A letter to my daughter while she is away at sea...

We were asked to write a letter to our kids who are working on a merchant ship from the 1790's...they worked on the ship for a day. Riley did something with cargo...

December 12, 1796


Dearest Riley,

We hope this letter finds you well. We were going to send you some hard biscuits, but unfortunately, we ate them. We are still waiting for the money you were going to send us for your brother’s treatment, can you please expedite this as soon as possible? A scientist just invented an inoculation for small pox and Dr. Reed says that if we hurry, we could save him.

Your mother has been recently struck with a fever and has been waking up with delusions and in hysteria, saying something about women voting. Could you imagine? Hah! Anyway, Dr. Reed has put the leeches on her and they are sucking the fever out as I write.

Did I tell you I have new teeth? I won some money at a horse race and bought myself a new set of pine teeth. They go very nicely with my mahogany peg leg. Speaking of parrots, beware of pirates. I read in the paper that Algerian Pirates are taking American sailor’s captive and holding them for ransom. We can’t have you getting kidnapped before you send us the money to save your brother’s spleen.

Did I mention your brother now has polio? That, in addition to the smallpox, will require you to stay out and continue sailing for at least another year to pay these medical bills. At least he’ll be able to get into Harvard if he pulls through, his private tutor has been very happy with his progress. He says “Hello….Riley”


Your mother is worried that the election of John Adams as president is going to make everyone forget George Washington. I sure do hope they figure out some way to make sure he is never forgotten. Britain and France are at war again! It’s a good thing your grandfather retired from the British Navy, the war for our independence was enough for him. He despised the cold winters here and is happy and cozy in his manor back in London. He refuses to come visit us still, but who can blame him after how he was treated as a prisoner during the war.
Also, we have found you a husband. His name is Olaf and he has 11 fingers. He has built one room on your house and has already started a successful dung scooping business. What an entrepreneur! You will be rolling in it soon! As for your desire to go to school to further your education, your chores as a faithful and obedient wife will more than occupy your time. Your mother agrees.

Things at the farm are good, we had a tough storm a few weeks back but overall the livestock are faring well. We have a nice piggy we are fattening up for Christmas dinner. Your mom is going to bake her famous pie too! We are proud of you and wish you well. I have to go though, the lamp is running low on oil and I need to tend to your mother. Have fun on the ship!

Your loving father,

Chris

PS. We had to eat Fasbee, it’s been a tough winter. She was tasty though, a bit like chicken!

BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER!!!

I've changed my mind, guns rule!

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. " -2nd amendment to the constitution

I often tell people when I talk about my family that I am the black sheep, as I am the only one not killing animals on a regular basis. My family is big on camping, hunting and fishing. The common denominator is that they are all packing heat. Everyone in my family has weapons (some crazy ones too). My grandpa had an arsenal...seriously. Over 20 guns for sure, some rare and unique, all of them nice. When he passed away, the guns were distributed to my uncles, my cousins and my brother. I got the Louis L'Amour collection, leather bound books by my favorite western author (the books are sitting in front of me now, I totally got the best deal, my grandpa is with me every day). The point being that I have always gone against the grain of my family when it comes to guns. I've had a few bad instances with them, and I just don't see the need for any civilian to own a machine gun. Period. So I have always been supportive of gun control. My brother always argues with me, but that is to be expected. My wife absolutely hates guns and has wanted nothing to do with them in our household.

Until today.

Crazy thing is, I was the same way, but on my way home I decided the events of the night before had caused me to have a change in heart.

I had a terrible headache (probably from the paint fumes I had been inhaling all day while painting the house) and decided to go to bed early (about 9pm). I went to sleep and my wife and daughter decided to have a sleepover in my daughters room (no school on Monday). I awoke to a loud bang and shaking sound. Kelly came running into my room, "Chris, someone is trying to get into the house!". whaaaahhhh??? Still really groggy, I grabbed a baseball bat and headed downstairs. Looking through the peephole I could see that the porch light was on, which meant someone was out there as our light is motion activated. I stepped out front and there was some dude...swaying back and forth in a drunken stupor in the middle of my driveway. After some not so kind words for him a brief exchange told me everything. Dude was wasted...so wasted he didn't realize that this wasn't his place (apparently he used to live at my house). Problem was, he was so hammered I couldn't get him to understand that he needed to go.

