It's Been So Long Since Last We Met, Lie Down Forever, Lie Down.

First off, the title of this post is the first line of the Georgetown fight song. I'm not some sort of sick wierdo (for the most part). If you want to know the rest I will gladly sing it for you or you can click here.

I have been a bit lax in my blogging and I am sorry. I know that more and more of you are reading thanks to Google Analytics, including a visitor from Switzerland (thanks Justin), and some visitors for people search for Datamark… hmmm. Speaking of which, big ups to DMark and the crew. You know I love you guys, and the company as a whole is pretty great. I digress. Anyway, I will try to be more consistent with my blog posts. God I think I have my first New Year’s resolution. More to come.

Anyway, quick update on my life, Christmas was great. The power went out at my mom’s house so Christmas was moved to the compound this year. I got a TV for Christmas, but I got that awhile ago. I need to blog about it though. Later when there are pictures.

I also went to two birthday parties over the long weekend. They were fantastic. However, at some point in my life I have decided that if it is one person’s birthday celebration, it is a celebration for everyone, and now act as such. Not necessarily a bad attitude, but it can hurt the next morning.

I think that’s pretty much the update. I will have more around the New Year, but don’t expect anything about New Year’s Eve unless it has absolutely nothing to do with me.

Best Dinner EVER!

It was a little after 5pm at work, and as usual my mind starts to drift toward wrapping up the day and heading home. I get an email from Tyson asking me if I have left work yet. I know then that he wants me to get into some shenanigans. Apparently he wanted me to go with him for dinner at Takashi. We are always well taken care of when we go there, and the food gives me goosebumps so of course I agree to go.

We get there and immediately get sake and an appetizer. A feeling of joy overwhelmed me as the slight spice of the gyoza hit my taste buds. As we typically do at Takashi, the food comes in waves. Next, the maguro nigiri came and we had our first taste of sushi, in its rawest form.

We finally decide on the rolls that we will get for the evening and they arrive. Every time I go to Takashi I have to get the Tiger roll. It incorporates two of my favorite things: tempura shrimp and unagi. Seriously if you have never tried the eel, I would get some unagi nigiri as soon as possible. I digress. We also got a Spider roll which gets its name from the soft shell crab legs that protrude out of the side of it, and a Mexican roll that I assume gets its name from the peppers in it (one of which almost took Tyson’s tongue off).

As the rolls arrived, Tyson and I ordered the final “wave”. We have a tradition at Takashi and always order the filet mignon to share with the table. It is not a traditional filet, but rather arrives already sliced into strips, sautéed with portobello mushrooms, and covered in saffron. Many feel it is sacrilege to get something like filet at a sushi restaurant, but it is the best way to cap off the meal. As Tyson said as he was picking up little strings of saffron by themselves, “I can taste the money.” Just after the filet arrives and we were pouring our last shot of sake, another bottle of sake arrived courtesy of one of our friends that went to high school with us. Apparently he didn’t want us to get thirsty. Aahhhhhh…. Somehow the sake that we had during the course of the night never materialized on the bill, and the bill was taken care of as well. It is nice to have a best friend who is a concierge… and leaves the tip.

At one point during the course of the night, Tyson jokes that we should go to the Oyster Bar for crab legs after Takashi. We laughed… that was until our friend Wade came in to Takashi, having just left the Oyster Bar. He was just in for some sake and oyster shooters before heading to the strip club, but it made us think.

As we entered the Oyster Bar, our memberships of course taken care of, Tyson and I giggle like school girls. We stretch, our bellies already full with sushi, but there is always room for crab legs. We order our king crab legs as our server asks us if that is all we want. We explain that we have already had dinner, and we just have the craving for crab legs. She complements us on our choice saying, “That’s a great idea! Crab legs are all protein so they are perfect at the end of the night.” Amen sister. As I eat the crab meat dripping with butter (and an unfortunate lemon juice display by Tyson), I go into a trance like state, whirling as I am overcome with satisfaction. The homo waiters dance to the Janet Jackson song playing in the background.

After we are done, the waitress offers us dessert. I of course decline, as Tyson requests cheesecake to go, replacing the strawberry sauce with raspberry. Apparently this was for eating in bed when he gets home. I told him that if he fell asleep in bed with a half eaten slice of cheesecake I would tease him endlessly. We both know he would never tell me anyway because of this very fact. Although it did make me think of myself slowly crawling into my own bed; the crisp cold sheets sliding across my skin; my body warming a place for itself.

