Well, you might have seen my bulletin, but as of last night, September 12th, at around 8:45 pm, Veronica and I are now engaged to be married.

The proposal took place during the Charlyne Yi show at the UCB Theater in L.A.   I had known about it for over a month, so keeping it a secret from Veronica wasn't easy.  I still can't believe I pulled it off.

I had emailed Charlyne in mid August and asked if she could help me with it, and she was so helpful with everything.  It even helped her out a bit too, because it was filmed for a documentary that she's doing about love.  I'm looking forward to seeing the footage when it's available.

We decided that the proposal itself shouldn't be funny, but there were a lot of cool touches that were thrown in.  First I came down to the stage, talked for a bit, and then called Veronica down.  I was so nervous.  Right before I was to get down on my knee, I was interrupted by Charlyne (which was planned of course) and she showed a slideshow that I had put together... (but not before taping our mouths shut so we couldn't talk) here it is, if you want to watch..

Wedding Proposal Slideshow 09-12-07

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Then afterwards I proposed, and Veronica said yes.. The rest of show consisted of the audience making cartoon drawings of us (which I will scan and put online later) and us "driving" off in a cardboard car with cans tied to the back.

It really was a great night! Veronica, I love you. You're the best!

I realized today that since January of this year, Veronica and I have gone to so many concerts, and seen so many bands/artists... So I figured I'd keep an ongoing list of bands that we've seen in 2006.. I know there's got to be a few that I'm forgetting, but these are the ones I could remember off the top of my head:

2006 Concert List

Back when this season of Last Comic Standing first came on the air, I had gone on the NBC website to see whether or not I could get tickets.  The way the show has been structured so far, everything has been pre-taped, elminating at least 2 comedians a week, narrowing them down to five.  They had originally said that the show would resume tapings in late July.

Well, about a week and a half ago I was online and received an email saying that tickets were available for a show taping in Pasadena this past Saturday.   We weren't sure what to expect from the show, but Veronica and I headed to Pasadena, braving the sweltering heat, to see the show!

We got into the area at around 5pm.  The email had said that the taping started at 7 and that everybody should get in.   At 5, we saw a sign showing where to park so, knowing where it was we were to go, we decided to go to dinner.  At a little before 6, we headed back to the theater and got in line.  The line snaked around the outside of the building.  It seemed like there were a lot of people there. (We found out, once inside, that they had turned away almost 1000 people!)

Even though the crew gathered outside were wearing laminates that said "Season 4 Finale", this was far from the final episode of the season.  At around 6:30 we were let in, and were seated inside the theater, which held about 3000 people.  According to updated signs posted outside, the taping was actually scheduled to start around 8, but I think it started a little before that.

The show airs tomorrow night.  No one was elminated, but we were able to see a 5 minute stand-up routine from each of the five finalists.  After it airs, the public will vote, and one comedian will be eliminated each week. I thought that Josh Blue and Chris Porter were the funniest, but they're my favorites anyway.   In the audience was Rebecca Corry, a former contestant from this season, and Veronica stood next to her in the restroom.  :)

I really doubt that we will be seen on camera , based on where we were sitting, but you never know.  The producer came out at one point and told everyone to make sure to watch in order for there to be a 5th season, so everybody watch it tomorrow night!

In July of 1999, seven years ago, I bought a brand new VW Beetle...

New Beetle.. July 1999

It served me well in many ways, but in recent years, it's been completely falling apart.  In the last year alone, I've had to replace the tires and the battery, the air conditioning died while we were in Vegas (and still doesn't work.. they want $1400 to fix it).  In addition to these problems, there are still too many other things broken to count. 

So, I figured it was about time to go out and get a new one.. Last weekend, Veronica and I went out looking for new cars.  I had an idea of what I wanted, and what manufacturers I was interested in.  We looked at a couple of different things, but ended up falling in love with the Mini Cooper.

Through the website, you're allowed to Build Your Own, to actually customize every last detail, so yesterday we took the print-out to Long Beach Mini and put a new Mini into production.  I'm hopefully going to get a production number sometime this week, and then I can track its progress online.  In the meantime, here's a photo of my future car (which I should be receiving sometime in the next 2-3 months):

Before we left for S.F., I brought along some "addresses of interest"... Places that I'd like to visit while we were there.  One of those places was Amoeba Music.   I'd been to the huge Los Angeles location many times, but wanted to see the original store in San Francisco.  It was our first stop of day 2.

