Where, oh where, has my bloggity blog gone?

Wow, maintaining a blog should be fairly easy when you're not working, right?! I've been doing some reading on effective blogs and posting once a month is apparently a good way to drive all of your traffic away. It appears to be working - awesome.

There is an excuse, albeit lame - the job search intensified in late April/early May. I spent hours searching for jobs, talking with recruiters, etc. After several interviews with companies of all sizes and shapes, the BIG news is that I have accepted an offer! I will be headed to work this Tuesday for Sunset Publishing Corporation (Sunset Magazine) as their VP, Finance & Business Development. Yea! It's a part of the Time Inc family, but is operated fairly independently and has the feeling of a small company. Everyone I met with was incredibly genuine, nice and seemed dedicated to the brand (sound familiar?). Website needs a little bit of work, but you can check it out here. I am pumped about the opportunity! Only thing that will suck is the 45 minute commute to Menlo Park. Ah, how I long for the days when I lived 6 blocks away from my office....

Other big news, the Dupree era is officially over! I have moved out of my friend Nathan & Sarah's basement and into a one bedroom apartment at the fabulous Avalon in SOMA. Ok, so maybe fabulous is a little bit of an overstatement. The apartment itself is a step down from my place in the Mission:
- has slightly dated carpet instead of hardwood floors
- instead of a view of the city skyline, I have a view of a courtyard that looks like it belongs in an Embassy Suites
- has only 1 bedroom vs. 2 previously, although we all know how much I used that 2nd bedroom
- no crackheads outside of my front door (makes it harder for me to obtain crack and/or friends)

However, there are SEVERAL nice features of the new pad:
- laundry IN the apartment - WHAT? I know this seems trivial for some, but this is the first time I have had this in over TEN years.
- gym, indoor basketball court, ping pong, climbing wall, pool table, hot tub....ALL onsite. WOW!
- free wifi party room on 19th floor with sweeping views...only a matter of time before we destroy this....
- concierge service - still not sure what I am supposed to do with this, but it sounds cool
- right across the street from CalTrans....which I will be using every day to get down to Sunset

All in all, a "pretty sweet deal" as William Macy says in Fargo. The neighborhood doesn't have much charm, but there are several decent restaurants within 3-4 blocks and a Safeway right across the street. I am also about 100 yards from SBC Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. Too bad they suck now! I am going to try to make a go of it without a car for awhile - we'll see how long that lasts......

As always, I found time to have some fun in the past few weeks as well. A quick summary:
- My Aunt Pam and Uncle Ed stopped by the Bay on a layover from their 3 week trip to Southeast Asia. Their request after 3 weeks of noodles and rice? A good ole fashioned 'Merican meal. AP & UE are the coolest!

- Saw The Teenagers at The Independent in April. While their album is my favorite of the year thus far, the band was not that stellar live - sometimes it just doesn't translate. I think the lead singer was saving his voice for Coachella or something. My buddy Aaron and I had fun nonetheless....


- Was at THE concert of the year this past Wednesday at the Rickshaw Stop. The Definite Articles PACKED the house and put on an amazing show at their CD release show. The band was incredibly tight and the sound was amazing (even if we were all a little blown away by Arjun's genius but extremely loud drums). Thanks to all my peeps who made the effort and came out - hope you enjoyed being a part of history. Again, for music/info, check out: http://www.myspace.com/thedefinitearticles

- Flew my brother Brianna up last weekend to participate in the most fun 'race' held annually in SF, the Bay to Breakers. My friend Shawn and I decided to reprise our role as the award-winning news team, WB2B, starring:

Michael Andrews as sexy newscaster, "Brock Mansion"

Shawn Alpay as nerdy sidekick, "Frank Salazar"

Brianna James Taylor as "Travis the kind of scary cameraguy who might kick your ass if you touch his camera one more time"

We had a ridiculously fun time. Exclusive coverage from the event will follow shortly - Brianna is feverishly working to edit over 2 hours of mostly repetitive, somewhat drunken drivel into a 15 minute piece that makes us look hilarious. More to come, but here are a few in-action shots from fans on the course:

- My final days of freedom also had a quick visit from my friend Miriam. We packed all kinds of fun stuff into 3 days: tennis, cycling to Tiburon, dinner with Dage & Jay at Perbacco and German food at Suppenkuche. Here is a shot of Miriam and my godson Jaxon. Couple of good looking kids!

Whew, another MASSIVE post. I guess that's what happens when you wait a month. Considering I am starting a new job, I'm sure the next post probably won't be in the next few days either, but keep checking in from time to time. I leave you today with an article from one of my favorite publications, The Onion. Classic!

30 Years of Man's Life Disappear in Mysterious 'Kansas Rectangle'

The Madness that is March

So, apparently, there was this basketball tournament that began a couple of days ago. I stumbled upon it as I was settling in to my daily ritual of The Price is Right and The Young & Restless.

Actually, the first two days of the NCAA Tournament are always two of my favorite days of the year, trailing only Flag Day (June 14th) and Employee Legal Awareness Day (Feb 13th). I usually spend very little time actually doing any work and most of my time behind 'closed doors' taking 'important phone calls' where I never actually 'say anything' and 'yell randomly at my computer screen' all the while 'scratching my crotch'. You know the drill. It is March Madness, an American tradition of unproductiveness (yes I know this is not a word, but who made you Bin Laden).

This year, without a job, it was like being a crackhead in a........store that........ sells only crack, I guess. I think I watched like 15 different games - 4 shy of my personal record and enough to make my eyes bleed at the end of today.

And, hey, how about that action the past couple o' days? WOW. This is one of those tournaments where a gay dude who was the youngest doctor ever and knows nothing about basketball is likely leading your bracket. Glad I paid attention to all of those meaningless regular season games and the so-called expert advice as it was ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS as normal. Summary of my favorite games/stats:

- Stanford 1567, Cornell 1526 in an unbelievably nerdy showdown of SAT scores. Apparently there was also a basketball game played.

- UNC 113, Mount St. Mary's 74- I knew some guys who went to Mount St. Mary's High School and I'm not really sure that the selection committee should let high schools play in the tournament. It just doesn't seem fair.....unless one of your players is Teen Wolf.

- UT stops Austin Peay - Ironic/funny as UT is located in Austin and Peay is pronounced Pee. It reminds me of the headlines in my hometown newspaper when my high school, the Topeka High Trojans, would play the Seaman Vikings. Examples: Trojans overcome by Seaman. Seaman penetrates Trojan Defense. Trojans Block Seaman, Seaman cums all over Trojans face, etc. For the record, if Austin Peay and Oral Roberts ever make the tournament again in the same year, the selection committee would be STUPID not to set that up as a first round matchup.

- Pac 10 teams: 3-3 in the first round. The 3 teams that won will likely be gone by the second round (ok, UCLA might make it one more round). But seriously, how much is enough? I think it is time for the Pac 10 to shut down basketball operations and focus solely on football.

More action tomorrow. A big battle between former K-State coach/all around great guy Lon Kruger's UNLV Running Rebels and the top ranked Kansas Jayhawks. After upsets plagued the rest of the Midwest bracket I see an easy road to the Elite Eight for the Jayhawks..... which means they will probably find a way to completely blow it tomorrow. Prediciton: UNLV 134, KU 62.

Ok, so enough of the basketball already. I told you I was not going to turn this into a political blog, but hey, how about that Gerald Ford, huh? God he is such a jerk! Just kidding - your moment of zen is this article from the Onion on Obama. Classico.