Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Major League Face Washing

Okay, this co-worker of mine is a Ducks fan (or just pretends to be when its convenient and then says he doesn't care about hockey when they lose), and likes to come in my office and talk all sorts of smack for pretty much no reason. So now I really want the Ducks to lose in the worst way just to shut him up. I would never hear the end of it if they eliminated the Red Wings. Another one of my co-workers, who is from Detroit, has been so despondent lately he's threatening to play Frogger in L.A. traffic. For his sake alone, I can't support the Ducks winning this series. Booooo Ducks! (Update: the Ducks came out and scored in less than a minute, and the Canucks lost in overtime. I am annoyed. Oh, the Wings just tied it.)

Yesterday, we went to dinner (Japanese-style Korean BBQ, yum) and these two guys were sitting at the table next to us and they were hilarious. The first thing I noticed was they kept throwing each others first name into the conversation, like sales people tend to do. "I am a team player, Michael. I want you to know, Michael, I'm IN this project." "I'm telling you, Josh, I walked out of that tasting with a hard-on. I mean, literally JOSH, I had a HARD-ON." (That's just gross, dude. Especially over dinner.)

My favorite part was when Michael illustrated that the food had improved at a restaurant with, "It's like when Microsoft went from Word to Vista." There's just so much wrong with that analogy. That was followed by him saying "That's a no-brainer" 6 times in a row. And his partner triumphantly declaring, "I'm the Ideas Man. I'm the Visionary." Just for context, these were two white guys, one with a REAL bad rug, talking about opening a Japanese restaurant, "or whatever, I don't care what it is. It's all about real estate." Gotta love L.A.

Afterwards, I found a fully-posable Rin Tohsaka action figure. I mean fully.

I should be playing in a game tonight with my co-ed team, but I'm afraid I'll re-injure my leg before the Blue Lady Kings summer season opener tomorrow. I feel like a wuss though. I do have one of those 'not so much a headache, but really nauseated and my eyes hurt' migraine. Last time I played with one of those I threw up in my living room. Good times. I don't think they'll miss me too much anyway, especially since I keep blocking my teammate's shots. I feel like I'm such a non-factor that people forget I'm out there, so it's really poignant when they take shots right into me. I'm supposed to be screening the goalie, not the puck. Oh well. I got better playing with the Lady Kings, so I'll get better with this team. Playing with guys is different, but I'll get used to it. I hope.
This traffic is bull---- and the 405 is bull----. I need to get home. My Canucks are playing RIGHT NOW!

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

You know where I'm at? Stuck in traffic, baby. It's the real jungle. Is that the Santa Ana winds already? It's only May.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Southern California welcome

It's been a good day. I worked all day setting up SOX training for this year (in El Segundo starting next week, will be traveling to Denver and New York the week of June 22.) Got home in time to see my beloved Vancouver Canucks beat the Chicago Blackhawks with their methodical game. (I recorded it so I could watch the whole thing.) I like the Blackhawks, but I love the Canucks. Devotion. Transcendent joy when I see them. It's true love for sure. While following the Detroit Red Wings-Anaheim Ducks game, I finished washing my dishes and scrubbed my bathtub. These were all major accomplishments- months of depression has not been good for my concentration at work, the cleanliness of my apartment, or my writing. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel though. The NHL playoffs might actually have something to do with that. They excite and energize me. It seems weird, but I guess we wouldn't be into sports if they didn't make us feel good. They give me a welcome break, or escape more like, from my mind numbing internally-focused struggles.

I cleaned the bathtub so I could soak in Epsom salt. I sprained/stressed something in my leg Sunday, maybe a tendon in my lower leg. Two weekends ago, I did the Maria Rooth hockey camp- 2 days, 3 hours of ice time and 3 hours of off-ice instruction each day. It was amazing, especially for my skating, but stressed my body. I'm not the only one to get injured after attending the camp. We were all so sore we could barely move for a couple days afterwards. I don't remember ever being that sore before. And I am not that young anymore! 37, baby. On Sunday I was playing in a game, but my lower right leg was hurting more and more, with no relief while I sat on the bench. Finally I was dragging my leg around because I couldn't put any weight on it while skating, and it hurt like hell, so I sat out the rest of the game. That was painful. Even more painful, I'm trying to stay off it until my game on Friday, so no Monday night pick-up, no Wednesday morning lesson, no co-ed game on Thursday night. Sigh. It will be worth it if I can play without pain on Friday, our Lady Kings team's summer season opener. (Go Blue!) So I've been RICE-ing, as my friend calls it- rest, icing, compression, and elevation. I'm told the Epsom salt bath helps too.

As my last little twitter indicated, I was listening to the Ducks beat the Red Wings, and SWEATING. I sweat a lot while playing hockey, like it drips off my face, into my eyes, down my back. I'm kind of used to it by now. I sweat while I sleep too. This sweating felt a little different though. Detoxifying. I got a headache too. That could have been from stewing in hot water, but I get detox headaches pretty easy. I was also thinking DEEP thoughts about something my co-worker said to me today. She is from Pittsburgh, and is a Penguins fan. She wants the Ducks to win the Western Conference (and the Penguins to win the East of course) so she can see the Pens play in Anaheim. So she asks me why I'm not rooting for the Ducks so I can go see playoff Canucks in person. I said, well, because I don't like the Ducks. I don't exactly hate them (not like the Rangers, or even the Ducks announcers- "The Ducks are the hottest team in the playoffs!" Oh please.) But I don't like Pronger, Niedermayer, or Getzlaf (and especially his shaft. I mean his stick, of course.) I don't really like any of the Ducks except their goalie, Jonas Hiller. He's been amazing in the playoffs. I'm not a Red Wings fan, but I like a lot of their players. I respect them. A lot. They are a powerhouse. The Ducks can't stay out of the penalty box and are just irritating.

But she has a point. (My Kings friends are groaning.) I don't want the Red Wings to win. They are a threat to my Canucks, and they beat the Penguins last year and then stole Marian Hossa from them. That's just mean. Of course my Kings friends would never forgive me if I cheered for the Ducks, especially Tai, who hates the Ducks like I hate the Rangers. And we are already at odds over the Washington Capitals-Pittsburgh Penguins series. Hey, I respect the Caps and Ovie too, but that's nothing compared to my fondness for Sidney and Marc-Andre. And the Pens have Satan playing for them. Satan. How could I not love them.

So, the question before me (and you) is this- since I love the Canucks more than I hate the Ducks, could I betray the L.A. Kings and root for their mortal enemy the Ducks (who I really DON'T like at all) for the chance to see the Canucks live in the playoffs? It's your classic "the ends justify the means" vs. "it's the principle of the matter" argument. What do you think?
Ducks goal waved. I'm pooring w/ sweat in epsom salt bath. Wings time out. 35 sec left. 11.3 Ducks win game 3. Sweating.

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Attempting to post a photo to blog by email



"Sure, Daniel wears number 22 and Henrik number 33." Canucks coach Marc Crawford, on whether he could tell the Sedin twins apart.
I'm eating a juicy mango, watching Red Wings-Ducks & updating Twitter, Facebook & my blog-all at the same time. Amazing!