I had to prove that I could make dinner myself. I wanted to make low-carb pizzas so I used slices of eggplant for most of the “crusts.” I used a portobello mushroom for one of the crusts. Toppings included chicken, turkey pepperoni, jalapeño, mushroom, and red bell pepper. Some had homemade pizza sauce that my roommates made, some had alfredo sauce, and some had both. They were super tasty.
We ran the Chapman 5K on Saturday. I was slow, with a time of 35:56.3, but I never stopped to walk. I’ll consider it a victory.
Edit: The results are online now.
I was 455th of 630 males. I was 49th of 57 in my age group (25-29). My chip time was 35:56.4, and my gun time was 37:33.4. My average pace was 12:07/M. Also, gem was listed on that page also under my name, so yes, my name shows up twice. She signed me up twice and failed to sign herself up, heh.
Yesterday we played some games at a going away BBQ for Alex and Darnell. We each wrote a sentence on a separate page. Then we passed the papers and drew the sentence we read. Then we folded the papers so that only the drawings were showing. After passing, we had to write a description of the picture. This just continued until we got bored. Here are our results.
Next we changed to a different game. We each took turns drawing a segment of a picture. We couldn’t look at the previous segment, but the lines would be extended down slightly so that the next person could see where their section connects. Confusing to describe, but you’d probably understand if you’d just scroll down and look!
Following the weekend excitement of Temecula, I met up with Alex, Darnell, Devin, Lorena, Gracie, and John for dinner and drinks Monday night. Gracie and John had to leave, but I went back to Alex and Darnell’s room to stay the night and go to Disneyland the next day. The woman working the desk at the La Quinta, Erica, was super friendly and excited to see we were carrying in Apples to Apples. We enjoyed the game, and Devin did very well despite being half asleep.
The next day we spent the morning in California Adventure. We went on the Ferris wheel, California Screamin’, and had lunch.
Of course, we had to play Toy Story Mania too. I beat gem, but her animal was better.
We met with Daniel and Mallory and headed into Disneyland.
Lots of fun was had in Disneyland, including meeting ASIMO. While having a slow machine do simple tasks I could more easily do myself isn’t useful right now, it’s definitely cool technology.
High five!
After Disneyland we had dinner at the House of Blues before returning to the hotel room to hang out a little. I was pretty worn out when I got home, but it was great fun. Now I just wait for the parties this weekend!
Because Alex and Darnell are back visiting in California, we went wine tasting in Temecula over the weekend. Here we’re at Leonesse Cellars, the first stop on our tour. We had a pretty full van – Alex, Darnell, Alex’s parents Hal and Mary Margaret, Darnell’s parents Devin and Lorena, Mike, gem, Gracie, our sober driver John, and myself.
We got to try the grapes that were destined to become wine. They were tasty this way too but different than the grapes you’d buy in a grocery store to eat.
Our guide took some time to explain the process itself and showed us the large tanks.
Then we went inside for the actual tastings. I didn’t know anything really about wine, but our host spoke for a few minutes on each wine. It was a lot of fun.
The Wilson Creek Winery was much more laid back. They also had a port served in a glass made of chocolate. It was interesting!
We picked up a pizza to eat in the van on our way to the next winery. The Maruice Car’rie Winery had terrible service. Luckily it was photogenic!
By the time we reached the Black Market Brewery, I had had enough to drink. I talked games with John before heading outside to chat with Mary Margaret.
We had dinner at Public House, a pub with fun, live music. The plan was to eat appetizers and have drinks, but a few of us wanted real food. Hal got us a table at the restaurant so he, Mary Margaret, Alex, Mike, gem, and me had a nice dinner. I had some tasty chicken stuffed with peppers.
In the evening, Mike, Alex, gem, and I had fun conversation in which we decided the van was its own nation, Vanica. It very quickly evolved into a corrupt state with a religious figure, John, used to keep the front passengers in line. Art imitates reality.
A post like this doesn’t really do the trip justice. What was great was talking with friends. I miss Alex and Darnell, and it was wonderful to see them again. They have good taste in friends, so seeing our mutual friends is also fun, and they both have amazing families too.
I had a blast!
