Bah ... I must have tried adding an entry about 10 times last week, but zee server was down! oh well.

I am troubled. I feel as if I can do good drawings, but that I do not draw well consistently or confidently. So I am trying to evaluate my artistic shortcomings and work towards improving, but it sure is frustrating. Of course this all has to do with figure drawing which is by far the most complex and difficult subject in drawing, but still, I feel a bit lost. I feel like I can see my problems yet am without the guidance to solve them, and that is not typical for me so I have started to get frustrated. Anyways, just something I needed to vent.

This weekend ... pretty eventful. I dropped some serious bones on friday to pickup Madden 2004, .hack//Mutation, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Tactics Advance. Yeah, that cost a pretty penny. Then we were up late playing KotOR, very kewl game.

Saturday was great. Watched Premier League Football during the day, some more games. That night we got the gang together to relax and celebrate the phase 1 completion of Will's thesis with some pizza and a dvd. We watched Boondock Saints, a very cool movie. Then Steph came over and we all went out of a drink. We wanted to check out Bj's, so thats where we went first, but just like Rock Bottom it turned out to be a bit too empty, so some ppl went home and a few of us went to los gatos ... uh, Carrey Nations I believe. hah. we saw this guy sitting at the table behind us look like he was going to cry because of a fight with his girlfriend or something. laff. bottoms up! liquor down! So, we had to taxi it home ... we are oh so responsible. The night was then punctuated with many hours of drunken conversation ... those are always fun :)

Sunday was a bit sad. "The restaurant" as I know it, may be closing down and it to me it feels like the end of a dynasty. I am certainly one who sees these kinds of things as blessings in disguise, but still, it is sad. So we ate and were merry at what could be the last brunch ever at "The restaurant". That night the festivites continued with a dinner celebration at Mike's house, which was just a good family celebration and a proper closure to a fine weekend.

Ahhhh life :)

So Friday was suprisingly one of the first attempts at breaking in the new house with a little get together. Nothing big, nothing fancy, just friends getting together. Of course I didn't know anyone who came over, but thats part of the fun isn't it. So we fired up the grill, which seems to be common place at the house, and threw some meat on it. Can't say that I partook in the meat eating as I'm not much of a steak eater, but it was a good time having the house full and bustling. After dinner we decided to try going to Katie Blooms in campbell, but that place was a bust. There was a rather weak crowd for a Friday night :/

Saturday I hit up the mall with a couple of my roomies and enjoyed some tasty meat on a stick. And holy shit, I had to pay $11 for 2 corn dogs, fry's, and a lemonade. I love corn dogs just as much as the next bloke, but why the fuck is it so expensive? never again! After lunch we say the worst movie of the year, Once Upon a Time in Mexico. I just love how I haven't seen a movie in a month or so and I end up seeing that piece of shit film ... lame.

The rest of the weekend is rather boring really ... mostly just relaxing at home and trying to catch up on all the sleep I am losing during the week. Honestly I do not know how everyone else manages. I feel like I have almost NO time to just relax anymore, except on the weekends :)

Oh yeah ... and on a down note my Madden 2004 Eagles franchise lost their first game this weekend :( That damn computer really turns things up a notch once you pass mid season. I am also staring down 2 tough games in a row against my 2 roomies ... eek.

So ... another week here we go ...

well ... it's about time for a reflection on things past, present, and future.

It was just a year ago now that I was returning from my 3 month expedition through Europe and most likely my last feeling at complete and utter freedom. I don't think I lead a particularly repressed life, but its not exactly easy to achieve the sense of freedom you feel after traveling for 3 months straight.

This past year at home has had more humps than a radioactive camel. There were lots of ups and downs, and all of them were important in getting me to today. So where am I today? Well now that I take a deep breath and gather myself I can't help but think, "damn, not much could be better." I'm living in a house full of new and exciting people including my best friend. I'm back playing futbol again and loving it, not to mention the fact that I just got back from an amazing weekend of fun in Italy where we returned Sun world cup soccer champions. I haven't had a lot of time for drawing, but I am back in class and still working at it. I've got a kick ass job. And of course the Eagles are off to a fine 4-0 start so far this season! whoot.

Of course 6 months ago you wouldn't have heard me singing this tune, and so I wanted to sit back and take a moment to appreciate the rhythem of life. It has its high notes and its low notes, but when you listen to it all together I'm sure you'll be smiling just like me.

Peace and Stay Cool.

-- Al G

It wasn't a long trip, but it sure felt pretty long!

The trip over felt like the longest 2 days in my life. I had basically 2 hours of sleep before getting up to leave Wednesday morning. The I got pretty much 0 sleep on the way there because we all know that plane sleep is worth about 1/5th of normal sleep. After planes, trains, and automobiles we finally got to the hotel and had a chance to relax for a couple hours before going out for a full night of drinking and fun. yeah ... long day, but well worth it!

Friday was a chance to rest before the tournament ... almost nothing went on.

** tournament happens ... read previous post **

Sunday we woke up and got moving on our way to Rome. Luckily we were able to hitch a ride with a teammate on the way back and so the trip back only took a few hours and was rather painless. Somehow this doesn't feel like the time for details, so lets keep it simple and say that in Rome I basically did a few laps of the city and hit a bunch of good spots that I knew. Then tuesday was the marathon back home. voila!

The stage ... Porto San Giorgio, Italy.

The teams ... Italy, Spain, USA West, Switzerland, Germany, Scotland/Whales, England, USA East, Japan, France.

The conditions ... Overcast with mild to fair winds.

The pitch ... spectacular.

The results ... read on!