I told him I would call him a cab and went inside to grab my shoes, I turn around and the dude is in my entryway. At that point I grab him by the neck and throw him off my front porch. "Kelly, call the cops!". Kelly dials 911...and gets a message service (no kidding, a message service!). I give her my phone as I stared down dr. wasted who couldn't comprehend why I was not letting him in. After a second call she finally got through. I slammed the door in his face and we waited for the cops to show. They showed up about 4 minutes later, and the dude was still in my front yard. After a brief exchange I tell the police to just get rid of him and a while later they drove away.

About 5 minutes after the police arrived, Kelly's phone rang and it was 911, returning her call. Did you know that 911 doesn't always answer? Found that out last night...seriously.

Kelly found the guys wallet the next morning...crap. The address on his wallet was our address. She took the wallet down to the police station because she didn't want him showing up again. 15 minutes after dropping the wallet off, he shows up at the door. He was apologetic and said he didn't remember anything from the night before. He had pulled up in a corvette and asked Kelly if she remembered him having a watch on. Apparently, he lost $6,000 in cash and his Rolex. Kelly gave him a simple explanation that she was really focused on the fact that he was in her home, and not that he had a watch on. That and he needed to leave, and not return.

Our guess is the cab driver that dropped him off at our place (using the address on his license) fleeced the guy. After he left, Kelly called the police again to let them know he had come by looking for a substantial amount of cash and a lost watch. The police commented that he had returned to the police station, retrieved his wallet and told them the same thing. Now in Orange county, people definitely have money. According to our landlord, this guy has an OC girlfriend loaded to the gills. My father-in-law thinks he deals drugs (there were 23 police calls to our house from the previous tenants...young party guys). Regardless, now in the back of my mind I gotta worry about some wasted ass idiot thinking I have money that he lost in a drunken stupor. Anybody that knows me knows I am honest to a fault, and I really, really hate thieves. That being said, someone with limited faculties such as this idiot...who knows.

While I believe that this episode is over and is unusual for where I live (real crime is almost nonexistent here, there are soooo many police officers they keep a tight lid on things), it left me and my wife a bit in shock. While the odds of me needing to defend and protect my family are extremely low, the risk of not being able to do so if such a situation did occur is unacceptable. So, however, is having a gun that my kids can get access to. My son has ADD, and a nasty case of it too. A gun in the hands of a curious kid with a short attention span is disastrous. I know the effects of this all too well. Last year, the son of one of my very good friends here in OC was killed in a gun accident. He was 12 years old, found the gun at his mom's place in Oregon, and accidentally shot himself in the head. You read about this stuff, I watched it happen to a kid I knew, and a family that was a normal family. It tore his family up.

After considering it for a while, I have concluded that this is another one of life's dilemmas with no great answer. So....I'm gonna arm up. No B.S. tomorrow I am going to a gun store and I'm going to purchase a Mossberg pump action shotgun for the sole purpose of self defense. My hope is that this becomes the dusty, locked box in my room that is never opened or needed.

Be excellent to each other!

The true story of Darth Vader on a motorcycle...

This is a true story. I always wanted a birthday party. Since I was a little kid I wanted a bunch of kids to come over and celebrate my birthday. However, my parents were young and didn't have a lot of friends with kids my age. So the first birthday party ever thrown in our house was for my brother, for his sixth birthday. We lived in a two bedroom house in Portland, near Mt. Tabor. It had a basement that my brother and I were scared to death of, and a cool backyard with several fruit trees (and a sinkhole!).

When the kids started showing up, my brother and I were really excited. Most of the kids there were from our church, but there was probably 10 kids or so. My brother got to open a few of his presents, including the coolest green big wheel I have ever seen. I was seriously jealous. Now all of this time my brother and I are really excited, running around and playing with other kids. There are a few parents there, but neither of us had really noticed that my dad was nowhere to be found.

My dad worked construction. He was pretty smart, but young and from what I hear, fairly wild. He would get off work at around 3pm or so, hit the bar and have a few suds with his work buddies, then come home. Now I'm not sure that he stuck to his routine on this day, but based on the way that things turned out, it wouldn't surprise me if he did.

