Being goalie.

I played goalie this week for the Saturday hockey session I have with the cousins. Good times. It doesn't help me practice being a better skater or stronger puck handler or even a better defensive/offensive player, but it's fun. At least, I find it fun. I don't know if the other cousins are as eager to step up and be goalie rather than go out and skate, but I don't mind it at all. I'm definitely stronger on the glove side rather than stick side, but I think that's because they don't have a set up for a left-hander, so I play as a right-handed goalie (left-handed glove, right-handed stick). It makes stick-side incredibly slow since my right arm is significantly weaker than my left, and I just instinctively want to use my left hand more resulting in a lot of glove saves and not much stick saves.

The whole game on Saturday, though, was really good. A lot of people turned up this time around to make a four-on-four game with a goalie on each team. The past few weeks we'd have boards set up in front of the goals since we wouldn't have enough players to fill in the goalie position. It's always a lot of fun when you get goalies.

It's a shame that there aren't any adult leagues local to the cousins. It'd be fun to form a team and compete against other people. Oh, well. We've done really well doing pickup games for 10+ years, which is pretty amazing if you think about it.

Let's move to Russia!

A post...with wings!

Right now I'm thousands of feet up in the air going at the speed of hundreds of miles an hour. I'm traveling to Philadelphia to do some video work for the CityTeam location there, but right now I can't get over how cool it is that I can write a blog entry while in midair. Of course, I'll have to post this on my blog later but whatever.

The trip out is very exciting, though I'm a bit bummed that I'll be missing my first hockey game in the C-league, which is tonight. I'm now on Kuya and Andrew's team, so it'll be fun to play with them. My skills could use a little more work to really keep up with the players, so I hope that the games will help me improve. The D-league, however, is still going and I still have one more game on Monday. We lost in the playoff game, so we'll be playing for third place. That was a huge disappointment for me personally because I played awful. I played such a terrible defensive game, and it really bugged me. We just got pummeled which shouldn't have happened at all. I wouldn't have been so worked up about the loss if the team was exceptionally better than us, but that isn't the case. We could beat those guys, but instead we lost really badly (score was 4-1). Stupid.

I'm going to buy one of these expensive airplane meals because I can write it off as a business expense. Love it.

"And I come back to you now..."

There have been some drastic changes in my life since October 2006. Because of these changes, I have a little more time (and much more motivation) to start up this blog again. I'm sure most of you who read my blog regularly have given up hope for my daily journaling, but at least I haven't given up hope, yeah? Yeah...

Graduation!

That's right, folks! I finally graduated from college, and I can now tell people that I am a "professional photographer." At least, in the journalistic sense. Now clients will take me more seriously and my freelancing price rates will rise! Oh, yes...I will be filthy rich by Spring.

Anyway, I graduated on December 22, which is pretty much the worst day to set a commencement ceremony. But friends and family were able to attend the event, and I really appreciate all those who were there (and those who very much wished they could be there).

So long, my Ventura friend!

After graduation, I moved out of my studio-like room at the Bozarths in Ventura and into Kuya and Chesney's office room in Scotts Valley. They have been much more than generous to let me stay at their place while I try to find my own place and make enough money to actually rent that place out. :) If you're ever up in Nor Cal, look me up.

Leaving Ventura was no tear-jerker by any means. I do miss the friends I've made both at school and church very much. Being involved with a church community was refreshing, and I hope that I can find one up here that I can be equally involved (if not more). There isn't any other family I would have rather stayed with than the Bozarths as I went through my time at Brooks. They welcomed me with open arms, and I felt right at home with them; so I miss them dearly.

I think the saddest thing is when I had to give my key back to Jane, and I had to start knocking at the front door just to get in. That was just too weird.

Working man

I was incredibly fortunate to land a job straight out of college. CityTeam Ministries was so wow-ed by my internship that they wanted me on their staff full-time. I took the offer with almost no hesitation. I really enjoyed the job, the people are more than great, and the cause behind CityTeam is an God-honoring effort that I've always wanted to use my skills to support. God has truly blessed me with such an opportunity.

My position title is Multi-Media Specialist. Cool, huh? It probably sounds cooler than it actually is. I do the photography and video production for the organization, documenting events and covering stories within CityTeam. Putting together videos, slideshows, podcasts (maybe), and other media-related things to show to donors and contributors are also things that I do.

Of course, something so easy as getting "officially" hired so I can actually start working for CityTeam took about a month to actually happen. So what did I do in the mean time?

Oh, puck!

I joined the in-line hockey league in Scotts Valley, and that's been a lot of fun. I signed up for the D-league (the lowest league out of four) because I feel I need a lot more practice before getting into the C-league, which is where Kuya and Andrew play. Our team is pretty good, and I'm really enjoying the game and all it's insides and outs. I definitely need more practice, though, if I want to join Kuya and Andrew's team next season. :) At least I can keep up with most D-league players. We've play three games so far, and I've been averaging one goal and one assist every game, so that's cool.

I also try to play with the cousins up in Vallejo every (dry) Saturday. There I play goalie (I play mostly forward on the league team), which is always an interesting experience. I guess I should try playing other positions to practice skating and puck handling, but no one ever wants to play goalie. Since I don't mind it at all, I just step up to play the position.

It's too bad that there isn't a good consistent league up where the cousins live. They are definitely C-league material, and it'd be really fun to see them form a team and compete.

This land is Outland.

As much as I tried to deny this fact, it's true: World of Warcraft has taken over my life. Ha! Okay, so it's not THAT extreme. It's not like I quit my job, shunned all my friends, deprived myself of sleep, and barely ate just to be the best in the game. Someone did that, by the way, and everyone ridiculed of the player. Total loser.

But Warcraft has become a huge gaming hobby of mine. So if you ever jump on the Warcraft band wagon (along with the eight million other players), look me up. You can go to my Warcraft Social Network profile - the myspace of Warcraft players. Haha! I'm such a dweeb.


This is the update thus far...other than having a great Christmas celebration, a crazy New Year blast off, and a sloppy yet entertaining Super Bowl. I've also cleaned up the blog a little bit by deleting old, unvisited links. If your link got deleted or was never added to the list and you feel it should be there, let me know.

Other than that...

ROCK ON!!!