Sort of Ironic

If you know me then you know I love Texas Longhorns football. I am quickly realizing the biggest draw back to relocating to San Francisco is that I will probably not get a single Texas game outside of the Red River Shootout on television.

If you know me then you are probably also aware of my absolute hatred for the Virginia Tech Hokies. I hate VA Tech more than I hate Oklahoma and from a life long Texas fan, that's saying something.

As I am writing this the first nationally televised game of the season is on my television. It's not Texas, they don't play till later and since they scheduled the powerhouse that is FAU I realized that game wouldn't be on anyway. Do I get to watch some PAC 10 no defense, all offense track meet? No. Am I stuck watching some rediculously slow Big 10 game? No. Is there some regionally important match up that I don't understand since I just moved here? No. I get VA Tech vs. ECU. This makes no sense to me as nobody on the west coast can possibly care about this game. I better get some Texas games at some point this season or I'm moving.

Does it Really Matter?

I don't want to be one of those political pessimists but as my morning viewing of the Today Show was interrupted once every hour to "break" the news of John McCain's pick, I started to get annoyed.

The American process for picking a President is a reality T.V. show and nothing more. Before this new season started everybody already had their favorite. If your favorite got voted off the island then you moved on to a new favorite and more than likely you sit in one of two categories. 1. You are going vote along party lines regardless of the person or, 2. You are going to waste your vote and vote Libertarian. Either of these voting tactics is perfectly fine with me as I am completely convinced that voting is actually a waste of time. I also say this as someone that plans on voting. It doesn't make any sense. I know. But outside of my own personal confliction, what I don't understand is why so many people seem to pay so much attention to this part of the campaign. I mean most of us decided months ago who we were going to vote for.

Does Obama delivering an amazing speech at the DNC really make someone sitting on the fence say, "Yeah, that was awesome, he's my guy?" I doubt it. Obama has delivered a ton of great speeches at this point. All of them slightly different, mostly the same, all pretty entertaining. He's a great speaker, but with the exception of W, this is generally at least a minor pre-req for running for office.

McCain picked a woman as his running mate. Big freaking deal. I don't see how this could possibly make any women out there suddenly decide that John McCain is her guy. He likes women, he is married. The woman he picked (I don't remember her name. I also don't care.) is the Governor of Alaska so clearly she is very accomplished. I mean that as a compliment, not as an insult on Alaska. So she seems as good of a choice as any, as well as a good play to combat Obama's unique minority appeal.

I just can't for the life of me see how any of the theatrics at this point really sway anyone in either direction. I love reality T.V. as much as the next person and for me, that's all this Presidential race is, entertainment, that I am doing a poor job of trying to ignore.

I don't want to jinx it!

There's a famous Mark Twain quote that says something like, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." I had heard this quote a few times before moving out but couldn't possibly be bothered to believe it's true. Allow me to take the time to stand corrected. When I first moved to SF I tried my hardest to ignore the fog. Then I started to say things like I liked it. Now I've come to terms with the fact that it pretty much sucks. What was the swing factor? A nice, sunny weekend in southern California.

I finally had a chance to go down and visit my good friends Micah and Emily at their home in Huntington Beach. For all the talk of the OC being plastic, they're probably right. And I'm not sure I really like suburbia or want to live in it, but there is something to be said about having perfect weather on a daily basis. As well as access to beaches where you don't need a sweatshirt and beautiful beach volleyball players by the bunches to stare at.

I flew out of Oakland because it was cheaper. When I got back I was standing on the platform waiting for BART (metro for you east coasters) and had to take my hoodie out of my bag because it was like 66 degrees and the wind was blowing, however, the sun was out! Yesterday too and today is the first day I can think of in a very long time that there wasn't at least morning fog, or the "marine layer" if you want to be fancy about it.

San Francisco is pretty famous for having a beautiful fall season. The Indian Summer they like to call it. I'm really hoping this the beginning of it because I'd like nothing more than to have some sunshine and the option of not wearing a jacket during the day. I'm fine with still wearing one at night.

At the beginning of August I went to a bar with a friend and they had a pizza board sign out front with the message, "It's August. Summer's almost here!" written in chalk. Here's to hoping that the almost actually means now.

Open Mic

A long time ago my mom said I was the funniest person she knew and while that might be a biased opinion, but that's what mother's do. They tell you're the best even if its not the truth.

I've always enjoyed making people laugh and so because of that have always thought about doing stand up. However, the line between being someone who occasionally says something that people laugh at and going on stage and basically telling everyone in the audience, "I think I'm funny and not only that, but I think I'm funny enough to make you laugh," was one I always scared to cross.

