Picture Update

Rather then writing.. I figured I would put up some pictures of my adventures/events over the past year or so...

Enjoy



The Name of the Band is COWBOY MOUTH.. or as true fans call them... The Mouth.



$250 dollar Whiskey with Grandpa.. Let's do it!



Looking Repectable.. Ridiculous



Friends Sleeping on the Metro floor.. Yep the Floor



Friends at Dupont Circle



Me and Washington



Me and my car

My New Hobbies..

So I have decided to take up two things to better myself over the next year. The first is pretty mainstream is golf. I think its about time I get myself out on the links and starting swinging a club a little. I enjoy being outdoors on a nice day, and I love being frustrated, so I think this could be a good fit. I am currently in process of picking my first set of clubs out. Going with something cheap from Sports Authority along these lines. Anyone with any knowledge about golf would like to give me some advice, I will be purchasing Friday or this weekend, so let me know. I am way excited to do digging through forests/weeds/lakes for my golf balls. Just Can't Wait!

The second hobby I am attempting to get momentum on is learning Hindi. Hindi for those who are unsure, is the national language of India. It is spoken almost everywhere throughout India, but probably a little less then English. I am not sure why I want to learn, but I think it has to do with my dwindling connection with my ethnic background. As I meet more and more Indians, I am learning how different my up bring was as compared to their's and in addition just the part of India I am from is very differnt. I have a different religion then most, neither of my parents speak Hindi, both spent large amounts of their upbring away from India whether it be Africa, or the USA and when people see me, I do not automatically strick them as Indian. I think the last point the most is what strikes me hardest. I think of myself as an Indian, but to others I am more hispanic then Indian. I think learning the language will strengthen my bond with who I am. Also I want my children and my children's children to feel the connection with India as I do through my parents and grandparents and extended family. The secondary motive is that I am planning on taking a trip to India next year, and I would love to be able to speak Hindi fluently so that I can really travel and see the country with no problems.

House of Tee Shirts Part Deux

Hey All.. Take a look at my latest designs.. taking orders now..



Email or post here if you are really interested.. otherwise I am open to any other suggestions.. It kinda has become a way for me to get a release from stress. Turns out its quite the relaxing activity for me.

You guys got go in or Go home NOW!

What is up all you amazing baseball fans out there!!!!!

Everyone has got to be pretty psyched because America's past time is back in action. Every fan's hopes are raised that this might be the year their team lives up to expectations, or matures into a winner or is the dark horse that no one expected to be as good as they are.

At least that is what most baseball fans are thinking right now.. not me so much. I personally happen to believe that baseball like nascar is best watched via ESPN SportsCenter highlights. I think for 3 to 4 hours people sit around watching a game when to be honest there is only 3 to 4 mins worth of action.. very different from football and basketball where the percentage of playing time to action time is much much greater.

So I go for what I believe most people go for but just refuse to admit... Tailgating! Tailgating might very well rank as one of my favorite things to do.. Not just tailgating for baseball games, you can tail gate for football, basketball, band concerts, volunteer events, graduations, and even the occasionally wedding.. what you think I have crossed the line.. I think you could even tailgate for a funeral although I don't think I would participate in that activity.. I got respect for the dead. But more seriously.. tailgating is an important part of what baseball and sporting events are. Its the part before and after the action, its the togetherness time that watching sports isn't. Its acceptable during tailgating to cheer for whatever and whomever you feel, its your chance to show how much you love your team or hate the opposing team. Its your chance to show how manly or not-manly you are by competing in games, drinking contests and overall non-important contests of stupidity.. No wonder I love it.

There are too many tailgating stories to tell, but I will share one of my favorites. It took me 5 years to graduate from college because I decided to do some internships rather then go to school straight (best decision I could ever have made).. but at then end of my 4th year of school when half of my buddies were graduating, while the other 4 of us were hanging out for one more year, we decided to go to a brewers game. This game happened to be the same game that my school was going to for Senior Week (basically a party week with all kinds of activities planned). So we loaded up my MPV with all the necessary stuff.. the four b's - brats, burgers, beer and a bat.

So we had ourselves 20 lbs of meat, a barrel, and on TPS aluminum bat. We also thought ahead and brought a grill, and a couple stacks of cups for those who walked by. Game time was at 7 pm.. we showed up at 2 pm to start the festivities. The beer was cold, the brats and burgers were warm and the day was progressing nicely. When I hear my name.. I looked over and it was my girlfriend at the time walking over. It was at the moment I realized where exactly we had parked. We got there so early, they put us in with the groups and the professional tailgaters .. you know the people who pay others to provide their food and beverages. But right next to us.. I mean the next car spot over was the Marquette Tailgate for Senior Week.. we had managed to park right next to our friends.. pretty dumb luck if you ask me. Let me tell one thing I have learned about all throughout college, college students (freshmen through seniors) are drawn toward beer. Because the Marquette tailgate had a limit of one beer per person, all of a sudden our barrel became the most popular thing in the parking lot. Which was good for us, because we controlled the cups.

