It's been far too long since I've written an article. Several pretty big things have happened in the last couple of weeks though that sucked up a lot of my time. I've also continued to work overtime every week as there isn't enough time for everything I need to get done. I also took several trips, one work related, and one for fun. I'll discuss those below.

Trip to Rocky Point

As I mentioned in the last article, I was preparing for a volleyball tournament in Rocky Point, Mexico. The format of the tournament was co-ed sand fours. I was heading down with several people, namely my good friends Emy, Nolan, and Krista. Krista was just going down to enjoy a weekend in Mexico. The fourth player on our team was driving to Mexico by himself. There was serious concern about whether he would be prepared, but we trusted that it would all work out.

We had an uneventful drive to Mexico, and got settled in at the resort hotel we were staying at. I had never been to this particular beachside resort before, and I was blown away. They had more rooms than they could ever hope to fill, and each one was filled nice decorations and comfortable furniture. Walking out to the deck led to a huge spa and pool, and a little further, the beach (and a bar right above the sand). I knew we were going to have a great weekend. We got some food that night at the pre-tournament dinner gathering, where a huge number of players came in costume. A live band also played later in the night. Nolan and I were pretty serious about playing though, so we headed back a little early and got some good rest.

The next day, we headed to the beach completely prepared to play. Adam never showed up, and didn't call us. We still hoped that he would show up, even if he was a little late. As time kept ticking, and we approached the start of the tournament, we got less and less optimistic about his appearance. Even with three though, we played incredible. Emy played solid defense, I gave Nolan killer sets, and he put every ball away with style. We were beating the best teams out there with only 3, and it felt great. By the end pool play, we were 1st place out of around 16 teams, and we were definitely drawing attention. Our only concern was if Nolan could keep up his tempo.

By the time we started tournament play, we had given up on Adam showing up. I would only learn later that he had forgotten his birth certificate, so he was turned away at the border (poor guy). We started out the tournament playing fairly well and won our first game. In the second game, we played the only team we had lost to in pool play, and once again, they proved to be too much for us. We started climbing the loser's bracket, but Nolan started cramping up, and I knew we were done for. We wound up getting something like 8th or 10th place, which wasn't too shabby for three people. The best part of the trip was just chilling on the beach, enjoying the perfect weather, surrounded by great people (and beautiful women ).

Microsoft Developer Conference

This past week, I was given the opportunity to go to the Microsoft Developer Conference. It was a really cool experience (from a software developer's perspective). Microsoft is introducing some new software that has the potentially to do great things for the web, including Azure for cloud computing, and their new Silverlight. Their new IDE, Visual Studio 2010, looks like it could really be a winner. The best about the conference was that they gave us free laptops! Every attendee was given an Acer 1420P. Talk about an amazing surprise. The laptop has a touchscreen and supports multi-touch. It has windows 7 installed on it, as well as some of Microsoft's newest software. It's my new best friend

Aside from the trips I've taken, and work, I've been using my free time to play a lot of piano, as well as League of Legends and Left for Dead 2. I wish I had more time to continue recording and writing music, but things have just been too crazy lately.

As a side note, I've been experiencing some lower back/hip pain for the last couple months ever since my trip to Japan. It just kept getting worse and worse, probably because I never iced the muscle or let it recover properly. I'm now paying the price. Doctors have been absolutely no help, of course, but I was convinced to visit an acupuncturist who really gave me great information. He helped show me which muscle was pulled (it's deep in the hip and not obvious), and told me that he could take care of it in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, he showed me some extra stretches I could perform to help. In conjunction with that, I got a stretching video from a chiropractor who I trust and respect. For the last several weeks, I stretch every morning and night, and let me tell you, it makes a huge difference. It's also really rewarding - you watch your flexibility increase by huge amounts, and your muscles feel tremendous afterward. I'm almost to the point now where I can bend straight over with locked legs, and put my palms on the ground in front of me. I've never been quite this flexible before, so I'm gonna stick with it. I think everyone should give this a try, especially if they have a desk job, as it will help keep you healthier longer (stretching throughout the day isn't a bad idea either...)