However, here I am in this new city. I have friends, but not a ton of them and so one day a random google search of things to do brought up a link to a local comedy club that also teaches stand up classes. They offered a free intro class where you could come and see what it was all about so I did. Then, I pulled out my credit card and signed up.

One of the biggest benefits of this class is that you are gauranteed three nights a week to do open mic. Apparently, even at clubs that host open mics, you still need to have some connections to get on stage. Obviously I'm paying for this open mic time, but a class piggy backs along with it and the people in my class are all just as scared as I am so they're supportive even if they don't have to be. That's worth something in and of itself.

Last night, 8/13, I did my first three minutes of open mic and it was probably the most thrilling and exciting thing I've done in my life. I was so nervous that I drank about half a Nalgene bottle of water during the comic's set before mine. I didn't want to open with "How's everybody doing?" because that seems lame and luckily for me the MC set me up for a quick joke after she the introduction and I got my first laugh. As soon as that happened I really wasn't nervous anymore. I would have never guessed that would happen. People laughed at my punch lines and it really felt less like a bit and more like just talking. Unfortunately, I finished my last joke before they even turned on the light letting me know I had a minute left. I sort of froze, made the joke that I was now completely out of shit to say decided I'd just do what I told a friend I'd do in this case. I turned to the hottest girl in the room and promptly hit on her to fill the rest of the time. This made people laugh too, but probably for other reasons. At least they were laughing.

I'm so stoked about how it went I can't wait to do it again. In fact I'm going to get back up for open mics on Friday and Saturday night. Go me!

I love the Olympics

I love the Olympics for a few reasons.

From an emotional aspect I understand on a much smaller scale what these athletes go through in training for an event that ends in a very short period of time. I, by no means, think of myself as Olympic caliber. Nor do I claim that the races I poured myself into were nearly as important for so many reasons as the Olympics. But, if anybody has fully dedicated themselves to a physical goal and then showed up at the start line to leave everything they have on the race course, then I believe we can at least identify with the heartbreak and triumph the Olympic athletes must feel.

During the Bush administration I don't know a lot of people who are overly proud of being American. We have to be seen by most of the world as arrogant, pretentious, above the law, hypocrites. I don't want to get into my own beliefs of our occupation in Iraq, but the Olympics are as much a political event as they are athletic. The Olympics make me proud to be American for all the right reasons. Last night's 4x100 freestyle relay is a perfect example. American swimming was not the favorites entering the event. The French team had made public comments to the press about "smashing" the Americans. There was no vocal response from the American swimmers. They simply used the French comments as motivation and swam the collective race of their lives. Out touching the French by less time than it takes to blink an eye and bringing the world record down by four seconds. The picture is now famous and being used by every media outlet, but as Michael Phelps and the rest of the relay team scream in triumph you can't help but feel the elation and pride that is pumping through their veins. Regardless of whether you're a fan of swimming, that moment, that picture of victory, has to do something to you. Like every Olympics it was one of those moments that brought tears to my eyes and made me proud to be American.

Does anybody remember the Dream Team? A bunch of NBA legends all put on the same uniform and went out and dominated the world. They didn't even call a legitimate time out the entire Olympics. Since the Dream Team USA basketball has been a major dissappointment. Basketball is our sport and there is no real reason that we don't win every year. Well, the reasons we haven't won in the past are obvious, but it finally looks like we have guys who take the responsibility of representing our country seriously and want to return with the right color hanging around their necks. The opening game against China was a show of pure domination. One of the highlights that stands out to me is Labron James driving between two Chinese defenders. Both men tried to close the seam Labron was driving through and he simply muscled his way through both of them. He finished the play with a dunk, but that's just to be expected. Getting through both of those men on pure strength and desire makes me feel like these guys are serious. There is no reason we should lose this Olympics.

I could go on an on about different events but I'm getting tired of typing so I'm going to finish this with short statements about some thoughts I won't bother to finish.

- I don't understand why gymnastics gets so much tv time. It's impressive what they do, but the highlights would do just fine.
- Does anyone else think its weird that there are equestrian events? To me, this is the one sport in the Olympics where money makes the most difference. And, its not like the horses give a shit.
- Did anybody see where good old W slapped Misty May on the lower back as she stuck her ass out at him? He's an awful president but I'd love to go to happy hour with the guy. I bet he's got some pretty awesome stories.
- Why are badminton or ping pong sports?
- Can't wait till we start dominating the Track and Field games. Well, at least everything under a mile.
- For all of the insanely designed cycling kits in a pro peloton I'm always surprised at how plain the Olympic kits are for each team. Every country's kit looks like someone went to Performance, bought a bunch of blank jerseys and ironed USA onto the chest.
- At what point in your childhood do you decide that you want to be a fencer? As a kid, isn't the whole idea of playing with swords based on the factor that they cut things?
- So far there's only been one positive drug test. Either the doctors have invented new drugs that aren't detectable or people really are starting to race clean. Either way, it's pretty impressive!

