Monkeys, Possums, Baseball, Records, and Other Crap

Lately, my day-to-day life has been largely routine. The addition of regular exercise to my schedule is eating into some of the time that I used to spend on my hobbies and projects. Yes, that still leanves me most of the weekend, but my weekends are often unproductive. Who can say why? But since you're all dying to know, I will share a few little things I've done or that have happened recently.

A couple weeks ago I received my recent Random Crap (aka Bag of Crap, BOC, etc.) order from Woot!. You might recall how awesomely crappy my last Crap was. Or the usefully crappy first crap. Or maybe not. This crap (my third crap) was not nearly as awesome or useful. While my previous craps were consisted largely of second-hand crap, this crap was (almost?) entirely new. So while condition-wise it was less crappy, it was, in the end, crappier crap. [Sigh]... Crap.

crap: blank brown tee, pink Lego brick style iPod speaker,
mini tripod, Jonas Brothers branded PMP case

This was, to my recollection, the only crap I managed to get by non-riddled methods. I got it fair and square in the latest Woot! off. Thanks Growl! Maybe my crappy success has gone to my head, but this is actually not the item I anticipated most during the Woot! off. That honor belongs to the much rumored Glow-In-The-Dark Superfly Monkey With Woot! Cape. Phew. That's a mouthful. Er... a keyboard full? But alas, it was not to be as the Woot! off came and went sans monkeys. But, mere days later the albino idol popped up in the entertaining Woot! Your Own Adventure, and through wise decisions and internet-ty perseverance, I scored a few. "In for three" as the Woot!-ers say. If you missed 'em, they can be had on eBay or the like at a significant mark up (very non-Woot! behavior).

GITDSMWWC hanging out on my desk with
gnome and hula girl (get it? hanging?)

doing what GITDSMWWCs do best on my dresser

Perhaps the growing collection of caped primates are attracting other wildlife to my apartment because as I stepped out of my truck early one evening last week, I was startled by the hissings of a baby possum. I'm sure he was rabies-laden (Myth! Rabies kills three people every year!), but he was kinda awesome-looking nonetheless. Had a real nice look going with that crazy white spikey do.

with my iPhone after i got out of my truck

went into grab my big camera, but he decided to run off

then he changed directions and ran into the pile of crap in my car port

I caught my first baseball game of the year. Erik and I drove out to Irvine to see the first game of a 3-game series with CSU Fullerton. We sat out in the General Admission lawn (parking was more expensive than the game ticket) and saw a back-and-forth battle ending in an Anteaters walk-off homer. Since Emily and Jack were out of town, I also managed to get Erik out to a Pinkie's beer dinner and other bachelor activities.

UCI vs CSUF: earth bleachers

Saturday I jumped in the way back machine and strode in the doors of my local audio purveyor for National Record Store Day. (What? You didn't know?) And, yes, I actually threw done a few bones for actual vinyl. I've been wanting to get some more after Kelsey got me that sweet Tom Petty Live anthology for Christmas. I grabbed The Best Of The Band (by The Band, duh) and Wilco's Sky Blue Sky. Now all I need is an actual record player. Anyone know when that holiday is?

like a real record store, man

fresh wax (is that lingo right?)

Funny thing about this record store is it's on the corner of a street that is only about a half block long in its entirety, but somehow is home to what had to be at least 10 hair-related shops. A salon oasis of sorts. Very odd, but I enjoyed it.

see?!?!?!

I typed this entire blog while watching the Cardinals game with my new MLB.TV subscription. I bought it this weekend and was really pumped until I tried to tune into Saturday's game. Apparently due to national TV contracts all weekend games are blacked out online. Ridiculous. Sure it's right there in the fine print, but who reads that? This bummed me out for a couple days, but I talked myself into it tonight, figuring if I can get 30-40 games this summer it will be money well spent. The streaming quality is much better than last year's postseason, except it stalls completely when I upload pictures to this here blog, so I put all that off until..... now.

Again! Again!

