The Fact Is

Dig. I got accepted into the business planning program at the Renaissance Center. The phone call came in this morning and I can expect to receive a formal acceptance letter in the mail this week. Classes begin on Tuesday! I can't tell you how excited I am about this opportunity and how grateful I am that a program like this exists.

This news was only part of what made Tuesday an exceptional day. Things got off to a great start when CL Smooth and I determined what song will be played for our first dance and the reading to be given by our pastor during the weddding ceremony. The reading is from John, not sure which verse, and the song is "Let's Fall in Love" as performed by Louis Armstrong by way of Andrew Gromiller and the Organically Grown. The song is perfect, we love it, can't wait for the day. It's going to be followed by "Early in the Morning" a classic Ray Charles cut and the place will be jumping!

When I got to work I learned that the only stock I own, Bebe, is splitting and that my decision I made a couple months ago not to sell was a good one. Then the news came from the Ren. Ctr. and to top it all off I managed to arrange a May meeting with one of the founders of Big Bang Ideas, an incubator in Sausalito to discuss Red E.

I needed a day like this more than I'd like to admit. For months now my good news was always just around the corner. I feel like I'm finally turning that corner. TFI: If I can get funding from one or both Big Bang/Ren. Ctr. I can be on my way with Red E before the year is out.

Weekend was great, watched the Freddy Adu debut and although he didn't shine he proved that he's talented enough to share the pitch with his teammates. Look for him to develop with each game he plays. After the game I kicked the ball around with T-money and Natalie. Had a blast, even found that my shot hasn't entirely left me (although my legs and lungs have). TFI: If I can get my ass in shape I'd love nothing more than to join a soccer league.

We came back to the house and some other friends showed up. The Final Four was on and we were BBQ'ing tons of food. Once we finished dinner we brought out Scene It and the barefeet team won (myself, Nat, and Jess). We came from behind to beat the stinky sandals squad and the shoe-shoes. The game is a lot of fun with a big group but it's almost better to know someone who has as opposed to being the owner. Questions tend to repeat and the movie clips are recylced far too often. But the game really is a lot of fun, with clips like "zip it" from Austin Powers, "i love him so much" from Raising Arizona, and richard dreyfuss at the railroad crossing in Close Encounters, it's classic stuff. TFI: Scene It is better than any other group-oriented board game on the market.

Sunday CL Smooth and I got a new digital camera - the Olympus C5000. We've yet to print any of the shots but it appears to take really nice images. I'll let you know how I feel about the camera once I've familiarized myself with it a little more. The best thing was, with rebates, a circuit city gift card, and a rebate from our cell phones, the camera only set us back $79. Not bad at all for 5 megapixels. Now that I have a digital camera I'll be even less inclined to keep this blog updated. TFI: If we didn't get such a good deal on the Olympus and if the new Canon wasn't so small, we would have opted for the brand new 5-Megapixel power shot.

Today I get to work and I'm checking out The Morning News and TOT (see Links) and they have links to perhaps my favorite thread from any message board ever - the recreate an album cover from memory using MS Paint. I happen to have a few entries on this thread (from memory: Maggot Brain, Nevermind, Songs to Learn and Sing, De Stijl while looking at cover: Fantasma, Marmoset, Sigur Ros) and I thought I'd share the link with you. There's some great stuff here. TFI: If given a choice in another life, I'd kill to be a famous cover art designer. Obviously that's nothing but a dream, have you seen my Nevermind cover????

I haven't had much time to write today. Busy Friday lots happening at my 9 to 5 and even more happening on my own clock. The Red E Promotions launch may receive a boost in the form of a political novelty item we're pushing to retail in a couple of months. More on this as it develops. What I can tell you now is, there was great news delivered today and it may increase our likelihood for success. TFI: If I can launch this little side-project in time, my large scale plans may get on-tracked sooner than expected.

Tonight is dinner with friends at El Zoccalo on Mission, amazing papusas and killer guacamole. Tomorrow T-money is coming by to watch the soccer match and then we'll get some ping-pong in and a bbq. CL Smooth was at the grand opening of the new store today, Janeville. Way to go CL, this is going to be hot. Andrewski and I have to get some work done on the Bush doll this weekend so we're ready to get the site up next week and mail samples to Air America Radio. TFI: Oh how sweet it would be to land a deal with Air America.