Veronica and I visit Amoeba.. I like this picture, even though we look tired!

While not as big as the one in L.A., it was still really impressive.  I didnt end up buying any CD's, but did get a t-shirt as a souvenier. 

Our next stop was Golden Gate Park.   It was very beautiful and a great place to relax.  As we were entering the park, we were at a high enough elevation to spot the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time.  Here are a few pics from the park.

a working clock ...

We could hear music coming from this tunnel..

Inside the tunnel.. no band there.. (this pictue came out cool though!)

The band was on the opposite side..

After visiting Golden Gate Park, we set out on the "49 mile scenic drive" to see the Golden Gate Bridge.  While we didn't exactly stick to the scenic route, after driving for about 10 minutes or so, we spotted the bridge in the distance..

Since the majority of my S.F. photos seem to be from the Bridge, I'll save those for part 3!  Check it out tomorrow!

I got back from San Francisco last night.  Veronica and I had a wonderful time, probably the best trip I've ever taken!  Here's the first part of my photos...

We left bright and early on Friday morning.  Well, it wasn't exactly bright.  Veronica picked me up at 5:30 am and we headed up the coast to S.F. (405 to the 101).   A few hours into the trip, we stopped at McDonald's ..

This is the first photo of the trip.. What's Ronald pointing at?!?!

We got into Frisco at 3:30-ish, just in time to check into our hotel...

The Heritage Marina Hotel...

Located on Van Ness and Filbert.. a.k.a. the steepest street in the city!

The view from the hotel window...

The funniest thing is that it took us like 2 days to realize that we could see the Golden Gate Bridge from the hotel window.  On the first night, and apparently the next day too, it was so foggy that you couldn't even see the bridge from that distance!

The first night, after relaxing a bit, we decided to walk down to Fisherman's Wharf.  Our hotel was also within walking distance of Lombard Street (a.k.a. the "crookedest" street in S.F.).   After walking up the steepest street in the city, and then walking down the crookedest one, our calves were so sore. They never fully recovered for the rest of the trip.

A view from the top of Lombard Street..

The walk to Fisherman's Wharf was very cold, so when we got there, we were in the mood for soup.  We ended up at the Boudin Bakery for chili in bread bowls. They also had loaves of sourdough bread fashioned into different fish-related shapes.

An alligator...

Here's a picture of us, posing with the "sourdough crabs"

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped through Ghiradelli Square.  I don't really have any pictures of the area, but it was nice, and we got free samples of chocolate! Mmmmmm..

By the time we returned to the hotel, we were exhausted, but ready for two more days of sight-seeing, on Saturday (coming in part 2!) and Sunday!

Last night was my birthday.. Well, actually, the whole day was my birthday.. but last night, I got together with friends (mostly from work) at Denny's.   I didn't know how many people to expect, but I knew it would probably be about 20.  By the end of the night, I had counted at least 25!  A great turnout!  Thanks for everyone who came, and for the gifts!  You guys all rock!  Here are some photos from the night!

Me and Veronica

Maggie and a duck that was won from the "claw machine".. This duck sure got some action...

...even Audie couldn't resist...

...but I was apparently repulsed!

Me and Des

Des's magic concoction .. try it if you dare!

Maggie took the dare...


Lots of people showed up... these are just a few! Here are more...

Some girl and Tara! (Who is that anyway?!?!)

Brien and Alexis

Ryan and Rachelle

Carrie and Cora

Dining Davids!

Matt

Matt and Stephanie

Des, Kristen, Maggie and Cassandra


And finally.. the series I call Jackie and...
Jackie and Kelly

Jackie and Maggie

Jackie and Kristen

Jackie and Alexis

Jackie and Brien

Jackie and someone.. I think it's me!

I've discovered the art of making my own iMixes on iTunes.com .. From now on, I'll be posting mixes of my favorite songs here from time to time!  Clicking on the links below will allow you to listen to 30 second samples of the songs.  You can also purchase each song individually or buy the whole iMix.

Below are the mix CDs I've created, with my favorite songs of 2003-2005!  Some of them are obscure, some are not.  Listen to the clips and let me know if you like any of them too!