As we head home, and through the course of the night in fact, I think about how lucky I am. I make more that this point than I did when I first graduated from college, but I am far from being a rich person. However, all my life what I have lacked in funds, I have made up for in ingenuity. Somehow me and my friends have always found a way to enjoy some of the finer things in life. The fact that all of this occurs in Salt Lake City, Utah adds another layer. We have a thriving little urban scene here if only you attempt to partake. Bottom line, when it comes down to it, my life is hard, but someone’s got to live it.

If I Live on The Compound Do I Have to/Get to Drink the Koolaid?

It is official. I am moving from 1518 to my own place at about 12th East and 28th South (No I am not going to let any of you know my exact address). This decision has been made after much drama (which I will not get into here). I hate to leave my roommates, but sometimes you have to leave the nest. Plus as anyone who has roommates knows, I both love and hate my roommates, and I am sure the feeling is mutual.

This should be quite the interesting journey. This will be my first time living alone. I have almost no furniture so I am going to have to buy an entire house worth. On the more exciting side, I will be living in what we lovingly call The Compound, as the entire area is surrounded by my friends and their families. It is like the Kennedy compound, but with much less money and slightly less drinking (the koolaid tastes like Voddy). It should be great fun being surrounded by people I love, yet at the same time being on my own. That reminds me, I need to remind them all to never come over without calling and giving me a 5 minute head start… I’m not kidding.

Sex and the City

Last night was Thursday so that means it is time for all of the little hussies to go out. First I went to see Amanda's new diggs. Then I went to the Gallivan again. It was much better this time. I only had to stand in line for about 10 minutes before I got a (read 2) beer(s) as compared to the hour long ordeal last time. Once again it was a reunion. I like that. I ran into this girl Meghan that I met at a wedding a couple of weeks ago. She is like a girl version of me. She was rocking the bangs mod style with a black top, leatherette leggings with yellow day glow stilettos and pink day glow nail polish. Hot! Of course we ran into some Judge kids. I actually at one point was eavesdropping on a conversation and all I heard them say was , "Judge, Judge, pack our fudge!" Seemed very apropos.

After Gallivan we went to Murphy's which was awesome. There I harassed Oliver's brothers. One was driven away twice by my graphic comments. The other I made fun of because he put his hair into a half up bun. I told him he looked like Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai. Of course we ran into more people there, especially after the concert ended and people started to trickle in. Actually I was kinda dissed by Julianne Hancock. I was pissed.

After Murphy's I went to The Door. By that point it was a bit fuzzy, but I remember being naughty (more on that on my MySpace blog). However, I did avoid the person that I said I was going to start to avoid in last week's blog. Good for me. Also I saw some lesbian wearing the same pinstripe shorts I bought yesterday. Made me rethink my purchase a bit, but I gave her props.

One thing I kept focusing on last night was how much I love the city of Salt Lake. I love being downtown and smelling the summer city air. I love standing in the crowded Gallivan with all of your favorite peeps, looking at the highrises that soar above. I love the bike culture that is developing. I love that everyone knows everyone. I love how many hot and funny people call Salt Lake home. I swear it is like guzzling from the cup of life. Make sure you enjoy and appreciate it this weekend.

"You're a Functioning Alcoholic"

Last night was fickin' awesome. Lindz, Nate, and I decided to go blow off some steam and watched the All-Star game at Lumpy's. I care nothing about baseball, but I would like to congratulate all of the beers that I drank and the shot that I took. You guys are the really winners and in much less innings. Anyway, the 3 of us laughed so hard. Our conversation was so RAW!

The reason that we needed to go out was that life has been a bit frustrating. Don't get me wrong, things for the most part are great, but I think that we are all starting to feel the weight of adulthood. I am having many more conversations about bills, careers, relationships (aka my want to settle into one), and the most adult topic of all - real estate.

I guess for me I have been a little bit off and out of balance since I felt my previous agency. Not because I missed it or because it grounded me. I do miss the people and it was a great learning experience, but I think in many ways it put me in a rut that I needed to get out of. At first it was great as I had a lot of fun; mixed things up; caused some trouble (not really). Then I got back to work and have been focusing on that, which has been great. However, I have realized that this past few months I have neglected some areas of my life. I need a new gym membership, I need to go to the dentist (and probably the doctor), and I need new cable and internet service. All are goals for Q3.

