D. Wilton

You da best.

What I did on my summer vacation

It started with sleeping. Then packing. Then sleeping again. Then flying on a plane that had a salmon painted on the side of it (kooky Pacific Northwest).

Mom and I spent the first weekend blowing her $250 Nordstrom gift card on girly things like perfume, but it was nice to be treated like people at Nordstrom. Maybe it was my fake (?) Louis Vuitton handbag or mom's willingness to have anything sprayed on her wrist, but Linda at the perfume counter was so very nice to us, just like we could afford to actually shop there n' stuff. We picked up a really pretty Givenchy Organza Fleur d'Oranger 2006 and a sample of the best thing ever: Quelques Fleurs L'Original. Mon Dieux, it's absolutely lovely. When I make lots of dough working at People this is the first thing I'll buy, and not at one of those perfume-mania places either. We went to one in an outlet mall and their Quelques Fleurs did not smell the same as the Nordstrom sample ... of course, I might just be snobby and it did smell the same, but because one is Nordstrom and the other is Perfumania ... No. I'm sure it was different.

End of story: I'm hoarding every last drop of the sample until the People/Us/Star job comes through in 2 or 4 or 14 years.

Vegas was fun. I only lost $200.00, which is better than usual. Mom won as usual -- I swear, she can put a nickel in a penny machine and walk away with $60. It's amazing. I don't know how she does it. Maybe it's the lucky bracelet. Maybe it's the Virginia Slims Lights. I don't know. It's the 8th Wonder. We sat at the pool on the first day and turned this color, so we had to spend the second day gambling (feck). Thursday I had a lovely Trout Grenobloise with Escargots de Bourgogne and a fine chardonnay for my birfday dinner (followed by Carls Jr. chicken strips and french fries on the actual birthday), and, all together, even with the saucy/embarrassing dinner discussions and gambling losses, a very fine trip.

It's good to hang out with the parental units too. I got a whole week with mom and a few days with pop. We watched movies (caught up on dvds with "The DaVinci Code" and "The Devil Wears Prada") and went to the show ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix") and finished the week with reading the last 15 pages of the latest Potter book. I know who dies. Done and done.

And the little brother -- it's always a pleasure to hang out with the most neurotic wiener dog in California.

Sleepy pets on beds. That sums up the summer so far.

Oh, and I finished reading Dante's Divine Comedy: Hell and On Her Majesty's Secret Service while in Vegas -- one more book and I'm done with the Library Summer Reading for Adults 2007. WHOO HOO! Does reading the end of Harry Potter count?

Back. Lost. (typical) Need dough so work now, blog later.

40's not so bad. Go figure.

that is all.

Training for the BIG WEEK

This is from a Golden Boy press conference call with 42 year-old Bernard Hopkins, who fighting next weekend in Mandalay Bay, Vegas:

I think that, you know, in the course of Bernard Hopkins being native born (ph), something split inside my system that, you know, that I guess extended where I’m at. I’m saying it’s like when you’re young, you know, you ate the bad foods, the candy bars, and stuff like that. I figured this is genetics; I figure it comes all the way back to genetics, and also taking care of yourself, and also being a guy that, you know, understands the sport, the physical part of the sport.

A strange and yet inspiring note for those of us turning 40. It's genetics. That's all. And taking care of yourself ... even though you ate junk as a kid. But take care of yourself now and genetics will see you through ... and understanding the physical part of the sport, which I do ... I just don't actually do it. But I understand it.
Amen.

He also said Winky's calling him a "dirty fighter" is sending out a subliminal message "that if things get rough and if things get tough, that he’s going to be a bitch that and he’s going to start crying" hahahahahahaha

Man, I loves the Executioner. He can be a dirty fighter sometimes tho'... Think there's a chance I'll run into him on the Strip? Mom once met Larry Holmes at Caesar's Palace, so I'll take her along. She's got Vegas-Boxer luck.

Last day of work and then tomorrow I'll celebrate with a trip to Wienerschnitzel in Huntington Beach. WHOO HOO!

Blows, but don't suck

Had the broken tooth pulled yesterday and went through a box of gauze trying to get it to stop bleeding. Old women in Bi-Mart pitied me while I waited for my Vicodin. I've never taken Vicodin before. It gets rid of the toof pain, but gave me a headache. I don't know if that's how it's supposed to work, but there you are. The tragic beauty of balance.

5 more days until vacation. 10 days until I'm 40.

I guess that Vicodin's kicking in after all. I feel zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I had a dream...

Last night Barack Obama and his family had dinner at my parent's house. This is not the first presidential candidate dream I've ever had, and it's weird how they keep happening in Huntington Beach at my parent's house. Even better, they end with my dad becoming a Democrat. Every time.

My mother and I ran into the Obamas while shopping for desks and pianos at a garage sale, and mom invited them over for dinner. We had a lovely roast and watched "Tennessee Johnson" on Turner Classic Movies, which led to a strange discussion over whether or not the Civil War was ultimately good for America.

I don't think I've ever seen more than 5 minutes of "Tennessee Johnson" ... but I get Johnson confused with Andrew Jackson all the time. ... ... just so's you know.

Run for Life

Results have been posted for the 2007 Butte to Butte. The older brother (737 out of 1959) came in at 1:09:35, while the cousin/roommate (1019) and I (1020) pulled in a (fairly) respectable 1:14:38 and 1:14:44.How I ended up 6 seconds slower than the guy I was walking next to is still a mystery, but the brother definitely dropped us going into the 3rd mile of the walk. That's only fair. I was getting a stitch and I've developed some kind of weird tendon-pain-thing in the left foot, so there was no way I was going to race him to stay ahead.

All-in-all, we appear to be in the middle to the end of the walkers -- the fastest was an absurd 28:34 -- it was 4.5 miles! I know this guy took a subway. He finished before the first runner ... there's no way -- and the slowest was 1:40:55.

Health, health, health. And then we went and had beer and tequila tonics.

Had a good time with the brother. It doesn't look like he'll be moving up here now that he's on the fast track for a promotion at work. But I know that one day he'll fold, just like the others down there in Cali. He could double the size of his house for half the cost and not pay sales tax or pump his own gas. Oh yeah. He'll move.