Well another year has begun, and I hope this one is a great one for us all. I really hope things turn out better this year, and some of the problems facing people(foreclosures, unemployment, etc) get addressed properly by the new leadership. As for my goals this year, I would like to accomplish a lot of things:

- Finish recording enough songs to make a CD
- Ride up Mount Lemmon
- Ride in at least one race, and do one really long ride( > 70 miles )
- Enter a couple of table tennis tournaments and get ranked
- Win a volleyball match against a team that is better than mine
- Finish creating all of the random parts for my web site that I've left unfinished (description of my music studio, my coding projects page, etc)
- Beat 80% of the games that I own but haven't beat yet

That's a fair amount of stuff, but I'm optimistic about my chances. Looking back on the past year, I think I managed to accomplish a lot there too. Between this web page, my house, picking up far too many hobbies and regaining my health, I'd say I had my hands full.

On a side note, Christmas was wonderful. There is nothing better than seeing how excited kids get over their presents. I also managed to do a 25 mile ride and a 35 mile ride with my dad, so I got some really good time in on my bike. It kicked my butt a little bit, and made me realize just how much training I need. My dad also got his new ping pong paddle, and we had some awesome games. It's amazing how much a good paddle can help. I got some great music cd's, but I think my favorite present of all is a sheet music book. It has all of my favorite dragon warrior songs, but they aren't dumbed down at all - they are very accurate and some are difficult. The music is so beautiful. I had to go through several books before I found one that had what I wanted, and they are all imports, so it wasn't cheap.

I sure hope everyone else had a great Christmas and New Years. I think I'm going to enjoy a little zombie gaming (Resident Evil ftw) before I go out for a bike ride with my parents (they were awesome enough to come out to Phoenix to hang out for a day). Sayounara!

It's Christmas time! A great excuse for everyone to get together with their family and to spend way too much money on presents. I personally really needed a vacation from work. I worked so much overtime that I worked 3 weeks in 2. Needless to say, I've been really looking forward to Christmas. This year, I've treated myself to some big presents. The first one is a new road bike. I had originally planned on getting a pretty decent bike in the 1500 dollar price range, but things rarely go the way you plan. The story kind of goes like this:

My dad and I went to the Oro Valley bike shop to check out what was available. There were a couple of nice bikes that my dad recommended( he is pretty serious about riding, so I trust his advice ). The first was a roubaix for 1600 that seemed really nice. It was sporting the entry level components from Shimano, which my Dad seemed tentative about. I took it out for a test ride to see how it felt. Having only really done mountain biking, it was a treat to be able to instantly start cruising over 20 miles an hour, and climb hills almost effortlessly. After riding for about 10 minutes, I came back to the shop and tried out the other bike - a tarmac also at 1600. I tried it, and it was a little more aggressive, but not terribly different. I thought the roubaix was a more comfortable ride. I was trying to decide what to do, when I looked over to see my Dad checking out an insane deal. They had a top of the line 2009 S-Works Roubaix that was insanely discounted. It had top of the line components all over, and a bike like that normally costs like 7-8 grand. They were selling it for 4500, so he couldn't believe it. I decided to take it for a spin, and could not believe the difference. Applying the same amount of effort as I did with the other bikes, I was able to go twice as fast and maintain the speed easier. I felt like I had so much more control while turning, and the braking speed was phenomenal. Needless to say, I was sold. It was way more than I had planned on spending, but that bike would let me ride forever without needing to upgrade. Too bad I still have to buy random other accessories...

So I now have a really expensive bike, and I'm going to dedicate a lot of energy to becoming a great rider. I love the idea of getting a lot of aerobic exercise, but I dislike running, so this will give me a reason to get outside and exercise frequently. It was an investment in my own health, but my bank account really didn't appreciate it

Other than the bike, I also decided to buy a new ping pong paddle. The one I have is a great paddle, but after doing some research on table tennis websites, I decided I wanted to try out some of the recommendations. I went for the Butterfly Primorac FL, which is a great beginners Offensive blade. I thought about getting a fancy, expensive carbon blade, but getting too fast of a paddle at first can hurt more than it will help. I also ordered sriver rubbers, but they screwed up and put different rubbers on, so now I have to wait to see what they will do to fix the situation. Despite that, I've been training on my robot, and learning a lot about the game. Understanding spins, how to loop, timing, and other mental aspects of the game make up the majority of the challenge in learning. The physical motions are easily imprinted on the brain with constant training, but the mental aspect of the game is far more important. I hope to get some good practice in with my dad over the Christmas break, along with some great bike rides.

Now I'm going to return to hanging out the family - we have a lot planned. Movies, music, and laughter are filling the house, so I'm really happy to be here. I hope everyone else is having a great time with their family as well, but it seems more like the exception than the norm.

Merry Christmas!

