we headed back down to the bay and visited the aquarium and then went on a bay tour. After that we had a great lunch on the bay where I had an oyster. We then headed up to the Seattle Library (which is state of the art and really cool). Finally, on Friday we checked out at 11am and had to leave our bags at the hotel. We headed to the science center which was more for kids and then went and saw a movie. We got back at 12pm.

The rest of the weekend was suppose to be filled up by Gamefest which I was running two games. However, the event was so poorly planned that I only had one person show up for each of my games so I couldn’t run at all.

Overall, a great 9 days starting with the weekend of Aug 6th with Jack Johnson, on Sunday was the tennis match and I picked up a 60″ TV from my friends Andy and Liz. The 8th-12 was Seattle and then a relaxing weekend with a dissapointing Gamefest.

SpamPosted by cczernia on August 14th, 2005

Ok, my blogged just got spammed and I’m annoyed as hell by this. Unfortunatly, as far as I know there is no way to remove comments in blogger. To prevent future spamming I am going to “registered users” on comments so if you want to comment you have to sign up. If it continues I’ll switch to only allowing members of my blog to comment which I might do anyway.

Jack Johnson, TVs and TennisPosted by cczernia on August 8th, 2005

The weekend was pretty eventful. It starts out with a Friday game of Pirates where two friends that I game with: Liz and Andy say that are getting rid of a 60″ TV. Both myself, and another player, Albert, blurt out yes. Albert just managed to get in his yes before me but his girlfriend gave the big no. All I had to do was pick it up.

On Saturday I was lazy and layed around but during the evening was Jack Johnson. The reason I put the link is because just about everyone I mention it to says “Jack who?” The funny thing is that I had no idea who he was until Stephanie introduced him to me. However, the concert was packed. The closest thing I can compare him to is Tom Petty or Dave Matthews and though I’m not a fan I do enjoy his music.

Sunday was crazy. It starts off with picking up the TV. I met up with Andy (not the one who gave me the TV) who had a truck. We drove down to Encinitas and after about 40 min managed to get the TV in the truck and tied down. We finally got it back to my apartment.

By this time I was running late for the finals for the Acura Tennis Classic, a womens pro tennis tournament held here in San Diego. Stephanie and I went with Jonathan and Michelle. We got something to eat and headed up to our bleachers. The stadium was pretty small so we still had a good view.

The first match was a disappointing 6-0, 6-3 Mary Pierce of France against Japan’s Ai Sugiyama. The second match was a doubles tournament between Conchita Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascual against Ai Sugiyama and Daniela Hantuchova 6-7 (7), 6-1, 7-5. This was very exciting as the two were very close but duruing the final set the let everyone come to the front seats since so many people left after the singles final.

Pride and PiratesPosted by cczernia on August 1st, 2005

Last weekend was very piratey. I started of on Friday I went to the first Pirate rpg the used GURPS. Then on Saturday was the Gay Pride Parade and festival which included a pirate float. Finally, on Saturday night Jonathan, Michelle, Stephanie and I went to see “The Pirates of Penzanz.”

Pride was tons of fun and that parade was the best one I’ve ever been to. There is soemthing special about Pride that felt safe and wild at the same time. I really got into it and took over 50 pictures which I have never done. Erik and Emily went with us to the Parade and just about everyone got sunburnt.

After the parade Stephanie and I walked to the festival which was about a mile away and a long walk in the sun. I bought tickets and lunch and we watched Male flag twirlers and then a feminist folk singer for awhile. After that we walked around and as expected most of the booths targeted homosexuals. Most of them were political but everyone was having fun. The one booth I did stop at had a sperm towel that you could win so I played the “spin the wheel” game. I didn’t win the towel but I did get a dog tag with a hunky cowboy on it.

Stephanie and I only had a few hours to rest before we were off to the musical. “The Pirates of Penzanz” was a disappointment. The music and dancing was alright but it was hard to understand what they were saying and what was going on. I what I could understand was silly but I did have fun hanging out at the Moonlight theater again in Vista. Stephanie was so tired and bored with the musical she fell asleep during the second half.

One Year of StephPosted by cczernia on July 28th, 2005

Apparently, I have been dating Stephanie for a year now. I say apparently, because I don’t remember the exact date but she did. So, July 28 2004 I met Stephanie for the first time at a Cafe in Pacific Beach. We later had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant and then walked along the boardwalk.

It has been a great year that included a lot more dates including movies, Padres, camping, Disneyland, and Vegas. We now stay at her place on the weekend and that has been working well.

The future also bodes well as we have our Seattle trip in about week and we are currently making plans to visit Las Cruces, NM for Thanksgiving. Who knows what else will happen but I have high hopes because we get along really well.

