Socrates justifies this blog

I’m letting my facial hair grow out for no reason what so ever.

… Recently, tennis player Serena Williams lost her U.S. Open semifinal match due to her receiving a penalty point on match point against Kim Clijsters.

She had received a warning/code violation after she lost the first set when she broke her racket in frustration.

The penalty came when, on national television, she verbally abused a line judge that called her for a foot fault causing her to earn a penalty point. I say earn because they usually don’t give those out very much.

She clearly went off the deep end telling the line judge from what could be heard on camera: “I swear to God I’m … going to take this … ball and shove it down your … throat, you hear that? I swear to God.” The ellipses are in place of swear words, I’m sure you can figure it out.

The line judge promptly ran to tell the chair umpire and a conversation began that also included the tournament referee. While most of what was said couldn’t be heard, you could clearly hear Serena say: “I didn’t say I was going to kill you. I didn’t say that.”

Did she say that? Only the people truly close to the action know that answer. What can’t be denied is she did tell the line judge she would shove the ball down her throat. Now, I don’t know what the chances of survival are with a tennis ball being shoved down your throat, but they are probably not good. While, Serena may not have said she would kill the line judge, one could say she did threaten her life by saying she would do such an action.

… With three weeks left to go before I go to Mexico, I received some good news about the trip. The Mexican National Soccer Team defeated Honduras this past Wednesday and could secure a spot in the 2010 World Cup with a victory on Oct. 10 over El Salvador. My cousin is working on getting tickets.

I’ve been to plenty of sports venues in Southern California covering things or just being a fan. The biggest crowd I’ve been a part of was during the 1994 World Cup semifinals at the Rose Bowl in front of a crowd of over 91,000.

This event will probably top that for two reasons. The site for the World Cup qualifier can hold about 105,000 people. So far an average of 95,000 have showed up, however, with a chance to see the national team advance to South Africa, there could be more people watching.

The second reason, and the reason why it draws me so much, is that unlike when I went to the World Cup semifinal, this time it will seem like an entire nation will be in that stadium rooting for their team and I want to be a part of that.

I have a friend of mine that has been to there to watch the U.S. and Mexico play a WC qualifier four years ago and he said it is unlike any place he’s been. I hope so.

… The following is from a facebook note I wrote more than a week ago:

For those that really know me, they know that I spend a lot of time in thought.

Recently my friends and I went to see comedian Demetri Martin perform at the Grove of Anaheim and we all had a great time. A day later a friend of mine showed me a show he did years ago titled “If I.” This stand up isn’t so much a stand up as it is a reflection of his life. While it is funny, it's not his funniest show; however, it is his best show because it is extremely well written.

Now, I’m deep, but I’m not this deep. I do look believe in looking at other perspectives than mine. In fact, one of those exercises at the end is something I do; the “If I...?” game especially now.

If I had chosen a different major in college, how different would my life be right now? I’d be working in a secure field, maybe. I’m 99 percent sure I’d be married. Knowing what I do know now about my college sweetheart, however, I’d probably either divorced or close to one.

The one thing for sure is that if you are reading this and I met you after my sophomore year in college you would be doing something else right now because there is no way we would have met. In a small way, my major choice affected you at this very moment.

The unexamined life is not worth living, man.

For those of you that have 40 minutes to kill, I invite you to watch it. It's in six parts and here is the first.

Back to plan A

… In an attempt to burn vacation time, I took two mini vacations.

If you remember from the last time, I took my dad to Las Vegas. He learned Las Vegas was much more than just gambling. I also did my best to take him around the world. On the first day we went to New York, Paris and Rome. On the final day we went to Venice, Medieval England and Egypt. In between we went to Hoover Dam.

While it was in the 100s, my father kept up with me. For two days, we were able to do a lot. We even went downtown, a trip that really didn’t impress him. He was impressed with the water show at the Bellagio; so much so that we went twice that first night.