Anyways, I will try not to wait so long to write another article. Next time perhaps I can cover some of the really interesting movies I've watched, or some of the new music cds I've picked. Until then!

It's been awhile since the last time I posted. I've been working extremely long weeks (60-70 hours), and spending the rest of my time with miscellaneous activities like working out. This last weekend, I went camping with my family up in Flagstaff. Although the location was amazing (Dairy Spring Campgrounds), going camping on a holiday weekend is not a smart plan. We spent at least double the normal amount of time driving, and the campers around us were noisy and inconsiderate. That aside, spending time with the family is always great.

I've decided to take this entire next week off, so I have a lot of big plans. I should be putting out lots of music, and finishing up the Japan trip articles. I also have a volleyball tournament Saturday. Wish me luck on a great week!

What an eventful weekend I just had. It's probably easiest if I go day by day:

Friday

I had to wake up at the break of dawn to get my car to Tucson to get my windshield replaced. I failed to factor in morning traffic though, and wound up late. Luckily, the people at Ventana Auto Glass were able to swap appointments. I then went back to my parent's house, where I was surprised to see my Aunt Laurie there, and what a nice surprise it was! I was able to just hang out and play music for awhile, and then I went out on a mountain bike ride with my Dad. The ride was pretty uneventful, other than a rattlesnake getting a little angry at us, and me feeling completely sick from having a mountain dew and hot dog before riding (yeah, I know, stupid idea). I returned home, spent some time in the spa, and had a really relaxing evening.

Saturday

I started off Saturday by shopping for frames and mattes for the pictures I bought last July at anime expo. My mom and aunt joined me, and it was great to have their opinions as we sorted through the rows of frames. The pictures from anime expo are beautiful (I will post pictures of them once they are in the frames) and I got compliments on them, but they are a weird size (20x30). This required some interesting decisions, and we wound up staying at the store for several hours before finding wonderful frame/matte combinations. I can't wait until they are done!

I then proceeded to do some clothes shopping, as I really needed to get a larger wardrobe for Japan (packing a minimum of one weeks' worth of clothes). I started off at Macy's, and spent at least 3 hours going through piles of clothes. My ears actually burned from changing shirts so much. At the end, I walked away with some crazy deals ($30 shorts that rang up for $2.99?! Sweet!), but I didn't feel like I quite had enough. I had some nice new shirts, pants, and shorts, but I thought it would be worthwhile to check out Kohl's. Having never shopped at Kohl's before, I didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to be one of the best stores I have ever shopped at. The selection was incredible, and I couldn't see to grab enough clothes to try on. After several more hours at Kohl's, I had more clothes than I could carry, and I was going to get 20% off of all of them (on top of the individuals savings and deals going on). So after all that, I basically had a completely new wardrobe. I haven't had this much fun or success shopping ever!

After retiring back home, weary from all the running around, I sat down and started writing a song (somehow I ignored all the craziness with my nephews causing havoc around me). I've been trying to write a song that my sister and I could record together, and it needed to be a fun duet. After a couple of hours, I put together something that I think will turn out great. I haven't shown it to her yet, but I think she will love it! It's called, "Friends Forever."