Man, it feels like it's been forever since I've updated this site. I just got done working a 66 hour work week, and I have to say, I didn't really enjoy it. Getting home so late that I have little time for anything except eating and maybe a light workout sucks. Having said that, when I receive the overtime pay, I'm definitely not going to be complaining

Other than work keeping me extremely busy, I've been continuing my quest for ping pong greatness. I traveled all the way to Green Valley and picked up a great ping pong table and robot for $750. Now, you may look at that number and go, WOAH, what is he thinking?! Let me explain a couple of things. First, the table is normally $1000 alone, and the robot is around $700. I got both for under half the combined price. Granted, the table isn't new, and it's been used a fair amount, but it's still in superb condition. The top is nearly perfect, which is the most important part. It's missing a couple of features that the new ones have, but those matter very little while you are playing. The robot is in "like-new" condition, so I lost nothing there. The table that I got is called the Expert Roller, and it's the same table that is used in the U.S. Open, so it's the real deal As for the robot, you may ask, what is a robot? Well I'll tell you! It's something that you set up on one side of the table, and it has a netting that extends all around that side of the table. It also has plastic that funnels the balls that hit the net and fall, so that the balls continually recycle( unless you hit them off the table ). In the middle sits a cool device that sucks up balls, and then shoots them out of a rotatable head. The head can be twisted to put any kind of spin, and the angle can be adjusted so you can work on serves and hits of any variation. Unlike some of the more expensive robots( 2 grand ), this robot can't add speed without spin, but it's a small price to pay for the performance vs price. The robot can actually put so much spin on the ball that it's nearly impossible to return it. It can also hit it so fast that you have to dodge not to get hit with the ball off the bounce. I should mention that a little device sits on your side of the table, hanging off the side, and it lets you rotate knobs to adjust speed, oscillation, and frequency. The oscillation is important because it ensures that the robot will keep turning back and forth, working both forehand and backhand, and forcing you to be prepared for either. This is adjustable though, in cause you only want to fire in one specific area. So the first time i was testing the robot and table out, I had a ball. I was hitting balls and just thoroughly enjoying being able to practice so much in a relaxed situation. Then I thought, "I wonder how fast this thing will fire. I'm gonna turn the speed all the way up!" The robot then proceeded to turn towards me, and fire off a ball that hit the table and bounced, nailing me directly in the stomach. I hardly had time to react, and immediately feared the next incoming shot. Needless to say, I dove for the off button as I heard balls slamming into the closed garage door, sounding like shots going off all around me. I hit the switch after hearing a few more rattle off, and then checked my stomach to see the damage. I had a beautiful welt from the ball, which taught me an important lesson - don't test the max out without being prepared for the consequences.

So practicing with the robot has definitely helped my game. I've been playing at work, and the last few days have been really great, despite not getting much practice time in this week. It's all about muscle memory. It also doesn't hurt that I really learned a lot about how you need to hit the ball to create a lot of spin. Understanding the game at the level helps with every aspect. I also practiced crazy serves over and over, which helped me somewhat. I still managed to screw up the serves when I tried them in a game, but I will keep working at it! I can already get a ball to go over the net with backspin, and then roll back to the net.

Other than ping pong, I'm doing my usual stuff - watching anime, playing volleyball, doing music as much as I can, and working out. I'm also going to get a road bike, as a late night adventure I had on my mountain bike really made me want to get into riding again. Maybe I'll finally get motivated enough to start doing mountain biking on my own... If only I could find some more time... Hell, if I had time, I think the number thing I would do is make my music CD! I played through all of my songs the other night, and was so excited about creating a cd of my favorites. I want to make something I can be really proud of.

The last thing I should mention is Left 4 Dead. This game is amazing. We have all of the guys from work playing, and it's a kind of game everyone can get into. Who doesn't love zombie games? This game allows people to play together co-operatively as humans vs zombies, or as zombies vs humans. This allows for 4 people playing against the computer, or 4 people vs 4 other people. The games are intense, and so much fun, that we wind up talking about it all the time. I can't wait to see how this game evolves. If they put out an SDK, I will create a campaign involving the area around my work. It will be the best thing ever!

Anyways, I'm off to make dinner. Then more Left 4 Dead!

