February 23

Was anyone really surprised when Heath won? I wasn't. I was a little more surprised by the song and dance number Hugh Jackman did at the beginning of the show, I've never really thought of him as a song and dance guy. Usually they have a comic host to make it less boring, but this year's show wasn't bad. Nobody made any horrendously long speeches, I don't remember the orchestra cutting anyone off, like last year. I especially liked Sean Penn's acceptance speech and chastising California voters for passing Prop 8.

February 22

I had the best birthday in recent memory! My uncle Ken & his roommate took me to Dave & Busters where we won over 3000 tickets playing the coin push game & trivia. You can get tons of tickets playing trivia. I used them to get this travel chess & wine set, a wooden box with a checker board on the outside and glass figures for the chess pieces inside. There is also some wine stuff, but I'm not sure how to use some of it. I didn't get to see Madea but I'll probably wait for the dvd like I usually do. The Oscars are tonight, which is always fun. I'm not sure who I'm rooting for, like last year I haven't even seen most of these movies yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing Milk & The Wrestler.

February 20

39 years old. Wow. I just feel weird. I woke up to leg pain, probably from my work out last night, I think I might have overdid it agan, but other than that it's been nice so far, Terri Clark sent me a birthday greeting and my co workers gave me a card & a Starbucks gift certificate. I'm hoping my uncle Kenny will call later and we'll have dinner like we usually do on my birthday. Perhaps Dave & Busters, I have quite a few points racked up for the prize room.

February 13

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Valentine's Day sucks. If you're in a relationship it never lives up to what it's supposed to, and if you're single like me, it's just a reminder of how you're alone and terminally single. I just try to be thankful for what I do have right now, even if I don't have a girlfriend. I have a very good job and health insurance. My family loves & accepts me and my grandparents, while not in perfect health, are still around and retain their mental facilities. I have several good friends to play cards and trivia with. I have my health. Speaking of which, I donated blood last night, and was pretty tired afterwards. I didn't go to the gym or anything, I don't think you're even supposed to after giving blood. I was hoping to get a Red Cross t shirt, but they weren't giving them out. Maybe next time. Some guy who received a stem cell transplant for his leukemia is now cured of his HIV because the donor had some sort of antigen that made him immune to the virus. Now that we have a good man in the White House maybe we can finally research stem cells to their full potential.

February 10

This morning I came to work and saw a huge banner with "Happy Birthday" strewn across my cubicle and a coffee cake! Sadly my birthday isn't until the 20th, which I had to tell my coworkers. Oh well, not that I don't appreciate the effort. Facebook is a funny thing, I've reconnected with several people from high school, some of whom I didn't even like back then, but if they're willing to pretend we were always friends where's the harm?

February 4

Last night was the Poker Tournament, I didn't do badly, but I didn't win either. Instead, I stuffed myself on pasta and felt a little light-headed as a result of all the carbs. One of my friends was nice enough to buy me a drink, I like chick drinks. I should probably try something different once in a while, like a rum & coke or the like. I tend to stick to my routine a little too closely. Life in Mars is turning out to be a pretty good show, I like the lead actor, and it seems to follow 1973 pretty well. Of course, I was 3 years old at the time, so I'm not remembering, only going on what I've read about the time period. Funny to think about how they didn't even have Diet Coke back then, if you wanted a low calorie soft drink you had to order Tab which would have been made with saccarine. Nasty. The music that year was pretty good though, I listen to the 70's channel on my Sirius radio all the time. Tonight will be my first night back at the gym since my surgery, so I have a lot of catching up to do.

February 3

I can't believe I'm about to turn 39. I suppose it's better than 40. I'm driving a friend to the airport after work, than heading straight to play in the quarterly poker tournament. I did really well this quarter, I think I'm ranked 9th or something overall. I kind of wish I hadn't given away my winter coat, I could really use something thicker than my hoodie, even if that coat was way too big. Perhaps I should just go ahead and buy something thicker. The leather jacket sure doesn't keep me warm, it's more for looks. I'll swing by the mall later and see what I can find.