Sunday, doomsday

As the section title would suggest, this is the day where the craziness truly went down. My Dad and I woke up really early on Sunday, and headed out for a mountain biking ride. We went to the 24 hour trail out by the Biosphere, which is truly awesome ride. As we arrived, my Dad realized he forgot his cell phone, and I didn't bring mine. You can hardly get signal out there anyways, and I mean, heck, nothing bad is going to happen right? (famous last words, and a lame attempt at foreshadowing). We started out on the ride, and we were cruising along at a pretty decent rate. My Dad is a very good rider though, so he had to stop me for me a few times to catch up. One time, we had to stop because my seat was knocked loose somehow. Upon trying to help me adjust the seat, he accidentally backed into a nasty cactus that embedded a painful needle into his Achilles heel. Needless to say, it hurt a lot, and I couldn't really get it all of the way out with the crappy tweezers we had on hand. So he bared the pain and rode on (still riding way faster than me up the hills). Eventually, we hit this one section of the ride where you have to climb four series of hills followed by fast descents. These hills are huge, and very steep, so it's easy to get hurt if you aren't a very experienced rider or you are reckless. We have done this ride many times without any injuries though, so neither of us is concerned about that usually. Anyways, we got to the fourth hill, and my Dad had a decent lead on me, and as I got over the crest of the hill, I saw him on the ground. Apparently, he had been going nearly 25 mph and hit a jump and got quite a bit of air. He landed mostly on the front tire, and wound up sliding. When I got to him, he seemed pretty stunned, so I skidded to a stop to see if he was alright. He turned to me and sort of gathered himself and then showed me his arm. He had ripped open the skin on his arm, and his bone was exposed. The cut was about 4 inches long and it was bleeding (but not nearly as much as you would think). He also chewed up the side of his hip pretty badly, and he had cuts all over. He immediately pinched his skin closed on his arm, and proceeded to take off his shirt (not an easy thing to do while trying pinch off a wound). I tied the shirt around his arm, and we tried to decide what to do next. We were approximately 9 miles into an almost 18 mile ride - not much choice there. We decided to ride and finish, as there wasn't really another option. The thing that amazed me though, was that he didn't slow one bit after getting injured. He seemed completely unphased, and I still struggled to keep up with him. We finished the ride without any additional problems, loaded up the car, and headed to the hospital. I tried to take some pictures with my phone at the hospital, so take a look below at the wonderful wounds.

Visit the gallery if you want to see the pictures full size.

My Dad was still cheerful and tough while they treated his wounds. In fact, the only thing that bugged him was the tetanus shot they gave him. He really didn't like that one bit! He said it hurt worse than any of his other wounds.

I finished up the day by getting a haircut, having a nice steak dinner with my family (parents, aunt, and grandparents), and watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which is a terrific movie that covers a lot of the aspects of life that we all have to deal with - namely love, family, aging, and death. While some people may be turned off by the speed of the movie (it is somewhat slow I suppose), I thought the director did a terrific job on it and there is a lot to think about with this movie.

I headed back to Phoenix this morning, and waking up at 5:15 for that especially sucked. Only four more days until Japan though, and I am psyched! I just hope I don't forget anything!

I worked extremely hard this weekend, and managed to finish another song: Midnight Elegy. I wrote it randomly one night around midnight (how convenient...) when I was in a sort of tired/chilled out mood. It has a wistful feel to it. I'm interested to see what people think. I also finished the lyrics to a couple other songs that I think could be extremely good. I can't wait for another free weekend!

In other news, I played in the 42 in 42 benefit volleyball tournament yesterday and it was a blast. After I get my hands on some pictures, I will post them. I managed to get 1st place after a close final match. The main purpose of the tournament was to raise money for a charity, and we gathered several hundred dollars for the Special Olympics. Not too shabby!

I also wanted to mention that I've put up links to download my songs as mp3's in case people have the desire to get them. Check it out on the music page.