Edit: I forgot to add that those meanies made me dance at the Public House. Oh well. It wasn’t so bad!
Last week was my great-grandmother’s 90th birthday. We met at my mom’s house Saturday around 6:45 to drive to Vegas to surprise her. During the car ride I got to enjoy some Super Mario 3D Land and podcasts, which was fun. We visited with my grandparents for a bit before heading to the restaurant. Along with my aunt and uncle, their kids, my other uncle, and his daughter, we all hid and yelled surprise when Nana got there. She’s 90, but luckily she didn’t have a heart attack.
After dinner we all went back to my grandparents’ house. There was a delicious looking white cake with strawberry filling, but I didn’t eat any. We talked for a bit, but there was a super loud football game on TV with a lot of yelling (because what’s not exciting by people arbitrarily placed into teams and running into other people), so I escaped to another room to hang out quietly.
We went back to Nana’s house to sleep for the night. She spent quite some time explaining different rules and information she thought we’d need. This included the fact that we shouldn’t open a window because then someone could just come right into her house! Also, all the overflow drains in the house were taped-over. She doesn’t like bugs.
She did show me photos of her husband, who I never met, and his medals from World War II. That was very cool!
In the morning we got up at 6:15 and hit the road my 6:30. We were back early enough to have plenty of time for activities at home!
We went to Crystal Cove last week, which was very fun and beautiful. I thought I’d share some of my photos.
While looking at the tidepools, I only managed to fall once. That’s good, because my butt hurt for a few days after that.
Stairs might not be that fun to climb, but I always like photographing stairs. I don’t know why!
This looks like it should be in Myst. Is there a Crystal Cove age? Maybe there’s a page hidden there somewhere.
This photo was enhanced a bit, but I think it still looks pretty. You can view the rest of my photos from the trip here!
A couple weeks ago, gem and I went to the OC Fair. It was a lot of fun as usual!
First, we ate. We started with BBQ’d mushrooms, bacon and cheese, which were delicious. Of course, I had to have some fried Oreos. This time we tried a new dessert – fried jalepeno and Baby Ruth served on a bed of churros. It was okay, but to be honest, the flavors didn’t blend all that well. The churros were delicious though!
I really liked the look of the photo booth. The fact that it was colorful, mentioned colors, and was a photo booth seemed begging to be photographed and made more intense. I should start taking photos of more photo booths!
Of course, we also listened to some live music and looked at the photography. I always enjoy the photography.
We ended our visit with the animals. There were a lot of cool animals we saw and pet, but the coolest might have been this llama that posed with gem!
Last night was the “Christian Dasilva has a posse” benefit show. The Aquabats’ former tour manager, Christian Dasilva, passed away recently, and all proceeds from the show went to his family. While the Aquabats posted about it n the Super Show Facebook page, I probably wouldn’t have known about it if it wasn’t for a bit of a coincidence. On Friday, Toshiba had two food trucks at its Chili Cook-off. For the first time ever, I wore a t-shirt to work because I knew it was going to be hot and we were outside. It happened to be an Aquabats t-shirt, and the guy working the Longboard Ice Cream truck knew the Aquabats. Not only was he a friend of the band, he was a former roadie and has been in the Aquabats! Super Show! He told me about the show.
Shortly after we arrived at the Chain Reaction in Anaheim, we saw the Battle Tram pull into the parking lot! It’s a bit smaller than it is in the show…
That didn’t stop gem and me from posing with it though! How awesome is that?
First up was a grunge band from San Diego called The Makeup Sex. I hadn’t heard of them before, and they weren’t mentioned on any of the announcements about the show, so I didn’t know what to expect. Luckily they were pretty entertaining. Strangely, the OC Register’s slideshow featured a handful of photos of the singer and drummer, both, well, fat, sweaty guys (photo 18, for example), yet only included one picture of the attractive bass player (photo 19).
Scotty Professional took the stage while Starpool set up, performing an acoustic version of the Aquabat’s Martian Girl. I really enjoyed it. While I’m not familiar with him, nor had I been to the Chain Reaction before, I could tell that he really cared about Christian Dasilva. I’m glad I recorded his performance; I’ve already ripped the audio so I could listen to the song.