Above that, I have found other frustrations within my life that I want to address; namely my living situation. I love my roommates and all, but of course they can be frustrating. Plus I end up feeling like the dad of the house even though I'm the youngest. I am really at the point where I want to buy a place and have more control over my environment. I need serenity outside of work as my professional life can be stressful. Today at work in fact was crazy as the printer wasn't working (for the second day in a row and when I needed to print a lot of stuff), my computer was moving at the speed of Special Olympic hurdler and was just being weird, and we were trying to launch a campaign for tomorrow and nothing was going right with the creative. At some point you just say fuck it.

Honestly though as I start to take care of the issues that are frustrating me, it just gets worse. Trying to get your financial "house" in order, in order to get a house, makes you want to strangle someone. I consolidated my student loans recently and my automatic payments got all jacked ( I ask you where does a voided check that was UPS'd with the other documents that allowed this transaction to go through go?). When I tried to just log in and make a payment while I worked out that situation, apparently my SSN, DOB, and Zip do not match in their database. I need a drink.

Then I get indecisive with the small things. I have been debating gyms, dentists, and digital cable solutions for months. I am clearly a whack job.

Anyway, moral of the story is that I need to take a chillaxative, and just take care of business. More importantly, some times you need to lose a bit of focus, aka blow off a little steam, in order to regain focus... well and so you don't go off on someone.

Christian Bale is Fucking Cheesy

Hey y'all. I had a nice little weekend. I wasn't feeling well on Friday so I just stayed in to recoup. It was kinda nice and gave me an early start on Saturday.

On Saturday I went to Babylon at Bliss. It was okay. At least it was different. However, the name sucks, the drinks were poorly made (aka I could taste the cola in my long island), and because it was new everyone in their dog was there and I kept running into people, some I did not want to see. Then of course I got drunk and pissy. It worked out alright though.

Funny story, the cab driver over to the beginnings of my "after club journeying" hit on me and I totally took the digits which I was supposed to use to "call after 3". Luckily I'm not that crazy, but it is a funny story (you know me and "the story"). Plus Nate and I got treated to the story of the girls in the cab before us that were flashing. I swear I literally asked if I was on Taxi Cab Confessions.

Anyway, Sunday was Tyson's BBQ, and I got wayyyyyy drunk. Look at what we did to Christian Bale, and to my magazine bible, Details (that needs a whole nother blog). Sadly shortly after this picture I licked all of the cheese off of Mr. Bale, and even more sad I have another similar picture with Ryan Seacrest on the cover of Details which is completely unrelated.

Anyway, I can't wait for this weekend so I can see the Dark Knight...

P.S. Doesn't Mr. Bale look the Captain from Captain Morgan Rum in this picture?

The Roots

Last night was a little bizarre. I first I felt like I was bribing people to come see an awesome show for free, and then we ended up having a nice group. It kinda made me feel old. Anyway.

So of course the Gallivan was packed. We waited in the beer line for an hour. Then we waited in the line for the bathroom for 2o minutes. Then we left. I didn't even get to hear The Seed.

Of course every outing at the Gallivan is like a reunion. Saw lots of people. I was keeping a count of the ones that I ran into that I had had some sort of sexual contact with (more than kissing). I ended up with 6.

I bitched a lot in the beer line. I talked about how old people should be banned, and kids should be banned, and emos should be banned (even though I like them), and ugly people should be banned, and people over 225 pounds should be banned. It will be nice when it settles down and all of Salt Lake is not at the Gallivan.

There were a lot of quotables too. I can't remember most, but my favorite went a little something like this:
Tyson: [flicks Jarett with a rubber band]
Jarett: Ouch that hurt!
Tyson: You hurt my feelings.
Jarett: What are those?
Tyson: They are little stones that I carry around in my pocket.
Jarett: Well you should lose them because they are worthless and weighing you down.

I learned a couple of things too. The dude I randomly put my arm around last week thinking it was one of my friends only to discover that it was not, was still actually someone I know. Guys are way cruel, especially to women. There are some people that I need to stay away from because they are no good for me, even though they are not doing anything that is particularly bad. Oh and headaches suck.