Some classic moments from the past year

Comic Con 05Posted by cczernia on July 18th, 2005

Comic con 2005 was a lot of fun. For the first time I preregistered for all four days. This let me go to preview night on Wednesday. So, after work I headed over to the con and hung out for a few hours to help set up the Dream Pod 9 booth which Jonathan was working at. There wasn’t much I could do so Michelle and I ran and got something for everyone to drink. Right after that I had to leave to meet up with Stephanie.

The next day I got to the con around 11am. I met up with the DP9 booth again and noticed that only Jonathan and Robert DuBois (marketing director of DP9) were working. Oscar (who was suppose to help) couldn’t until Sunday so I offered to get them anything they needed and stopped by regularly. I walked the convention for awhile I took a look at the Firefly rpg which looks a lot better than I thought as it isn’t going to be d20.

Around 12:30 I decided to get Jonathan and Robert something to eat and ended up going with Eric, my old roommate who had disappeared last November. We got to talk and I got an idea of what he going through so it was good to talk to him. I had to hurry back because I had a photoshop panel (coloring comics) at 1:30.

After the panel I met up with Scott, Dede, and Dede’s brother Alex. I then walked around with Scott for awhile until another panel about essays on pop culture came up. After that I walked around and hung out with the DP9 crew until 7pm and then we all jumped on the trolley and head home and then to Hodads (local burger joint with awsome hamburgers).

The next day I got there at 10 and the doors weren’t open. When they did open I beelined it to the DP9 booth where I helped out. I sat around and answered questions until about 12:30 and then got lunch with Albert, his girlfriend Jenny and their friend Ping. After that I was back at the DP9 booth until Scott came by around 3:30 and I got a cup of coffee with him and then bought con tickets for Stephanie, Erik, and Tom (who was to help with the con on Sat). I left a little after 5pm.

On Saturday Stephanie, Erik and I got their around 11:30. It was packed, more crowded than I had ever seen it. The three of us managed to wonder the dealers room staying together. It took us a few hours to wonder the area though we didn’t get a good look at anything. We then met up with Scott and company for a bit. I was planning on going to a Firefly panel but as we headed to meet Scott I noticed a huge line. I stopped and asked what it was for and the woman told me it was for Firefly. So, I skipped that and went to a Graphic Novel panel with Stephanie.

After the panel we did some last minute shopping and left. We decided to have dinner at Old Towne, then we went to Stephanie to watch Erik’s “Red vs Blue” DVD. By that time I had enough and didn’t go back on Sunday.

Overall this comic con wasn’t as good as last years. It was fun but the surprises and excitement from last year were lacking. The panels weren’t very good either. I’ve decided that next year I’ll probably go on Friday and Sunday, and skip Saturday completely.

On Broadway (the club)Posted by cczernia on July 11th, 2005

On Friday Stephanie, Jonathan, Michelle and I went to the dance club, On Broadway. On Broadway, from what I gathered, is the premier club in San Diego as all the club goers I know always recommend it first. As a result I have avoided it because I’m not interested in the “premier club”, I just interested in having fun dancing. However, one of Jonathan’s coworkers said he could get us on a guest list so we decided to go for it.

First I had to get some new clothes. I hate clothes shopping but didn’t want to look like I was dressed for work. So, we all headed down to Old Navy which I had never been to. I got a pair of khakis, a red t-shirt and a button down shirt that goes over it. After that we ate a California Pizza Kitchen and then headed back to Jonathan’s to get ready.

By the time we finished getting ready it was 10:30 and we decided to take the trolley. Luckily we bought tickets just in time for the trolley to pull up. On Broadway was a block from a trolley station. We got in line (apparently it isn’t difficult to get on the guest list) and Jonathan went up and talked to a host. He told him we were not on the list but gave hime two half price tickets. This did not bother us as we planned on paying $10 a person to get in which is what the half price ticket offered. However, we only had two tickets for four people. So, I went up to the guy and told him I was on the guest list and got two more passes.

We headed in and after getting lost in a hip hop room we ended up in the tecno room. We got some quick drinks then headed for the dance floor. I think everyone enjoyed dancing for 30-40 minutes. We then took a break and by the time we got back on the dance floor it was too crowded. After about 15 minutes we left.

Again we managed to jump right on a trolley. We relaxed until the trolley reached the Old Town Station and announced it was its last stop. We got off and asked if there were any more trolley and the guard said no. We were only one stop away from out station so we had to walk about a mile to get back to Jonathan’s. At one point a guy jumped out of a car at a intersection and headed toward us quickly. Both Jonathan and I jumped thinking he was going to attack us but he curved and headed into a Taco Shop. Must have been real hungry.

Even though I had fun dancing I didn’t care for atmosphere of On Broadway and I do not think I’ll go back. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find a fun, no meat market club to go dancing at.

Also, this weekend I want to see “War of the Worlds” and had breakfast with Stephanie’s running friends (there was a group of 20). I always feel uncomfortable at these things as it is always huge groups and I don’t know anyone but Stephanie. So, I didn’t say much taking a don’t speak unless spoken to attitude.