Hoover Dam was impressive. It took a while to get to, but I recommend it. It’ll be a lot easier to get to once they finish the bypass that will help reduce traffic. This trip to the dam also allowed me to cross Arizona off the list of states I’ve never been to. I do wish they still kept the board drawn on the street. I also wished Arizona would follow daylight savings since the clock on that side was the same on the Nevada side.

After the trip to the dam, we visited family in Las Vegas – my cousin and her family. My dad had been looking forward to that part of the trip since he had not seen them in years, if not longer.

All in all, my dad had a great time and that was the most important thing. He said he’d be willing to go again. I’m willing to make it more of a family event next time.

… The second mini vacation involved less travel. I spent time with friends for the most part. I went golfing to with a group of strangers and I learned a valuable lesson – only golf with friends on a standard course.

I also saw a local independent wrestling company called Pro Wrestling Guerilla. My friend James had introduced me to it more than a year ago and I had always wanted to go back.

I took a friend of mine and we were packed into an American Legion Hall in Reseda. I gave my friend the same warning I got from James: If you see the crowd running, you run with that crowd. With the ring less than six feet away from the front row, there were plenty of times the fans were indirectly a part of the action. (And yes, there is a good chance I’ll be in the DVD.)

On the final night, I saw comedian Demetri Martin perform at the Grove of Anaheim. It was an excellent show and he is an excellent performer not afraid of taking chances. It was also a good time with a group of friends.

… The job hunt is still slow. Although this past week I got a reply to an application I had made just saying they had received it. That’s a first; however, I just know it is a courtesy letter. At least these people are nice about it.

In May, I jumped off of the original plan of finding work first, a new place to live second and love third and took a chance. Here I am, a day away from September back on Plan A.

As I’ve learned before, happiness is a fleeting thing. I’m grateful for the chance but know that there is nothing more to do.

This isn’t the: be all, end all either. I just have to refocus myself on getting off of the lifeboat I’m on at work. Once I get settled there, then I can work on the rest of me.

However, as I thought about it, do I really want to find someone then?

The premise behind that question is this: everyone likes a winner. Now I’m not saying I’m a loser by any means, but what I am saying is externally I’m not that impressive. And if I can’t find someone that will accept me now, how do I know they truly accept me after I’m able to land a new job with normal hours?

Well that question is something I’m going to have to answer when the time comes. I’ve been told to put up a wall, but I just can’t because that is not me so I anticipate more pain later.

No matter how bad it is, however, I’m still glad and I am doing a lot better than the beginning of the year. I’m internally stronger than most people think.

Again, it’s what you can’t see.

The faith of 100,000 fans

I’m a bit early this week, but I have things to do.

… Between this and my next blog will be my mother’s birthday on August 24 – my mother would’ve been 69.

It’s been four months since her death and it still has not been easy for my family. I’ve talked with some of my siblings and they have told me they didn’t really know to what lengths this would have affected them.

We all agree, however, we do have someone looking after us. A few of us has some sort of story of some kind of help that we can’t explain, including me.

Since Mother’s Day, I’ve been to church on a regular basis only missing once when my family didn’t go when I showed up expecting to. I go back every time because, in a way, I feel close to her.

I did pray to her once to help me out. Usually, I never pray for help because I always felt that “powers that be” always had more important things to do. Not only that, I believed they gave me the power to do what I could on my own without any extra help.

So when I prayed for help to my mom, she did answer and bless me for a short time with something I had been missing.

As that happened, I also thought to myself that my mom also gave me those gifts of coping and realizing my own potential. Since then, I haven’t prayed for any personal help. I do ask her to watch over my father and to not worry about me as I’ll be fine.

I will be fine. My parents raised me right.

… This coming Monday, I take my father to Las Vegas for the first time in his life. The room and the rental car are all booked up.

Going to Las Vegas had been a routine for me since I was able to go to UFC fights. During one span, I went six times in seven months. But since I’ve done that less and trips have been few and far in between, well for my standards.