So the day progressed quite nicely, more beer and meat was consumed and our party grew from 5 of us to a around 20..that was when we decided to break out the bat. The bat game as my friends and I affectionately call it was invited the Winter of 2003, one Saturday pre-gaming for a big Marquette Cincinnati showdown at the Bradley center. It involves spinning around a bat (much like the childhood game) as many times as you can.. minimum of 10 times.. and then running an undetermined length to a cup of your beverage choice and then drinking the entire thing. This is a timed event where the best time plus bat spins wins. As you can imagine there has been many injuries, I have skinned my toes and feet more times then I can count playing this game. I went through a door as well. Fortunately we have not had any serious injuries while participating in the bat game. So we start playing, I of course, usually am volunteered to go first, and I set the bar about average.. going for 13 times around the bat and a total time of somewhere close to 1 minute which included taking two of my buddies into the front end of a Dodge Ram pickup truck.

We proceed to play, while numerous on lookers start to gather and even more adventurous souls start to participate. At one point I have to guess the crowded number 50 people watching this hilarious stupidity outside Miller Park. I remember vividly at one point a 12 year old kid want to participate, but his dad wouldn’t let him. And even a police officer watched for a few minutes before deciding to break up the action because we were getting a little bit to rowdy. At this point, the crowd and our friends started to disperse. It ended up being myself, and 4 of my roommates attempting vainly to finish the barrel. Its about 7 pm and we here the crowd roaring at the first pitch. At about 9 pm we are still fighting the good fight and a police officer walks up...

"You guys got go in or Go home NOW!"

We quickly realize that we are not going to be driving, pack up and head into the game. However, we realize.. we never bought tickets.. we hadn't planned on staying this long anyway. The ticket window is closed, but we happen to run into a scalper who sells us 4 tickets for 4 dollars. We think major steal even for the 6th inning. As we walk in, we realize that all 4 tickets had been used.. but through the grace of the ticket lady she lets us in.. I think she might have been worried about us to be honest. Well to bring the short to a quick close the game when 18 innings and the Brewers won.. so we got a full 9 innings and then some in even after we arrived at the 6th inning.

I LOVE TAILGATING.

Roomates getting to Close... Indian Standard Time.

So I just got back from Cleveland. Lots to tell and lots of fun was had. I learned a lot about compliance with FDA regulations and what it really means to be under an FDA magnifying glass. It is not fun. I had originally planned to regale you with stories of Ohio adventures including century club, Cleveland night life, great seafood and sushi, amazing pizza, Kent Ohio and karoking to Ring of Fire, but instead I want to recount my Saturday night with the folks.

My mom wakes me up on Saturday from an amazing dream of Tyra Banks to tell me that we are going to dinner and seeing a movie, The Namesake, tonight and I am going with her and my dad (hence the we in the previous statement). This was one of those decrees that a son doesn’t argue with just goes along. Any way, instead of getting good Indian food as originally promised we go to this Thai/Hmoung restaurant which doesn’t happen to also be excellent. What is weird though is its not just myself and my parents, but they have invited a family friend, a priest from India... not to shocking if you have ever dined at my house, there is always at least 1 if not 2 priest in attendance.. I think in directly my parents are praying for my already lost soul. If had just been an Indian priest then it would not have been a huge deal, but there was also an old family friend there. A girl that I knew when I was growing up who is about 3 years older then me. She was always pretty nice to me, so we hit it off pretty nicely mostly because being 20 something’s we really did not have much to talk with my folks and a priest about. Since I was the last to sit down I get the crappy seat in the aisle between my mom and this women that I will call Kim.

Dinner was excellent.. volcano chicken is da bomb.. just a fyi if you are ever in Milwaukee.. check out EE-Sane on Farewell.. amazing food. After paying the bill we decide to head out to the movie theater but here is where I thought something was up.. Kim had didn’t know how to get to the theater, so my dad quickly volunteers me to help navigate her there.. little do they know, I don’t really have the slightest idea of where the place is... After some wrong turns and a couple good laughs we make it to the theater and find my parents have bought tickets and left them at will call. So we get inside and the three old people in our group are no where to be found.. This is starting to disturb me a little bit. But trying to find three Indians in an Indian movie theater might as well be a needle in a hay stack. That is something else you all should know.. Indian Standard Time.

This is how it works.. the movie is scheduled to start at 7:00 pm. Most people arrive a couple mins before or after really not missing anything at all. However, in the Indian world, the movie scheduled to start at 7 pm.. doesn’t start until 7:30. Yep sat and stared at the screen for 30 mins with nothing.. no Kal Penn nothing, all the while sitting in this theater with this girl I haven’t seen since I was 12. Anyway.. the movie finally starts 30 mins late, but the theater is only a 1/3 full. Although they way until 8:30 there is a stream of Indians flowing through the door to find their seats. This is Indian Standard Time... showing up 90 mins late for a movie that is started 30 mins late.

Anyway after the movie was over, my parents soundly reappear as if they have been there the whole time, and invite Kim over for tea.. how does that on a Saturday Night.. tea.. esp since I have not seen my parents awake past 9:30 in I don't know how many years. She being the polite Indian woman that she is accepts and off we go. After a couple more hours of tea and cookies and a little bit of awkward conversation, she decides to head home. At that point I take the opportunity to sneak off to bed because I don’t want to deal with the impending debrief on the night my mom is definitely going to ask for.

You guessed it.. at 8 am on Sunday my mom is back in my room asking about the night and our conversation.. saying she has her email address and phone number if I didn’t get it..

You know how embarrassing it is to be set up on a blind date by your parents and not even know it until its all over??