2003 Mix

1. Rooney - Sorry Sorry
2. The Singles - I'm In Love With You
3. The Rosenbergs - Crockett & Tubbs
4. Lucinda Williams - Sweet Side
5. The Long Winters - Blue Diamonds
6. Of Montreal - Natalie and Effie In The Park
7. A Perfect Circle - The Nurse Who Loved Me
8. The Thorns - No Blue Sky
9. Supergrass - Grace
10. Grandaddy - I'm On Standby
11. Tripsitter - Transformation
12. KaitO - Try Me Out
13. The Jayhawks - Angelyne
14. Motion City Soundtrack - The Future Freaks Me Out
15. The Bens - Bruised
16. Cody Chesnutt - She's Still Here
17. Limbeck - Julia
18. The Thrills - Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)

http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=zD8Cjf13Jcg&offerid=78941.473222417&type=10&subid=

2004 Mix

1. Tegan and Sara - You Wouldn't Like Me
2. Faithless - Mass Destruction
3. The Real Tuesday Weld - Bathtime In Clerkenwell
4. The Get Up Kids - Holy Roman
5. Candy Butchers - Nice To Know You
6. Jamie Cullum - Twentysomething
7. The Argument - Act My Age
8. Eugene Edwards - All About You
9. Lyrics Born - Hott Bizness
10. The Dollyrots - Goodnight Tonight
11. Tim Reid - Love With You
12. Tears For Fears - Call Me Mellow
13. John Hoskinson - I Hope I Die Before You Do
14. The Rosenbergs - Weekend
15. Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot
16. Nellie McKay - Ding Dong
17. Steriogram - Walkie Talkie Man
18. The Vines - Rainfall

http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=zD8Cjf13Jcg&offerid=78941.473222506&type=10&subid=

2005 Mix

1. Brendan Benson - Alternative To Love
2. Jamie Cullum - Photograph
3. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
4. Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Going Down
5. Bright Eyes - We Are Nowhere, And It's Now
6. The Decemberists - 16 Military Wives
7. Ben Folds - Landed
8. Courtney Jaye - Can't Behave
9. Mike Doughty - Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well
10. Iron And Wine - Naked As We Came
11. Stew - Gary's Song
12. Kings Of Leon - The Bucket
13. Rob Dickinson - My Name Is Love
14. Ben Lee - Catch My Disease
15. Hot Hot Heat - Middle Of Nowhere
16. Piebald - Part Of Your Body Is Made Out Of Rock
17. Shout Out Louds - The Comeback
18. The Lashes - Sometimes The Sun
19. Josh Rouse - Sad Eyes

http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=zD8Cjf13Jcg&offerid=78941.473207026&type=10&subid=

(NOTE: link will launch into iTunes)

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

The last two days have been really strange for me.  Lots of weird things going on.   For instance, last night, Veronica and I were all set to get into L.A. for dinner and a concert (Eugene Edwards in case you're interested).  I picked her up at 6:30 and we got on the 710 freeway.

Well, after driving for about 5 minutes, we heard this horrible noise.  At first I thought it was the engine, but we soon discovered that it was the tire instead.  I pulled off to the side of the road.  The front tire, which I thought was flat, was fine.  Then I looked at the back one, and it was shredded to pieces!   

I got the spare tire out and the jack, but after fighting with it for a few minutes, I gave up and we called AAA.  The guy showed up about 40 minutes later and tells us that it's the 12th shredded tire he's seen on that stretch of freeway in the last couple of hours.  I'm assuming we hit something in the road.

Anyway, I have to wrap this up, but to make a long story short, he put on the spare, then gave us a jump (because the hazard lights drained the battery!), and we finally made it into L.A.   We had dinner at Spaghetti Factory and then went to Taix for the concert. It was a fun night, despite the tire incident.

... And now my car is at Pep Boys getting 4 new tires.. $500.. ouch!  But well worth the money!

So yesterday was my 5 year anniversary with Disney.  For those that don't know, I'm a lead (supervisor) for Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim, CA.. I work in stores.

I can't believe it's been 5 years already.  So much has happened since I started.  In fact, we had our 5 year banquet last week (good food too.. salad, chicken and pasta and dessert), and during it, they showed us a video of the last 5 years.  It literally took about 45 minutes to watch.  At one point, I turned to Yvonne (one of my fellow leads) and asked "Are they STILL showing 2001?"

I got my 5 year pin.  I might get a raise (nobody knows if 4 years is the last yearly raise or not.. I'll find out soon).  And to top it all off, my 5 year anniversary was on the busiest shopping day of the year, AND we beat our previous sales record for our Greetings store.  Wow!