Fraize Dotcom

Not alot has been going on over here – I’ve been working hard at ThinkGeek, making a few mistakes, but otherwise having fun. I feel underproductive, but everybody tells me that I need to walk before I run, so I’m trying to be patient. The weather took a wicked Austin-like turn, pushing temps into the high-nineties. Still, at least we have air-conditioning, unlike the poor Brits…

I hung out with Rolf, Jen and Wille, and my folks last night at a local Mexican Restaurant. It was muy yummy – made better by killer margaritas.

Jen and Willie took me to Blue Ocean, their local sushi place (right next door to EB Games). I had a chirashi bowl, which was actually a bento full of sashimi and rice. Not too bad – not as good as Origami, but not bad. Willie and I also enjoyed some very good premium sake. The place is run by Japanese, which was a pleasant surprise. I could actually talk to the folks that work there, and they were highly impressed I could speak it. Onegaishimasu!

Okay, what the hell, huh? I move here less than 2 months ago, and already I’ve had my second cold. Come on! I can’t say what it is that’s causing my immune system to collapse. I’m in a new environment, I’m sleeping less, my diet has changed, and I stopped eating my vitamins. It could be one or all of these. Who knows?

A couple of weeks ago, I had dinner with some old friends from High-School. We hadn’t changed much, just had different stories to tell. Kurt (below-left) cracked me and Chris (below-right) up with stories from the ATF – it was a hell of a good time.

My sister is a huge MLS fan – oh, she loveses the professional soccer. I, as some of you know, prefer the English Premier League, but I still enjoy the footie. She has season tickets to see DC United, our local professional soccer team, and invites me to join her from time to time. This season, she says, we are lucky to have an outstanding team that’s only seen 1 defeat in 18 games. I am impressed, don’t get me wrong, but I wondered how they would fare against some European teams.

Gearing up for the beginning of the Scottish Premier League, Celtic FC is touring the US, playing MLS teams in “friendlies” (matches that don’t count). Frankly, I expected a rout, but not quite like this.

Celtic FC showed excellent ball control, but were outrun, and ultimately completely outclassed by DC United. One of their forwards was even sent off with a red card, which was completely unexpected in a so-called “friendly” game. It was rather embarassing for them.

I have some pictures which I might post. Stay tuned while I get them organized.

About a week ago, my beloved Prius threw a big ugly error code in the form of an ominous exclamation mark in the center touchscreen console. The last time that happened, the car wouldn’t drive at all. This time, however, the car drove fine.

I took it to the dealership. They looked at it, and looked at it, and looked at it. They scratched their heads for a week. Finally, they figured out it was a loose ground wire. After fixing it, I noticed that my GPS was working again! Woo-hoo!!

So, once again, Sparky is back up and running. Oh, how I missed my GPS… At least now, I don’t have to buy a new car!

Sunday, Heather and I went to Ashburn to see Toad the Wet Sprocket play. The weather was perfect – low 80’s and nice breezes kept the 3000 strong fans nice and cool. Big Head Todd and the Monsters opened to a warm reception, but Toad really rocked the place. They played most of the usual hits, and some really rare ones – you should have seen Heather freak out when they played Little Heaven.

After the show, the band hung out for a good hour and a half chatting and signing autographs! Dean, the bass player, was very cordial, talking with everyone, telling stories, and just being a very sweet guy. Todd recognized Heather from the last time she hung out with the band – how cool!! Glen was very nice, and seemed touched when I told him how his last album, Winter Pays For Summer, helped me through my rough patch last year.

I posted some pictures here. Enjoy!

This weekend is going to be choc-a-bloc full of entertainment. Today (Saturday), we have my sister’s famous July 4th Extravaganzabration. Please ignore the fact that it’s the 8th. It’s usually full of family, ribs and beer. Good times…good times…

Tomorrow (Sunday), Toad the Wet Sprocket comes to Ashburn. Heather is a big fan. A. Big. Fan. As I sit, she’s talking to her friend Stacy on the phone about the Baltimore show Stacy enjoyed recently. It’s actually quite amusing! They’re discussing playlists, how the artists looked, even where the lighting rig is situated with relation to the stage. Like I said, she’s a big fan.

I suspect I’m going to catch hell for that last paragraph. Heee!

I’m updating the blog with the latest build of Community Server. I deleted all my old posts because I think my database schema got a bit flaky, having gone through several beta upgrades.

I’m going to try and re-submit all my old content, but there’s a fair chance that won’t happen. Stay tuned.