That is all.

Waiting on Indian Food to be Delivered

As I sit here for my dinner to be delivered I figured I could write a very quick entry that will not tell you anything very important about whats going on in my life.

Today was the last day of camp. It's definitely a bitter sweet feeling. I really enjoyed the last seven weeks, both the good and the bad. It wasn't an easy job. The days were long and the pay is, well, the pay is what you get paid when you teach kids. For all the times that I had to instill the fear into some kid of doing something I specifically told him/her not to do five seconds before there was a camper that would come into my room after being checked out by their parents to give me a hug and say bye. Or, a parent during check out would say something like, "Oh, you're Landall. You have no idea how many times we've heard your name at home. Our child really enjoys your class," and you suddenly forget all the frustrations of that day. Outside of the campers I made some good friends. Some of those friendships will inevitably fade, but I'm sure a few will continue on and for a new guy in a new city, that's a big plus from my experience.

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Just over a week ago I went to a comedy club that has stand up classes for an info session. I signed up because I thought it'd be fun and secretly stand up comedy is something I've always wanted to do. I don't know if I'm funny enough to make people laugh on stage. My mom said one time that I'm the funniest person she knows and so if nothing else, she'll laugh. I've got a notebook full of jokes as I was suddenly motivated to start writing things down. I think this upcoming Wednesday I am going to get on stage for my first open mic. It'll be 3 minutes. Hopefully I don't cry.

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The mustache is gone. I didn't shave it for three weeks and this morning before camp I shaved everything else. I think my previous prediction of the mustache not being a good look for me is pretty obvious after three weeks of growth. While about 90% of the staff at camp made of it, 90% of the campers thought it was so funny that they wanted to draw mustaches on all of their projects for the past three weeks. Rockets, parachutes, mars rovers and terrains were all covered with hand drawn mustaches that seemed to give them extra powers to the kids. It least it got a few laughs.

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If you're reading this, I miss you. If I don't know you, that might be awkward.

Two Month Review of San Francisco

San Francisco has been my home for just a bit over two months and for some reason that makes me feel like I should comment on my experience thus far.

I like this city and about 65% of the people I’ve met who live here. 65% might not seem like a lot, but trust me, that’s a pretty high percentage for me. People generally annoy me, especially if I feel like I’ve met their personality before. So, with that said, 65% is pretty stinking high. And, it’s also a statistic that is not accompanied by any sort of actual data or math. Go figure.

Before moving here people consistently commented on how cold it is in SF. I always dismissed these comments for either my own personal need to believe that SF was perfect in every facet or because a temperate climate seemed like a great escape from the extremes of the east coast which I grew to pretty much loathe. Visiting SF the first time in late September gave me the impression that the Indian summer I experienced then was how it is all the time. I was warned, by people that live here, that the weather I experienced was not what I should expect on a daily basis and again, I internally dismissed their warnings. What I have discovered is that the sun hardly ever shines in SF during the summer. Last night I was at a bar and the sign out front read, “It’s August, summers almost here!” This sign made me laugh because it’s true. I don’t necessarily dislike the fog that is a staple of life here, but, I do miss the sun, and the option to just wear a polo shirt and not a jacket. I will comment on this again in February when it’s probably the same temperature as it is now, and I’ll be so stoked that I am not standing on a street corner in DC waiting for the bus in 30 degrees with a 20mph wind. Though, it’s pretty windy here.

The cycling here is pretty great. No shortage of climbing. The cyclists are nicer than east coasters, though, all the odd things still sort of hold true. I had to ride with this group on Saturdays three times before half the people acknowledged me. The other half introduced themselves on the first ride. That was a pleasant surprise.

I have yet to go on a date, but I really haven’t met many single girls. Also, due to my lack of friend base as well as early morning weekend cycling schedule I haven’t gone out that much. Sometimes I wonder if I need to chose between cycling and dating, but part of me hopes that the two will work themselves together somehow. But, since most of the ladies I meet on rides are all mid-30s as is most of the cycling community, that doesn’t seem like it will happen. I suppose most normal 26 year olds are at bars or parties on Friday and Saturday nights, not going to bed early so they can get into group rides at 8:30am the following day. Of, all the girls I’ve met in SF so far I’ve only found one that I’d say I have a real amount of interest in. If you guessed she’s unavailable, you’re right. That seems to be the way it goes.

I can’t think of anything else to comment on.