When I sat down to write this post, the first thing I did was look back at my last post. Funny enough, this post is about nearly the exact same subject. Simply replace Kelsey's winter recess with Kelsey's spring break, and voila! So this could be taken to mean that either a) my whole life revolves around my girlfriend now or b) my girlfriend takes up so much of my time that I rarely get to blog. The answer is actually none of the above. In actuality, I am writing fewer posts in attempt to shrink time. By writing the same number of posts in two months time that used to be polished off in a week, I am projecting the 6-8 weeks between dates to the mere matter of a few days. And this works because, as we all know, my life truly revolves around my blog. Did any of that make sense? No? Good.

With the undeniable similarity if these two trips I thought it only appropriate that we took a do-over jaunt to Santa Barbara. (In truth I only set up our trip there to provide the witty blog intro you read above.) If you recall, the New Year's trip there did not turn out so well, what with me vomiting violently and all. The plan was to take a couple nice hikes I researched that week, then head in to town for dinner and a night on the town. The "night on the town" part being surprise tickets to see Zac Brown Band in concert. My plan was to just happen along the concert after dinner and smoothly pull the tickets out of my pocket, but I ruined all that, naturally, by forgetting the tickets in the hotel room when we left for dinner. Whoops. While unimpressed with my execution of it, I believe she did appreciate the sentiment.

hiking through the flowers

hanging out in Gaviota wind caves

cave with an ocean view

zac brown band

Although I may lack executive skill, the planning of these things should undoubtedly be left to me, as Kelsey's only suggestion during the trip was a side trip to the Old Dutch town of Solvang. It took us 90 minutes and two ice cream cones to recognize it for the tourist trap that it is.

Dutch Town

The remainder of Kelsey's visit seemed to revolve mostly around eating unhealthy foods (probably my fault), but we did take a lot of walks (Kelsey's influence). Among the places we feasted were: world's best donuts at Randy's, the perfect meal at Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles, burgers, ice cream sandwiches and friends at Umami Burger, trays of delicious raw fish at Club Sushi, and incredible piles of flapjacks at the Original Pancake House. But best of all, Chef Kelsey cooked a delicious dinner one night, proving that she is an excellent cook and that my oven works.

top chef

Kelsey, please come back any time, as much as you like. Just give me a few hours notice so I can pick up all my dirty laundry.

More pics.

The Real L.A.

Coming back to LA after Christmas this year, I had a lot more than I left with, good and bad. Bad being that my bag was ten pounds over weight which meant a $90 fee (on top of the normal checking fee), and good being Kelsey came along with me for a visit. Ma and Pa Brown were generous enough to include airfare as part of Kelsey's Christmas gift. So she got to spend a week or so of her winter break out here with me.

Kelsey had been here before, and was less than impressed. Actually, other than a few insulting monikers, the only thing she seemed to remember about L. A. was the awful traffic. Clearly it was up to me to defend the honor of Southern California. In short introduce her to "Ryan's L. A."

An integral part of "Ryan's L. A." is, of course, Ryan's peeps. Justin and Jill met us for dinner one night (though I can't remember where), and then we came back to my place and all played on our iPhones. Come to find out the three of them also do the YMCA while I'm in the bathroom.

i don't know; it's what they do i guess

For New Year's Eve, we met Matt and Beth up in Santa Barbara. I drove us up through Malibu and along the coast, arriving in town a little early to walk around State St. and enjoy the afternoon. We met Matt and Beth at our hotel, just across the street from the beach. We all chatted for a while (I seem to recall everyone was picking on me) then retired the rooms to change in preparation for the evening festivities. The plan was to have dinner at the steakhouse in the resort, then head downtown to ring in the new year. Dinner was an excellent 4-course prix fixe (steak was fantastic, though I won't order the meringue again). The four of us hopped a cab, and the cabbie dropped us at his recommended watering hole, Joe's Cafe. We sidled up to the bar to grab a round. It was there we met the coaches for New Zealand's Under-20 rugby team who proceeded to bug us the rest of the night. Still we had a ball and with much effort found a cab to take us back after midnight.

revelers at joe's cafe, santa barbara

...Which is right when things took a turn for the worse. The stomach flu had raged through my family and Kelsey the week before. I had been lucky enough to avoid during my visit home. Apparently, only just that long as I began vomiting immediately upon arriving back at the hotel. As this thing goes, I continued to vomit for the next 24 hours, including the 2-hour drive back to LA (Kelsey drove admirably if a little nervous). She also sat patiently with me that day as we loafed around my apartment, me just moaning on the couch or dry heaving in the bathroom (sorry, no pics from that day). Some vacation, eh, Kels? And sorry I had to cancel the camping, I'll make it up to you.