Life can be pretty hectic sometimes. I've definitely been filling my days to the brink. For example, this last weekend I cleaned my house for a gathering of friends to watch the U of A basketball team on Friday( Go cats! ), did a two and a half hour mountain bike ride with Tom( more on this later ), sprayed my weeds, trimmed my trees( after buying shears ), studied Japanese vigorously, prepared my house for my sister and brother-in-law staying here, went to olive garden with them, watched a movie, drove to Tucson, did a 50 mile bike ride with my dad to Biosphere, got a haircut, and came back. Phew! Let me cover some of the things that have happened, as well as covering some of the things from this weekend in more detail:

- Played in a sand volleyball tournament and had a great time. I originally was going to play with Adam Welch, who is an awesome partner, but he was unable to start his car. I showed up to the tournament unsure if he was going to be able to make it, and wound up playing with a guy nick-named Shaggy. I didn't know what to think based on the name, but he was a well known player and is very good. We had a great time playing together and will probably play again in the future. As for placement, I think we were somewhere in the middle( 13th? 11th? I'll have to check the website ).

- Wrote a new song called Can't Be Wrong. It's a really catchy song and I'm excited about recording it. If only I could find more time for music!

- Went on the previously mentioned two and a half hour mountain bike ride with Tom. The two of us ventured into Estrella Mountain National Park, paid the entrance fee, and proceeded to the rodeo grounds. The guy at the entrance, upon seeing that we were serious riders, told us about the competitive track. We acknowledged this, but the competitive track was a ways away, so we decided to chance whatever tracks were around the Rodeo grounds. We started off the ride, and it was fairly flat and uninteresting. The suddenly there were extremely rocky descents that turned quickly. This was followed by extremely steep uphills with loose/sand rock. Needless to say, Tom and I didn't manage to get up a single one of these downhill/uphill pairs all day. They were just too insane. In fact, we had to walk down some of the hills as they were just plain dangerous. These were obviously horse trails. At one point, there was a branch off to a different trail, and I suggested we try it for fun. It wound up being the wost decision of the day. The trail eventually led to a wash. We had to get off our bikes and walk them as the sand was extremely deep, and it was impossible to ride through. Little did we know that there were several MILES of wash that we had to walk through. All the while, we were baking and there were flies galore from the horse manure. The ride turned horrible at this point, and we were lucky to find a hiker who lent us a map. We planned our route home, but it involved plenty more hiking through the wash. Even when we finally got back to a trail that we could ride on, it was littered with loose sand and huge packs of rocks. The riding was very, very difficult and tiring. We eventually got back to the cars, but we were definitely tired. I looked at the day as endurance training. I managed to only get burned a little during this, but this was nothing compared to today...

- I rode 50 miles with my dad in Tucson today. It was a great ride, but the winds turned VICIOUS on the way back. Even going downhill, the winds were so bad that we had to work extremely hard to maintain decent speeds. I was also very tired my mountain bike ride with Tom the day before, so my legs got very weak, very fast. My dad had to constantly slow down for me, which really bummed me out as I couldn't show him that I've actually gotten much stronger. After almost 3 hours of riding, we stopped at starbucks to get some drinks, and a crazy situation ensued. We sat at a table, and my dad had his bottle and helmet on the table. Suddenly a gust of wind flipped the helmet and half full bottle off the table. We were seriously surprised by this, and no sooner had we recovered the items, that gust of wind came at us so hard that it knocked my dad's bike over( thank goodness it wasn't hurt ). I immediately rushed over to my bike to prevent a similar occurrence. Right at that moment, a gust of wind blew so hard that it flung the umbrella covering the table into the street. The crazy part is that the umbrella was held down by a metal base that had to have weighed around 60 pounds. The umbrella and base barely missed hitting a car. The starbuck's employees rushed out, amazed at what just happened. I'm just glad my dad and I weren't sitting on the other side of the table... Other than being exhausted when we got back, I found out that I had gotten burnt pretty badly. My face, legs, and arms are now red all over. I hadn't planned for a 3 hour ride, but I won't make this mistake again.

- Resident Evil 5 came out. This game has co-op and it is so much fun to play with a friend. John( my neighbor) and I have been playing it whenever we get a chance, and it's been a ball.

So as you can see, some fun stuff has happened. The next few weeks and weekends will be full as well( table tennis tournament, volleyball tournament in Colorado, indoor volleyball tournament, etc ). Wish me luck!