Year End Post

Just wanted to say "Happy New Year" to all. 2009 is going to be an interesting year for me. I feel the events that transpire this year will have a large impact on my life going forward and I am excited about that.

As far as New Year's resolutions go, I have a few that are hopefully achievable. Quitting smoking is the big one. I know it's cliche, but I've got to take a stand in this area. I have been sucking them back for about 15 years now and it's time to move on and let my body heal itself. The weed will stay of course, but the smokes gotta go.

Besides the smoking thing the only other resolution I am making on a personal "better myself" level is to really treat people in all areas of my life as I would want to be treated in any given situation. I think this is the basis for developing more solid relationships with my girl, my family, my friends & acquaintances, and my co-workers & customers.

Enough of the sappy philosophical shit. Now, as for the blog...last year I had a resolution to blog more. Didn't work out. I am hoping this time is different. I think I have set it up so that this outlet can really take on my personality and can be something others can enjoy. I do have to learn to type properly though. Ideally as fast as I think. I have a Mavis-Beacon product that has been gathering dust.

What's ahead for mrjackstrawSays? Lots I hope. Beyond the randomness that is my own thoughts typed out I am hoping to have some regular features that are fun to do and fun for readers. Some are my own ideas, some are inspired by others and some are a combo. Here's a bit of what I would like to do:

The Finger - I posted about this idea earlier and I think I can do about one of these per month (first week). This will involve me going off about someone or something based solely on my opinion from where I sit. Research will be minimal.

Feature Articles - Again I am hoping to do something on this level once per month. I want to write something that would be similar to a magazine article - with research - most likely to be sports related, but not always. It's my blog remember.

Dumps - Link dumps, picture dumps, video dumps, list dumps, etc. These may occur alone or may make up the bottom end of a post. Hopefully something that readers find funny, interesting or both.

Live Blogging - Obviously this has been done many times before. I will announce ahead of time what I plan to do and then rock it out.

Product Reviews - Opinions on stuff that happens to come my way.

Etc, etc.

Happy New Year everyone. The girl & I are heading out to see Caution Jam tonight. Take are of yourselves and don't drink & drive.

I will have a holiday trip report from San Francisco, Caution Jam NYE review, fantasy football wrap-up and more up shortly.

Peace.

Goin' to California

Just about ready to walk out the door and head to the airport. In 8 hours I'll be walking the streets of San Francisco. My girlfriend & I celebrated our own private Christmas last night which was a lot of fun. She had two prints I had sitting around framed - Jerry Garcia & Trey Anastasio - and they look amazing. I will post pics when I get back from Cali of everything.

I am battling a shitty cold right now. Perfect timing, eh? Aw well. Nothing a few Hot Toddies can't take care of. The Dive Bars of North Beach. Beautiful.

OK, I will try to update from the road.

Stay cool.

Fantasy Football Demise

Well, it's official. My fantasy football team, Deadhead Express, bit the dust yesterday and has now been tossed to the consolation side of the Yahoo Fantasy Football league commonly known as "The Lion's Den". Seven points was the margin. Shit. Now it's a battle to keep my Yahoo stats respectable. Two wins will give me 5th. Two loses for 8th. I got Drew Brees throwing up in Chicago so I'm not exactly thrilled with that match-up this week, but he's put up the points for me this year for sure.

That's it for now.

O Christmas Tree!

Well, we finally got the Tree up and running. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. We are well into December and just nine days away from leaving for San Francisco. I have arranged to meet up with my buddy Kurt upon arrival.

It's been a few years since we've last met up. That night ended with me throwing up on his carpet after a dive bar marathon. I would call this a fairly unprecedented event as that marked only the third time I have thrown up as a result of alcohol consumption. The first was my very first time drinking the hard stuff. Naive I was. No problem. Lesson learned.

The second time was in college during a drinking game. The Century Club. One shot of beer every minute for 100 minutes. I puked on #93 and made it back in time to record #94 and to finish. The all liquid make-up of that one really helped my turn-around-time in the can.

So that's once every five years of legalized drinking. I'm not going to lie, there have been close calls. Deep breaths. Mouth pukes. But nothing else that would be considered an eruption or a breaking of the seal. I'll stand by that record thank you very much.

The schedule beyond that in California will be hectic to start. My girlfriend and I will be attending her staff party. We went last year and everything was great. People, food, booze. Just perfect. Then there will be last minute shopping for the nieces and nephews, and adult night out and hopefully we are going to the Black Hole to see the Raiders vs the Texans on the 21st. I'm going to bring the golf shoes just in case :)

This past weekend was nice. Friday night started slow with me losing a bit on the poker tables. It's really just a matter of focus which seems to come and go. Ah well. A new year with new goals is on the way. Saturday was my staff Christmas party which was held at Dave and Busters here in Toronto (Vaughn). Whatever. Good times were had by all. It's amazing how a bunch of drinks followed by some happy sticks can affect your Skee Ball game. And I'm talking positively. We walked out of the prize shop with a nice looking, but shitty sucker.

On Sunday I had an opportunity to have a real throwback proper Sunday. Read long enough and you'll find I take this very seriously. In no official order it includes bowling, coffee, newspaper, bowling, fantasy team adjustment and random trade offers (hockey, football), finalizing the work pool picks, bowling, making "mrjackstraws bet of the week" on Sports Interaction all the while playing a low level tournament on Party Poker. The afternoon usually consists of football/sports on the HD, pub style snacks, bowling, a couple of beverages and some crosswords. I like to finish that off with a movie with the little lady. This week it was ELF on the good old CBC. Her pick.

Check out the video below for a good laugh....