But the next morning I was fine again, so we went out for a BIG breakfast at The Ketle (I think I still managed to eat less than Kelsey, evn though I was starving from not eating the previous day) and took a walk around Manhattan Beach. Then I took us for a drive around the becahes and cliffs of Palos Verdes and down to San Pedro to kick around the parks (Pt. Fermin and Korean Bell). Then stopped home to grab some sodas and root beers and up north to one of my favorite spots, Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Park. It's a pretty, green park in the middle of an oil and industrial area, an oasis of sorts, and has a spectacular view of downtown L.A. and the Hollywood Hills. The view that day was spectacularly clear as recent rains had washed away the particulate layer that hovers over the city. We just layed around for a couple hours, talking and goofing off with the cameras. All that goofing off really worked up our appetites, fortunately it was just a short drive to Father's Office 2 from there for the world's best burger (seriously).

manhattan beach pier (and kelsey)

picnicking at hahn srp (downtown in background)

again (hollywood in back)

life-altering burger

From there the days all run together for me, but I do remember seeing Avatar in IMAX 3D (Kelsey's a huge nerd), meeting the work group for lunch at Rinaldi's, dinner at El Tarasco with Gwen, and spending an afternoon walking around Laguna Beach. So, yeah, pretty great visit. Can't wait to do it again in about two weeks.

laguna beach

playing in the sand

As always, more pics.

Home For Christmas

Christmas is easily one of my favorite times of the year. I get to go home and see all my family and some friends. This year was just that much better because I got to visit a special friend (hint, she's a girl, yes!). I know Christmas was about six weeks ago (happy Valentine's Day), and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it, but hey, get off my back. I've been real busy. Besides, don't you all have something better to do? No? OK, read on then...

It was so good to be back home and see all the familiar faces. Actually, because they are growing so fast, a couple faces are only just familiar (and not the same old faces I see every year - I kid, I kid). Rease is changing and growing fast. And she is getting to where she is really developing her own personality (and not a boring newborn that just lays there and sleeps and cries - ay, this post is taking on a harsh tone, oh well, roll with it). She's actually pretty cute and kind of hilarious sometimes. And Riley well, he's just growing into more personality. Gotta love the kid though. Actually, if you're Kelsey, you could love him a little less. Talking about your boyfriend a little more, and not so much of the Riley. Kapeesh?

the kids

The Tuttles weren't the only family around though. We were fortunate to have Ivens (our former foreign exchange student) and the Gomes family in town for a few days. They spent Christmas with us and took part in all the yelling, laughing, eating, pinata breaking, and other traditional Christmas activities. I also spent considerable time at the Browns, who were very generous and welcoming and an all around pleasure to be around. They are, after all, the only ones who help me keep Kelsey in check (not so at the Tuttle home - everyone gangs up on me poor me). Kelsey was also gracious enough to bring me around to meet some of her friends, who all welcomed me very warmly. Thank you.

mealtime with the tuttles and gomes

the browns: bruce, reta, bear

post-christmas haps

christmas pinata

All in all, it was a great time, and I only wish it could last longer. I miss all of you. More photos.