My family was really into Star Wars. It was the only movie I had ever seen on a movie screen. We went to see it in the drive in three times (my dad liked the drive in so he could smoke). As a result, my brother and I were always playing Star Wars. We were always using the force to fight our nemesis Darth Vader. So when Darth Vader walked into my brother's birthday party, it started a six-year old panic the likes of which had never been seen. We were crawling over each other trying to escape, and Darth Vader was calling for my brother, who was frantic at this point. About 15 more seconds elapsed before my dad was forced to take off the mask to calm the rest of the kids at the party. Kev and I were lucky they were there, if it had been just us, we would have been tormented much longer.

Once we figured it out, it was fun and the kids took turns wearing the mask until my mom served ice cream and cake for the party. Afterwards (and maybe a few more beers later), my dad put the mask back on and hopped onto his Husqvarna dirt bike. My dad used to race dirt bikes among many other racing related hobbies. He sped off out of our driveway and down the street, Darth Vader on a motorcycle.

My mom started to get worried when he didn't come back. At first she thought he was just screwing around, but when it got dark she knew something was wrong. Eventually my dad came through the door, still wearing the Darth Vader outfit, except the suit was torn, and the cape was ripped to shreds. As it turns out, the scene in the Incredibles where the lady talks about capes is dead on. His cape got caught in his chain about a mile down the road. It yanked him back and he blew through someones fence and into their yard. He crashed into their garden and the bike sat there and spat blue smoke as my dad tried to undo the cape wrapped around his neck. The way my dad tells it, the guy was laughing so hard that he could barely talk, and by the time my dad got the helmet off to apologize with a normal voice, the guy had already grabbed his wife and she was laughing too.

This is what is was like growing up in my house. Maybe sometime I'll tell you the story of the time I crashed a motorcycle in the dining room of our house...no worries now though. For some reason, my wife won't let me have a bike.

Be Excellent to each other!!!

Moving again...change is good.

As I prepare for yet another move the tedious task of painting over the walls in our current place has given me some time to think about my path in life. As a side note, I'm painting over a very overwhelming and potentially psychologically damaging pink that my daughter had to have when we moved in. I am working very hard to keep her from choosing the same color for her new room (I'll most likely lose this one).

Since I left Vancouver in 2002, my family has moved 5 times, this will be move #6. The amount we have moved around has always caused some tension, mostly as it relates to our kids. As a parent, guilt is part of the job. No matter how hard you try, you can't be perfect all the time and when you snap, get angry, or just can't take it, it always comes back to an image of the guy in the bell tower "my parents did this to me!!!!". So I have always been concerned that the frequency of our moving would leave my daughter socially challenged or insecure (for the record, she seems to adapt quite nicely, which I think is testament to the strength of kids).

When I moved to Huntington Beach to join a rock band (a blog for another time), needless to say there was a lot of uncertainty as to how things were going to play out here. The band had real connections and interest from record labels (which scared the hell out of my wife) so we didn't want to commit to anything financially (including housing). The one thing we really did want to do was to get a solid foundation for our kids. After three years and one dead band later, I found that foundation in my work here and within the community (not to mention the legendary poker parties I have been throwing for the past two years). Our new place has plenty of room and amenities, and is in a great neighborhood near my kids school. Its been clear to me that our choice is a good one as my kids have been freaking out with excitement every since we signed the lease.

Speaking of the lease, its not cheap.. While the economy here in Orange County is still strong, and my job is a good one, the cost of living here is a real fight. When I was in Vancouver, we had a nice house we owned, and a nothing mortgage. If I still owned it today, it would be worth double what I bought it for. However, as soon as my pay increased, I was transferred to Seattle which was more expensive. By the time my pay caught up with the lifestyle I had in Portland, I moved from Seattle to Orange County. On paper, things look good, but as far as my lifestyle is concerned, I'm still in the place I was 6 years ago. The average 4 bedroom home in my neighborhood runs between $800K and $1 million, and I'm not even close to being in the expensive part of town. Guess who's renting????