The thing is, nobody even broached the subject last night. So I can't say with anymore certainty whether the rumors about Edward are true or not. What I can tell you is that Anya's body language screams, "someone bed me now!". We were hanging in the kitchen of T-money's (why is it that eveyone always ends up in the kitchen?) and Heather was telling us about her recent exploits with a couple of new guys in her life. The whole time, Anya is pulling at the neckline of her shirt and then literally caressing her breasts (not in a overtly sexual way, but, clearly in a way that spelled out H-O-R-N-Y). TFI: If Anya had her shibby together she'd be fighting off men with a stick.

While we don't know anymore about Edward and his possible prince albert, we do know this, for a seventeen-year-old high school senior he has great taste in music. Last night I spoke to him about what bands he digs and styles of music that he's into and he mentioned things like, tortoise, hella, g.y.b.e., don caballero, pavement, jazz, hip-hop, muddy waters, etc etc. So then he asked me if I would mind emailing him some of the bands that I might recommend. This has me thinking today about what bands I might steer him towards and I thought I'd share them with you. Of course I don't know how many of these bands/cd's he's already got in his collection:

The Kinks: Are the village green preservation society
Buzzcocks: Singles going steady
M83: Dead cities, red seas, and lost cities
A Tribe Called Quest: Low end theory
Johnny Cash: Live at san quentin
The Clash: s/t
Fiery Furnances: Gallowsbird bark
The Shins: Chutes too narrow
Rolling Stones: Aftermath
Toots and the Maytalls: Funky kingston
Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts of the great highway
Galaxie 500: On fire
Echo and the Bunnymen: Crocodiles
Joy Division: Closer
Chameleons: The script of the bridge
David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead: Source tags and codes
Bob Marley: African herbsman
Cal Tjader: Latino
Fela Kuti: Shakara/London scene
Max Roach/Clifford Brown: (from 1954 on EmArcy)
Avalanches: Since I left you
Pixies: Doolittle

TFI: I could go on and on with this list but if Edward picks up only some of these he'll be all set for his first year of college in the Fall.

It's April Fools Day, does anyone really participate in this anymore? TFI: I like the idea of April Fools and I'll be doing what I can to pull a fast one on somebody today.

Patience, mine has been tested over the last couple of years. I've been developing a business for nearly two full years now and I'm growing tired of waiting for something to break. My latest attempt to free myself from my current temp status is to gain acceptance in a business planning course offered by the renaissance center in San Francisco. The deadline for applications was yesterday and the course begins on April 13th so it shouldn't be long before I find out if I'm in. TFI: If I have to work at my lousy temp job for much longer I may just lose my mind.

After work tonight CL Smooth and I are headed to T-Money's house for a BBQ. T and his wife, Natalie, are throwing the mid-week BBQ in honor of Natalie's kid brother Edward visiting from Chicago on his Spring Break. The hot topic will certainly be the rumor that young Edward (a high school senior) has gone and got himself a prince albert. TFI: I think Edward's a smart kid, he's going to have a slew of attractive older women all wanting to check out his wiener.

I'm a soccer fan but I've never really been interested in MLS before this year. On Saturday the 2004 season starts off and ABC will be broadcasting the game between the San Jose Earthquakes and D.C. United and their teen-phenom, Freddy Adu. I'll be watching. TFI: If there is anyone that can raise soccer in America to a new level it's going to have to be Freddy!

This is new, I'm nervous and have no explanation for why that should be. After all, if the past is any indication of what's to come, I'll probably update The Fact Is on a regular basis for about a month tops. After that my interest will wane and the site will become just another addition to my long list of what I call, "I wanna play drums" decisions. You know, the types of things you do as an adult just as you did when you were a kid who told your parents how much you wanted a drum set and to take up drum lessons only to find out how hard it is to become even a decent drummer.

Whether I stick with this project or not is yet to be determined, but, what I plan to do with The Fact Is has already been figured. I have a wide variety of interests and I wanted a place to comment on them, therefore I came here. My blog will be an outlet for me to provide you with my take on everything from what I last ate to what I think about politics. There will be one common thread amongst such posts - this will be a time saver for you so pay attention - each entry will be summarized in the end by telling you just what The Fact Is (or TFI).

We'll see how that works soon enough. I'm hesitant to write anything more until I'm a little more practiced at this whole thing. On top of that I've got some things to take care of before I get back to work. My last meal was some leftover pasta and bread and I think Bush believes that he is Jesus's right-hand man. TFI: If Bush could make a bread half as good as the potato rosemary I had with my lunch then maybe I would go to church on Sunday.