The Aftermath (For Me That Happened To Be Study Hall)

When last I left you, Kelsey and I had just had brunch at her parents the post-wedding Sunday. I had booked my return flight for Tuesday morning, which left a couple days to visit with the family and do the usual tour of food and soda. We managed to hit the usual spots: Mr. Happy Burger (probably a couple times), Bruno's, and even the last day for B&K (even if it had to be West - right Micah?). Even got a home-cooked meal too (thanks, Ma). Kelsey was game enough to stick around for most of it too. Which was great aside from her coining the phrase "Lazy Uncle Ryan." Not appreciated; you're supposed to be on my side. I don't have much else to say except that it was so great to see you all, as usual, and a special thanks to Kelsey for being brave enough to weather the storm that is the Tuttles. Can't wait to see you all in a little over a week. I'll leave you with some of my favorites pics, and if that doesn't seem like enough, well, you can always stop by here.

trip to the pumpkin patch with the

ever-entertaining Riley

little wallabies

Uncle Ryan

a couple cuties

Plus One

So a couple posts ago I told you all about my new gal Kelsey and out first date out there in San Francisco. If you recall - and I'm sure you all do as you likely pour over each of my posts to the point that it's committed to memory - that actually wasn't supposed to be our first date. She had done me the great honor of granting me the privledge of being her companion to the wedding of her (and my) friend Betsy. I guess you could say that Betsy and Kelsey were closer than, say, Betsey and I. The best evidence of this fact being that Kelsey was in the wedding and I was, ahem... uninvited. Now I've been to a few weddings in recent history, but this one was quite different because (a) it wasn't for one of my sisters, (b) I wasn't responsible for doing anything - see (a), and (c) I got to go with a gorgeous young woman. I win.

I decided to fly in a night early and try and see some old friends from my days at Lewis Cass. We all met up in Indy at Ise's bar for dinner and drinks. We had such a time talking about who knows what; I just remember I was laughing the whole time. So great to see everyone and very generous of Ise (I don't think any of us paid much, and I personally didn't pay for a thing - thanks, Deet). Definitely something we should start doing more often.

the gang

After crashing with Deeter for the night (thanks again, Deet) I headed up towards Kokomo for the wedding festivities, stopping to take care of a few errands on the way. Last being dropping off my rental car where Kelsey picked me up. We stopped off to drop our things - and by drop our things, I mean drop my bag and somehow try to corrall the unsorted contents of Kelsey's trunk together long enough to get them in the hotel (seriously, you're organized?) - before heading to the rehearsal.

The rehearsal was very smooth and quick (didn't seem to be near as many people talking at once as at the other rehearsals I've been to), but then I just had to sit in the back and keep quiet, so it's possible I slepth through a large portion. Kidding. From there it was on to a very nice rehearsal dinner at the Half Moon (?) Brewery. P.S. I had the brisket. Kelsey's parents made it over after to visit, and it was a lot fun hanging out with them and all the wedding party, family, etc.

rehearsal

Saturday morning I was on my own as Kelsey was off doing whatever it is bridal parties do, so I got to sleep in and catch just a little bit of football before departing for the church. The ceremony was really beautiful and everyone involved performed admirably. I was able steal a few moments with Kelsey (who looked so pretty) after the ceremony before she got whisked away with the rest of the contingency for picture time. It was at this point I should have realized how brisk and windy it was outside and offered up my jacket, but I can be pretty dense. I lose.

kelsey (on the right)

With an hour or so to kill before the reception, the Parents Brown and I found a lounge to watch a little football. Once at the reception I began to see a bunch of friendly faces from days gone by (most of which I even remembered). The food was actually excellent, and everyone seemed to be having a rollicking good time. Including Kelsey, who was officially listed in the wedding program as "Friend of the bride: bridesmaid and life of the party." I'm not making this up. Fortunately, I wasn't required to keep up with her at the reception and was free to take pictures and eat cake. We've all got to play to our strengths, right?

bride and groom

life of the party

Kelsey's parents were so kind and made a huge breakfast for us at their house the next morning. It was all delicious. Then we drove over to my parents where we would spend the larger portion of the next two days. But more on that later. Until then, there are more wedding pics here.

Spoiler Alert

I have the most difficult time with automated sinks. I don't know what it is about me, but I wave may hands all around and it takes forever* for it to come on. I'll even try different sinks, and look for one that is already wet so I know it's not broken. The most recent time was in the airport last week. Then it came to my mind, "I wonder if I'm a ghost like Bruce Willis in the Sixth Sense?" I decided likely not since I have no trouble with the automated toilets and hand dryers. Something weird about them sinks, though, man.