Next up was Starpool. I hadn’t heard of them before I looked them up in preparation of this show. As it turns out, Starpool consists of the former members of Save Ferris and one former member of No Doubt. They were incredibly awesome! Their music was sweet, wonderful ska, and their stage presence was superb. The singer definitely took control of the stage. I especially enjoyed their rendition of “Shout” with the singer jumping into the audience and leading us as we crouched low to the ground, a little bit softer now. More bands need sax, trumpet, and trombone!
I later sent Starpool a Facebook message, letting them know how much I enjoyed the show. I also had to let them know that I bought their album and EP after the show. Great stuff!
Then it was time for the Aquabats to take the stage! In this picture, you can see the M.C. Bat Commander on the left, Eagle “Bones” Falconhawk on guitar next to him further back, Crash McLarson next on bass, and, on the very edge, Ricky Fitness on drums. I don’t think I got any good pictures of Ricky Fitness or Bones really. Oh well.
Can you tell the Commander and Crash are good buddies? It sure looks like it to me! Of course, Crash is also gem’s big friend. He said yes at Comic-Con, you know.
Finally, here’s Jimmy the Robot, who plays the keyboard and sax, in front his keyboard. To his left is Crash. Jimmy grabbed by hand twice in the show! Swoon! The M.C. Bat Commander did once as well! Okay, I’ve seen them before and shaken all their hands, but it’s still fun!
When the show ended, the audience chanted “Where was the Captain,” and the Aquabats came back out to play Captain Hampton. Sadly, this took the place of Fashion Zombies and Burger Rain, which were written on the setlist. I really wanted to hear Burger Rain too!
When they played Pool Party, they threw pool toys in the audience like they’ve done previously. They also called all the young kids onto the stage. The Commander told them that the concession area in the back was the candy zone, and that they’d get free candy if they went over. He said that if the Chain Reaction didn’t want to pay for it, the Aquabats would. And how would the kids get there? Well, the Commander would throw them into the audience to crowd-surf to the back of course! They were all adorable. One very young boy, Jacob, even had a little mustache drawn on his lip like the M.C. Bat Commander!
It was a terrific show, and I had so much fun. I was pretty much soaking wet when I got home, and most of it was likely not my sweat. Those Aquabats fans with rashguards get pretty sweaty. I finally made it to sleep by 1:30, and I can definitely say I was sleepy today!
Christian Dasilva’s Benefit Show Featuring Starpool and The Aquabats! – Chain Reaction – 7/23/12, Priscella Vega, Heard Mentality, OC Weekly Blogs
The Aquabats perform at the Christian Dasilva Benefit Concert at Chain Reaction in Anaheim on Monday, OrangeCounty.com
How could I be done talking about Comic-Con when I hadn’t actually talked about comics yet? A friend of mine that I met working at Barnes & Noble, Kyle, introduced me to Daredevil, the man without fear! He let me borrow a few different trade paperback collections starting with the one pictured above.
I had to own these for myself, and I had to own more too! I ended up purchasing Daredevil Visionaries: Frank MIller volume 2 ($24.95 list), Daredevil Born Again hardcover ($24.99 list), Daredevil Legends volume 3 – Daredevil The Man Without Fear ($16.95 list), and Elektra hardcover omnibus ($74.99 list). I paid $100 for all of them, which I think is pretty good.
I don’t really need to say anything about this, do I?
What’s that, some sort of tank? No (well, yes), it’s the Batmobile! They had a few different ones outside of SDCC, which was neat.
There was also a really cool panel, Unlocking Arkham: The Forensic Psychiatry of Batman’s Rogues’ Gallery. Forensic psychiatrists H. Eric Bender, M.D., Praveen Kambam, M.D., and Vasilis K. Pozios, M.D. discussed Arkham Asylum, comparing it to real mental health facilities. They also considered Arkham Aylum’s patients and examined whether they would actually be found not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty. It was pretty interesting. As you might guess, Arkham Asylum is much more of a prison than a mental health facility, and many of their “patients” should have been found guilty anyways.
And I think that wraps up my summary of Comic-Con!
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