Moral of the story above is that the short term economic impacts of my moving has resulted in setbacks in lifestyle and finances that I would not have encountered in Vancouver. I left my family, friends, my band (which I really loved), and coworkers in an area that I called home for most of my life to set out to build a career with two goals. Create opportunities for my wife and I to travel and see the world later in life and to provide my kids the best education possible to ensure that they have the ability to make good decisions when they grow up. To that regard, the moving has been positive. The amount of moving we have done has really forced us to be a family. We all look inward to each other when there is a problem, and I feel blessed that the relationship my wife and I have with our kids is open and fair (even if it is a complete dictatorship). The kids consider HB their home and are turning into real Californians (i.e. people who have no idea what real rain is).

With regards to the financial rewards of the moving, they are what we call in the accounting business "intrinsic". Which means that while the value is there, it has yet to be realized. My moving has helped me in ways I didn't contemplate as I went through it. Mostly, networking and working with different styles of successful people. The path I took without the benefit of my friends, family or social network forced me to learn to develop strong relationships quickly, to learn what my weaknesses are and to build safeguards around me to ensure I'm not my worst enemy (still my biggest challenge). But most of all, its taught me that its good to push the envelope of comfort, and to not get too settled in. The uncertainty of change can be disconcerting, but in life, the only thing certain is change. So...the more you get used to that, the better prepared you will be to look on the bright side of change and not dwell on the challenges and frustrations that any change brings. To that regard, we should all train ourselves to prepare for and deal with change. I believe that our ability to handle change is one of the hallmarks that over time will shape who we are and how others see us.

On a side note, I am renting a U-haul next week, and I haven't had great luck with them. My civic still bears the scars on the back left rear fender when I creamed it with the last U-haul I rented. I backed into it without even knowing I did it. My brother was watching and was yelling at me, he still brings that up. My current rental also has some peculiar orange scars above the garage door where a U-Haul may have ran into the house...I guess I was never meant to drive big rigs.

Be excellent to each other!!!!

Attitude is everything...

Yo! Attitude is everything. EVERYTHING!!!! Your approach to life, to relationships, to any task you want, to making goals, making decisions, and most of all dealing with life's BS.



I had a job interview once coming out of college and the interviewer asked me to describe the last time I failed at something and how I reacted to it. After pondering the question for a moment, I replied, "I have never failed at anything in my life." Point Blank. I was serious in my response and meant what I said. I didn't get the job, and though I did end up getting an offer from the same Company (a different office) a few weeks later, I thought a lot about the interview and ultimately concluded that my answer to his question probably had a lot to do with his decision to not hire me.



So...after realizing that my comment probably seemed arrogant and unrealistic to my interviewer, I have spent a lot of time over the years trying to think of how I would respond now that I have more seasoning and have spent years on the other side of the table interviewing candidates. In the end, I love my answer, I think it defines who I am, and it all comes down to attitude. You see, I define failure as not learning from my mistakes. I define failure as a conscious decision to continue down a path that has been shown to be ineffective.



I believe that greatness only comes with the willingness to be aggressive and make mistakes. Not only that, its the mistakes that make you better. The key is, you only make the same mistake once- that is greatness, learning before you get killed by the same mistake again. If you look at the greatest people of our time (maybe outside of Jesus Christ), all of them have a past of mistakes and screw ups that ultimately began to define who they were. If you read about Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, the great Roman leaders, the renaissance greats like Michelangelo, DaVinci, all of them had times in their lives where the path they were destined to take was shaped by a dedication to being great. The greatness came not only from talent (which we all have at some level), but from reacting to setbacks as learning experiences, as opposed to treating them as failures. Bankruptcy, poor family relations, troubles with women, plagued these great people.



After working in the world of big finance, big money and working with the largest companies on deals that bring money, and as a result, huge pressure to the table, in the end, the best brains and talent set themselves apart from the rest of the pack in their attitude. No obstacle is insurmountable, no challenge too great. No problem is so difficult that they can't overcome it. In the end it comes down to attitude.



As a leader, your attitude and tone sets the stage. Period. If your leader is a stressball, the team is stressed. If your leader is lackadaisical, your team will follow. If your leader is thoughtful, dedicated and competent, your team will work hard to be the same. Being a leader is just as much about emotional intelligence as it is about educational intelligence. You may be smart, you may think your good at what you do, but if you don't inspire those below you to strive for better, you are a failure. That being said, if you care about those you lead, you will never fall into that trap. In the end, I think emotional intelligence is as if not more important than physical intelligence.