Game 1 - Germany
This game was a sight ... we put in 2 goals pretty
quickly and nearly had about 6 more. We were in top
form and as it turns out Germany had one of the worst
teams, so this was a romp. final 2-0

Game 2 - Italy
We got off to a quite start with a goal in the first 2
minutes, but failed to make good on any of our other
attempts. The italian team was a bit disorganized
though and sported a whopping 0 shots on goal. final
1-0

Game 3 - Scotland/Whales
Easily the most brutal of our games as you might
expect. Quite a bit or swearing and yelling too.
Scotland played hard, but suffered from a lack of
attack. We played fairly well and had many chances, 2
which were nullified by the keeper grabbing the ball
outside the box yet we only got simple free kicks as a
result. However, late in about the 22nd minute we put
one in. final 1-0

Game 4 - Japan
Japan was easily the most skilled team we saw at the
tournament, they were very impressive. We played
fairly even with them the entire 25 minutes, and once
again the defense kept out any real threatening
attacks. The lone goal for us came on a bit of a
fluke ball launched from about 40 yards out that just
happened to fall behind the keeper. final 1-0 **on a
very unfortunate note our win here caused a tie
between Scotland and Japan for the second spot in our
bracket, which Scotland was awarded based on total
goals. However Japan was the far better team :(

Game 5 - Semi-final vs. France
France basically got in on a fluke and probably didn't
deserve a semi-final spot, but oh well. We took it to
them pretty easily and managed to put one in to secure
the game despite losing out sweeper to a mid game
injury from a collision. final 1-0

Game 6 - Championship vs. Spain
Spain looked clearly above most teams, yet very
managable. The game got rough early and the Spanish
were as dirty as can be. We clearly dominated the
game, but 30 minutes is not much time and we couldn't
get one in the net in time so match would have to be
decided by penalty kicks.

We had a good lineup, one which i would have expected
at least 4 goals from, but we began to sink early.
Our veteran leader shot first and blasted it off the
crossbar for a miss, oi. Luckily the Spanish bloke
sucked more and blasted his clear over the goal. Our
second shooter put his away in the right corner, but
the ref called it back complaining that he hadn't
blown the whistle yet. The second shot was in the
same spot, but this time the goalie was there and we
were now 0 for 2. The second spanish shooter put a
good foot on it and looked well, but it caught enough
of the post to deflect it back out for another miss.

4 shots ... no goals. Our striker shot 3rd and
finally someone put one away easily, this time in the
left lower corner. The spanish answered back with
equal authority blasting their kick firmly into the
side of the net. US 1 ... Spain 1. Our sweeper shot
4th and pounded a good shot firmly into the back of
the net to put us ahead once again. Spain was a bit
lucky on their reply which hit the crossbar but
bounced into the goal. US 2 ... Spain 2.

Our second striker shot last and was able to put his
out of the reach of the keeper and into the side of
the net. Victory could be secured. The spanish sent
their striker in as well and made quick work of the
attempt. After 5 each ... US 3 ... Spain 3.

Shooting 6th was midfielder 'ol MacGilliland, a lefty
sporting some intimidating cut tape over his right
eye. The keeper was shakin' in his boots trying to
figure right or left. The shot is fired ... the
goalie dives ........... whoa, that keeper was way
off, easily hitting the back of the net on that one.
Once again the US has a chance for victory. The
spanish now smelling defeat send in their 6th man.
Shot fired ... golie dives ... bah! goal! This will
require another round folks.

Shooting 7th for the US was a substitute midfielder
borrowed from the US East team (we were trying not to
let the defense shoot. heh). A young scottish lad,
but he had a bone to pick after have his penalty shot
blocked by the spanish goalie in his first game in the
tournament. He's calm. He's poised. He fires. It's
good!! And for yet another round the pressure falls
on the spanish to stay alive. Up marches the spanish
kicker ... a stout fellow. The whistle blows. The
shot fired ... and it's over!? no. it's good. We
continue to an 8th round.

The intensity is thick enough to cut with a knife.
The US marches out its 8th kicker ... a substitute
attacker from the US East team again. The fear of an
eventual miss is mounting quickly. The shot is away.
The goalie dives. It's good. 6 in a row. Once again
there is a chance for victory. The US keeper steps
back into the box. The shooter lines up. He fires.
Its in. No! Blocked! Blocked! Blocked! And the US
wins the cup!

Yup, so we came, we played, we won! And in true
American form we took the cup to the closing dinner,
got really drunk from drinking many bottles wine out
of the cup, then broke it :)

So ... the short story is that we won and then broke
the trophy ... hah!

Well ... what a bloody mess Friday was ... literally. I took a whopping blow in a head on head collision and sliced a pretty fatty gash above my right eye. It happened in the middle of our noon time soccer game while i was going for a header, and out of nowhere ... BAM! I spun around without falling down, grabbed my eye, then looked at who hit me. A second later I pulled my hand down and started moving again as if I was going to keep playing. It took another second before I saw my hand covered in blood and ppl rushing towards me, then I realized something was a bit wrong.

We got everything under control at the fitness center, then my parents came and picked me up to get me off to the hospital so I could get stitched up ... about 12 stitches total, not a bad number. The most annoying part is that I am going to have to worry about it during the Italy trip. Of course it won't keep me from playing, but it will have to be a consideration.

So ... after that happened on friday I pretty much spent the rest of the weekend just thinking about recovery and relaxing. It really hasn't been a big deal, and about 4 hours after I left the hospital the pain was almost gone.

I'll try and get a good picture of it ... with the stitches and all. Its always good to have a wound from time to time ... cuz a man's gotta have scars.

Well ... after almost a full month I am finally back online. To make a long story short, i was offline so long because i was moving into a new house and didn't have dsl for a couple weeks, followed by the fact that the server admin had the ip change without telling me.

Anyways ... back online now and a whole lot has happened. I am just going to try and start up as if I never left and fill in blanks as time goes by.