Wow, am I beat. You wouldn't think ping pong would be that much of a workout, but once you start taking it seriously, you do a LOT of running around and you have to swing hard repeatedly. I'm gonna have to start calling it Table Tennis now

As for the tournament, it was a great learning experience. They had a gym set up with about 12-14 tables, and three different divisions - beginners, intermediate, and advanced. There was nothing beginners about the beginners bracket though - there were at least like 5 people that should have been intermediate. I love competition though, so I started off the day playing a guy who was so-so. I trounced on him 11-2, 11-1, 11-2 ( best out of 5 games ). I wasn't very nice, but I needed to practice for the big games The sucky thing about my pool of 5 was that 2 of the best (if not the best) players in the beginners pool (there were 20 players in in total), were stuck with me. Only 2 people advanced past the beginning round robin though, meaning the only way I could play for a trophy was to beat at least one of the two really good people. Well my second match was against a guy named Rex from Intel who surprised the hell out of me. I started hitting really hard, and he would just rally back and forth with me. I managed to win the first game, but the second game was a heartbreak. I was up 9-8, and let him win 11-9. I then proceeded to lose games 3 and 4. That meant I had to beat some guy who was decent, and Ophelia to advance... I played the next guy after sitting for two matches, and although it was a fun match up (he was great at pulling out these hitting rallies with me), I managed to get the best of him. That meant I was 2-1. All I had to do was beat Ophelia...

Ophelia is an older women (she looked 40-50, but in reality she is 60), but she was no slouch. She's had coaching, and she bought a robot (a machine that fires balls at you for practice with whatever spin you want it to). She actually won the beginner's tournament last year. Well I knew I had to take her seriously, so right off the bat, I hit really hard at her. I managed to shake her up and take game 1. We then switched games back and forth - she won game 2, but I took control and won game 3. She then came back and crushed me in 4. It all came down to game 5. I was hopeful, but a little shakey for some reason (I got sick two days before the tournament - it just figures). She immediately took advantage of me sucking, and went up like 5-0. After that, I couldn't come back. I learned a lot from the tournament though, and considering I've only been taking table tennis seriously for like 2 months, I'd say I've come a long way. I'll have to get a video some time so people actually know what I mean Before I left the gym, I played my boss in a game. It's always weird playing your boss, because even though it's outside work, it feels weird to beat someone that has influence on your career. Needless to say, I did beat him... I wonder what other people would do in that situation. It would be a fun survey to see who sucks up and who doesn't care

In other news, my house is great, my job is busy, and with playing ping pong every day at work, volleyball, and random other stuff (I'm gonna start playing tennis with my friend from work, and I'm learning Japanese), I really haven't had time for much else. I watch movies here and there, and an occasional show, but I haven't been able to record music hardly at all. That really bums me out...

You might have been like, wait, what? You are learning Japanese? Yes, that's right! Hai! I'm going to Japan next summer with a few friends from work, so I'm going to learn as much of the language as I can before then. I'm really studying hard, and advancing pretty quickly. I can say things like, otearai wa doko desu ka? (Where is the bathroom?) watashi wa tabemasu ( I will eat ), etc, etc. I'm also learning to read and write, which is WAY more difficult than just speaking. I haven't even tried Kanji yet, and Hiragana has like 46 symbols, and Katakana has another 46. Kanji has thousands. Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me to even get the basics down for reading/writing.

Tomorrow I get to see my parents, and play tennis with my Dad. Should be loads of fun. Plus I get to see a Jason Mraz concert in the evening. He is my favorite artist by far. I can't wait!

Lately I've been playing a lot of ping pong. I have to say, I'm loving it. I used to play a lot during college, but I wasn't exposed to a diverse group of playing styles. I mainly played against my roommate Chris, which was a blast, but I stopped getting better at a certain point. Well I'm playing every day at work for an hour against some of the best ping pong players I've played against. They've been kicking my butt for weeks (we usually play doubles, so I at least got some help), but I've been getting better and better. I get a lot of helpful hints, but most of what I've learned comes from watching them. It is so much fun to play against people better than yourself, as you constantly grow in order to be competitive. I'm at the point now where we have really close games, and I'm hoping soon to be able to beat them consistently.

As part of this new ping pong craze, I'm entering a ping pong tournament in November that is between all of the tech companies (Intel, Honeywell, Lockheed, etc ). I'm playing in the beginner's bracket, but almost everyone who goes has experience, and a great deal play competitively in clubs and competitions, so the beginner's bracket is full of very skilled players (so I hear from the guys who go to it every year). I'm hoping to keep getting better so that I will be ready for the tournament. I really hope I do well...

Outside of playing, I also watched the movie Ping Pong, which is subtitled, but very entertaining. It actually had some really great ping pong matches that were very realistic. I actually learned a few things from watching the movie. I've also gone back and watched the olympic matches at nbcolympics.com. If you are feeling bored, check out some of the ping pong matches. They are INSANE.

In other news, I've been watching a lot of House lately. I got my neighbor John hooked, so we watch it all the time now. It's one hell of a show. I can't get enough of it. I've got John working out with me now in the Zubersoft gym, so watching House while we lift weights is a great excuse to keep him going on the workout plan If I ever get some free time (maybe this weekend I hope), I really want to get some stuff done with my music. Fix my old songs, start recording new ones etc. There is just too much I want to do... what's new though right?