However, all of it comes back to attitude. I have read about past leaders and one in particular caught my eye when I was in eighth grade. I remember this as clear as I remember filling my second cup of coffee this morning. This man's legacy has inspired me to not dwell on setbacks and mistakes, but to instead learn from them so that I do not fail and make the same mistakes again. In fact, I just opened the same book I read in eighth grade and there is a bookmark from my high school days on the exact page. Here is what is says about him.


This man was defeated in just about everything he did.

He failed in business in 1831

He was defeated for the legislature in 1832

He failed in business again in 1833

He won a seat in the legislature in 1834

His sweetheart died in 1835

He had a nervous breakdown in 1836

He was defeated for speaker in 1838

He was defeated for land officer in 1843

He was defeated for Congress in 1843

He was elected to Congress in 1846

He was defeated for reelection in 1848

He was defeated for Senate in 1855

He was defeated for Vice President in 1856

He was defeated for Senate in 1858

He was elected President in 1860

His name was Abe Lincoln. And he defined failure the same way I do.



BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER!!!

Wanna Ride?

I didn't buy a house when I moved to Orange County three years ago. With all the mortgage products out there at the time, I could have bought something crazy- no interest! no down payment! Get your dream home! Instant equity! Can't Lose! No worries!

I don't want to sound like I could see the crisis our economy is in today back then, but I didn't feel comfortable committing myself to huge cash payments for a house that I might not be able to afford if things went south. As the market started to slip, the amount of debt the average consumer has taken on began to appear, and its been staggering to see.

At one point I was considering getting into the market and a friend with expertise in structured finance sent me the following video. If you watch it, what is happening in the markets today makes a lot of sense. Sometimes a visual is all you need to help understand a problem. Now...imagine that everyone on the coaster bought a house, and most of them bought on the way up the track here towards the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUldGc06S3U

As an FYI, I do plan to buy a place in a year or two, I just keep waiting for the coaster to hit the bottom...and it isn't even close yet. Regardless, you can't let money get you down, its just money and it comes and goes. Your life, health and family are what is important. If you keep that in perspective, the worst of money situations are just that, just money situations. Good thing we live in the US, in the old days they tossed you in prison for not paying your bills. Today, they toss the idiot that loaned you the money in prison...gotta love our government!

Be excellent to each other!

Start your engines...or at least your plan

I have a bucket list. I figured it would be good to have a list so I could try to plan trips, etc. to accomplish my list (most of which relates to travel). With today's technology its going to be more and more fun documenting these exploits. I took the above picture in Boston, its in a place near the Revere Mall. I like the picture so I figured I would post it.

At some point I'll post my entire bucket list and maybe even my plan to tackle it. For now, here are some things I have done that I would put on my list of interesting stuff.


85.Run in the world’s longest relay race (Mt. Hood to Seaside)
86.Play a rock show in Hollywood (the Key Club!)
87.Run the lights at the Viper room in Hollywood
88.Attend a Hollywood party with celebrities (Paris Hilton et al.)
89.Become an ordained minister and officiate a wedding
90.Play trumpet with Doc Severinsen
91.Raft the Deschutes
92.Attend the US Open and watched Tiger Woods fist pump during a victory
93.Hit the blues bars in Chicago
94.See a baseball game at Wrigley field
95.Go deep sea fishing and catch a big one!
96.Operate a nuclear reactor
97.See a baseball game in Dodgers Stadium right behind the dugout
98.Write and produce a rock album
99.Lead 78,000 people in a cheer (go Huskies!!!!)
100.Marry the love of my life

What is on your bucket list? Think about it for a while...

BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER!!!

A thought on power....