I look forward to this trip. It’s not often you get to take someone new to Las Vegas. I’ll also get a chance to do some things I’ve never done: a trip up the Eiffel Tower, Hoover Dam and we are going to see family that lives in town (I’m meeting more family all the time).

It should be a fun time.

… The flights are all but booked to Mexico. After talking with two of my sisters that are going to Mexico and my dad, we have the flights selected.

One of my other sisters that went with my parents to Mexico City before said they enjoyed touring her around. I’m look forward to that with my dad, but I have an idea of something else to do.

I found out there is a World Cup qualifying match while I’m there. I’ve been to a World Cup semifinal but I’m looking forward to this because it will take place at a stadium that seats 105,000 people and it will be the faith and pride of an entire nation on the line. That will make for an amazing experience at Estadio Azteca.

… It turns out I was the big winner in the most days driven to Torrance for work after the transfer a year ago. I went to work for 209 days, two more over second place and about 10 more days after third. So this means I also get the biggest mileage check. I won’t get the biggest settlement check since I don’t have child care.

But I’m getting closer to free money.

Hey, I remember you

I just finished up a three-day weekend; during an actual weekend no less.

... Before I go to Mexico with my father, there will be another trip we take.

I called him a week ago, as I usually do, and he told me he would be coming to Southern California sometime in August. I need to take time off and asked him when he was thinking about coming down.

Then it hit me. I asked him in Spanish, “Want to go to Las Vegas?”

Kind of to my surprise he said yes.

So, I went to work and found a room for us at Bally’s, at the heart of the strip. The room came with coupons and vouchers for restaurants around that area and two tickets to the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris which is located right there.

In fact, I’m going to attempt to give him a world trip all there: Paris, Rome with Caesar’s Palace and New York, New York. I also plan on taking him to Hoover Dam.

Heat is a concern of mine, but I think that if we just stay in air conditioned places and just look around, we’ll be fine. As for gaming, I’m sure he’ll just stick to the slots which may mean a trip to downtown, but we’ll see.

It should be fun.

… Just when I thought my new cell phone couldn’t be any more fun, it is.

With the addition of Bluetooth headphones, it becomes as close to having my computer with me at all times. Not only that, but it also can make and receive phone calls too with a better quality than my current headset.

With my songs already loaded into the Micro SD card, listening to them now is much more enjoyable. And, if I ever want to watch a video without bothering anyone around me, I can.

Now, if I can just get that headset to work on my computer.

… I’ve been on facebook for about a year and a half. During that time I’ve primarily used it for sharing youtube videos, interesting photos and other mundane stuff. Until two weeks ago, I never really thought much more of it.

I’ve lived in Southern California for 13 years now. It’s easier for me to lose contact with friends all the way up to high school since I moved half a state away. My friends down here, for the most part, don’t really have to do a search to find long lost friends because their family has remained in the area.

I, along with another friend, had been searching for a long lost co-worker of ours from the Daily 49er newspaper. The last time I had heard from him was by e-mail. Then two weeks ago, I woke up and saw an e-mail with the information of a long lost friend on facebook. In no time, I added him and he accepted. Finally the Daily 49er’s Holy Trinity had returned.

I had contacted another long lost friend – one from the second grade. The last time I had truly spoken to him was when I was a freshman in college. Thanks to another friend who coaxed him into joining facebook, I don’t think I would’ve gotten a hold of him.

I would get a hold of two more people and in the span of about 30 hours would communicate with four people I probably wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for facebook. It was nice to hear from people and catch up with what they have been doing.

The big question asked three of the four times was: So what happened? Each answer is not simple. Most of it is recounting things that are painful – to thy own self be true. However, each time, there was a greater sense of hope in each story and that things have been better ever since.

The important thing is that the last four friends I added wondered like I wondered, what happened to this person. In some way, our mark was made with someone and it was not easily forgettable regardless of the time.

Yes, there were changes from the last time I talked with them. At the same time, it was like nothing changed when I talked to them.