I can ride my bike with no handlebars

No handlebars

No handlebars

I can ride my bike with no handlebars

No handlebars

No handlebars

Look at me, look at me hands in the air like it's good to be ALIVE and

I'm a famous rapper even when the paths're all crookedy

I can show you how to do-si-do

I can show you how to scratch a record

I can take apart the remote control

And I can almost put it back together

I can tie a knot in a cherry stem

I can tell you about Leif Ericson

I know all the words to "De Colores"And

"I'm Proud to be an American"

Me and my friend saw a platypus

Me and my friend made a comic book

And guess how long it took

I can do anything that I want cuz, look:

I can keep rhythm with no metronome

No metronome

No metronome

I can see your face on the telephone

On the telephone

On the telephone

Look at meLook at me

Just called to say that it's good to be ALIVE

In such a small world

All curled up with a book to read

I can raise funds open up a thrift store

I can make a living off a magazine

I can design an engine sixty four Miles to a gallon of gasoline

I can make new antibiotics

I can make computers survive aquatic conditions

I know how to run a business

And I can make you wanna buy a product

Movers shakers and producers

Me and my friends understand the future

I see the strings that control the systems

I can do anything with no assistance

I can change the nation with a microphone

With a microphone

With a microphone

I can split the atoms of a molecule

Of a molecule

Of a molecule

Look at me Look at me Driving and I won't stop

And it feels so good to be Alive and on top

My reach is global

My tower secure

My cause is noble

My power is pure

I can hand out a million vaccinations

Or let'em all die in exasperation

Have'em all grilled leavin lacerations

Have'em all killed by assassination

I can make anybody go to prison

Just because I don't like'em and

I can do anything with no permission

I have it all under my command

I can guide a missile by satellite

By satellite

By satellite

and I can hit a target through a telescope

Through a telescope

Through a telescope

and I can end the planet in a holocaust

In a holocaust

In a holocaust

In a holocaust

In a holocaust

In a holocaust

In a holocaust

I can ride my bike with no handlebars

No handle bars

No handlebars

I can ride my bike with no handlebars

No handlebars

No handlebars

BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER....

One thought on considering risks...

I always wanted to slide down a laundry chute. My grandma had one and I probably thought about it a thousand times...probably would have broken a leg....heh heh. I think about it even now, when I couldn't fit in a laundry chute if my life depended on it and I am resigned to the fact that I will never have the experience I wondered about.

If you inventory the things in life that you have always longed for, longed to do, longed to say and for whatever reason were resigned to it not happening...I think there are a few ways to consider it. You can look at a situation like mine above and say, "while I never did it, I still think that was pretty smart." Or there can be situations where you wish you would have said something different or talked to that one person you couldn't talk to. Ultimately, I think that the best thing is to have some of each...it keeps you balanced and reminds you that you made those mistakes, avoided those mistakes and took risks when the rewards made it worth it.

And to that point, I can tell you affirmatively that the rewards of well considered risk can indeed be worth it.

Be excellent to each other!

Me...

My hands are covered in bug bites , my face is burnt from too much sun, my liver is inflamed, my blood pressure is too high, the diet I am on makes me hate eating food, I need to sort out my life, I need to work out, I need the Huskies to win a game, my throat is sore, my head is slightly pounding, my ankles crack, my hands hurt from playing with legos, my thoughts are with my friends and family when they should be on the task at hand, I'm in a slump, I'm still grinding my teeth, I had to trim my goatee even though I loved it fat and crazy, my shoes need a shine, my check engine light is on, I need to start taking the medication I stopped taking, I feel undervalued, I have regrets, I have disappointed others, I have disappointed myself, I'm angry, I want to scream, my parents drive me nuts, I need more money, I need to stop wasting the money I have, I need to plan for the future so I don't end up alone and without hope.

My bug bites are healing, I loved the sun on my face as I watched dolphins the entire afternoon yesterday, I'm taking a break from alcohol to try lots of water, my blood pressure is improving, the diet I am on was prescribed by a physician and is working fast, my life is dialed in, I'm heading out to work out when I finish this blog, the Huskies played tough and will win this year, my singing was really strong today, my headaches have been less lately, I'm getting new shoes for my joints, I built legos for my son and he loves them, my boss is trying to get me to relax and worry less about work and more about me, I'm an all star, I'm heading to the dentist next week for a good cleanin', my goatee is soft now that I trimmed it, I'm going to get new dress shoes next weekend, my car has over 150,000 miles on it and I just changed the oil, I'm back on the medication to help my anxiety, I'm well compensated and my employer takes care of me, I love looking forward and don't worry about the past, others around me are proud of me, I am proud of who I am as a person, I'm happy, I want to SING, I love my parents, I make enough money to be happy with my family, I'll have enough money when I need it, but most of all, I need to keep making memories and living in the moment...

Writing this made me feel a lot better, maybe you should try it sometime!

Be excellent to each other....

Olympics!!!!

Why does everyone think Dara Torres is doping?

She is 41, mother, and will submit to any drug testing requested...I believe her, but I also believed Marion Jones, who passed more than 150 drug tests in her career. Its too bad, when I was a kid, the only guys on roids were Russian weightlifters and the German women's crew team. Now....business men take Prozac to get an edge, its everywhere.

I have been watching the Olympics almost every night. I wasn't going to watch...but got sucked in. There are lots of stories to follow, but my favorites are the people who cheat and get caught.

Here are a few doping problems I don't get:

Gold medalist air pistol

Speedwalking (really, you need to juice?)

Do they test the NBA players? Carmello??

Here is a summer Olympics haiku:

Michael Phelps wins gold

The smog in Beijing hangs low

Bob Costas is white

Be Excellent to each other!

Exotic foods and dinner

What's on your menu for the day?

I have a client based out of Taiwan. As I sat at home last night after an authentic Chinese dinner, I pondered the evening. the restaurant was in a part of town I'm not sure I could find again, but I couldn't read any signs in the neighborhood (all Chinese)...very cool. I wasn't sure if I liked the food, if I was full, or if I was going to be sick. Don't get me wrong, I love PF Changs, etc. But according to my Asian friends, this isn't even close to authentic.

It was the cooked pigeon head that was staring at me during dinner that I recall most clearly. It looked exactly like the picture included here...note the head and beak of the roasted pigeon chicks....yeah.

We also had frog, which was pretty good except for the bones...which were messy. Crab, which was normal crab, a soup made of crab and monk fish belly, sea cucumber, Thai clams and a mango dessert that was refreshingly normal. Oh...and four beers (Sapporo, imported from Canada...heh).

So add pigeon to the list of stuff I have eaten that I consider to be out of the ordinary for an all american white-guy like myself.

My list:

Roasted pigeon chick
Frog
Sea Cucumber
Monk fish belly soup
Birds nest soup (a Chinese dessert of strange origins - saliva from a swallow)
Escargot
Multiple sashimi dishes including shrimp, eel, octopus, etc.
and pizza left on my TV for a few days (college...what a time!).

Next on my list, snake in Thailand and a choice selection of what my Asian friends refer to as "drunken shrimp". Apparently they bring out live shrimp in a bowl of alcohol, the shrimp swim around for a bit, get wasted and basically go almost comatose. You then grab them and eat them live...yummy!!!!!

not on my list: Dog (sorry, pets only) or "fried internal" (need a little more detail on that). Gotta draw a line somewhere.

Be excellent to each other!

Prisoner #4,910

Today I asked myself, how many Chris Browns are there in the world?

As I was logging in to create my blog, I got stuck at the always difficult, "create your user name". Well, there are 1,892,375 people with the last name Brown in the world. An army of Browns that could crush almost anyone on my block...of course, meeting the Lee clan may not be so hot. There are 1,581,550 people in the world with the first name Christopher. This isn't including variations such as Chris, or Kris, Christoph, or Toph, or any other jacked up way of saying Christopher you can think of. That leaves me to try and remember something else as a log in name. So I thought, "how many other Chris Browns are there, and how quickly could I fined a website to tell me?" hmmmmm...

There are 9,821 people named Chris Brown in the world.

6 seconds via google.

So based on my calculations, I am Chris Brown #4,910. I figure I am half way between the old fart named Christopher Brown in Tampa FL, and the 2 month old in Pasadena named after the R&B star.

As you will soon see, I have ADD, diagnosed-on paper-battery of tests-the whole deal. I don't take medication for it, at least not for now. Knowing what I suck at is almost as important as trying to treat it.

As one Chris Brown in an army of Chris Browns, rather than tell you about me (when it really doesn't matter given all the Chris Browns I have to try to compete with), I'll just talk about what I see, here where I live, and everywhere else in the world.

Be excellent to each other....