And So it Begins…

30 05 2009

Today is a very big day for Pittsburgh hockey fanatics. Today is the day we shall engage in a repeat finale of last year in which we were defeated by the Detroit Red Wings in game 6. The new fight for Lord Stanely’s cup is on and it begins tonight at approximately 8 pm and boy should it be great. Game 1 can only show us the defining moments and steps both teams will take on their way to that final prize, the one victory, and nothing less.

This is the first championship rematch in 25 years and we are ready to kick some Detriot red wing Ass. There will be no octipus thrown in Pittsburgh this series nor any day after. We are psyced, we are ready, and we want to show Hosa why he made such a bad choice in leaving the Pen’s and moving to the red wing’s. We want to hold that cup and just give him a small smile to show that maybe the money was plentiful but the rewards in the end, just didn’t make bank.

All of the fun set aside, it is definitley time to get nothing less than very serious. We need to play hard, we need to play rough, and we need to dominate as many games on their ice as possible. No messing around.

stanley cupWe definitley need to do Alot of This.

NHL/We need to stop this.

red wings pensWe need to own them as many times as we can like this.

red wings pens huddleAnd we really need to talk about the ingenius moves were going to make just like this.

There you have it, a 4 step recipe to success.

Now let’s go out there and D-O-M-I-N-A-T-E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Naval Officer OCS. Questions have been Answered.

29 05 2009

navy emblem

As it turns out there is a girl that completed Navy OCS in March that I knew freshman and sophmore year of college. I’d been meaning to contact her and ask her some questions regarding OCS but for some reason I don’t really know, I kept on putting it off. Finally I sent her a message telling her that I knew she had just graduated OCS and I was wandering if she has any words of advice. She wrote back with two words. Call me and her phone number.

Of course I immediately dialed and what ensued, was an hour and a half phone conversation in which I definitely found out about 90% more new information than I had already known. She was extremely helpful and headed me toward the Naval officer forum where you are able to ask any questions aobut OCS and even if are not accepted yet you may still talk to others about it.

She also gave me a list of a few of the things you are allowed to bring, what to expect, and all of that business. Since I have not grown up with anyone in the military or for that matter talked to people in depth about being in it, I am not well informed.

After talking to her, I am well aware that it is going to be very challenging, but I do think that I will be able to pull through. Unfortuntely from what I have learned, there is definitely a sandpit with fire ants in it and if you or one of the members of your class F’s up big time then you must roll around in the sand pit and possibly put your face in it. After surviving Indoctrine week I think I’ll be good to go… Hopefully. haha.

All things aside what I need to be aware of the most, is my physical fitness. I must stay in good shape and be able to do all of the things that they want like push ups, sit ups, running, flutter kicks, etc. I am defintiely going to get all over that so that when I arrive I will be able to at least keep up in the beginning.

After talking with her, I am very excited and can’t wait for my life to enter this new direction. I will definitely be challenged, but I am definitely looking forward to it.





Extremely Great News about Pittsburgh.

28 05 2009

Ahh my city. I will never have more pride for any other city than I do for Pittsburgh. I love the way people here talk, the way we all get everyone’s jokes, and I especially love the cluster fuck of roads that make up downtown Pittsburgh. The random complexity of the setup in downtown Pittsburgh gives my city character and yes its extremely confusing but once you get a hang of it, you will love it too.

What is so great about my city besides absolutely everything? Wait no longer, because a great political gathering of world leaders will be holding an economic summit in Pittsburgh this summer. Yes, this means that Barack Obama will be gathering with world leaders that make up almost 85% of the world’s economy to take stock and explain this cluster fuck so that they can move to improving the problem.

Below I’m not just going to give you part of the article, I’m going to supply you with the whole thing. Bam.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

By Ed Blazina and Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Pittsburgh will host the world’s major economic powers at a G20 Summit in September.

The White House made the announcement at a press briefing in Washington, D.C. this afternoon. The summit will be held on Sept. 24 and 25.

Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said the U.S. agreed to host the next summit during the London meeting earlier in the spring. Pittsburgh is “a good place” to hold the summit because of its recovery from the decline of the steel industry in the 1980s, he said.

At the Pittsburgh Summit, President Barack Obama will meet with leaders representing 85 percent of the world’s economy to take stock of progress made since the most recent summits and discuss further actions to assure a sound and sustainable recovery from the global economic and financial crisis, officials said.

“With leaders already scheduled to be in the United States in September to attend the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama offered to host the Summit and leaders of the G20 welcomed the invitation,” a White House statement said. “Pittsburgh has demonstrated a commitment to employing new and green technology to further economic recovery and development. The summit will be held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh, an exemplar of that commitment. The facility is proud to have a LEED Gold Certification from the U.S Green Building Council for leadership in energy and environmental design.”

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Pittsburgh,” said city Chief of Staff Yarone Zober. “This is a chance for us to showcase our city, and our region, for the world.”

He said that Mr. Obama, perhaps joined by First Lady Michelle Obama, would be among the world leaders in attendance, “as well as hundreds of dignitaries, world leaders from around the globe, and thousands of journalists from around the world.”

Mr. Zober said the decision to hold the summit here was based on repeated contact between White House staff, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and his staff, and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and his staff.

Among the selling points: “Pittsburgh has really been a model for an economic turnaround,” he said, noting the smokestacks-to-knowledge transformation of the regional economy and the development of environmentally friendly “green” job sectors.

It doesn’t hurt, he said, that “President Obama is a big Pittsburgh fan in so many ways, and we’re glad of it.”

He acknowledged that preparing the city to host the world’s leaders would be a big job.

“We’re going to be ready to welcome the world to Pittsburgh in September,” he said. “We’re going to make sure that this city shines. . . . This is potentially one of the largest things to happen in Pittsburgh.”

The short-term economic impact to hotels, restaurants and other Downtown businesses is significant, he said. So may be the long-term impacts of introducing so many top leaders and international journalists to the city, hopefully including its neighborhoods, he said.

The city’s public safety departments have already begun coordinating security planning with the Secret Service, he said, but details are not yet worked out.

Mr. Onorato said hosting the summit is a sign of the area’s economic stability and environmental innovations. Pittsburgh’s convention center is the largest LEED-certified convention center in the world.

“I want to thank President Obama for giving us this remarkable opportunity to showcase our accomplishments and transformation on a world stage,” he said.

The G20 includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union (along with the European Central Bank).

The most recent summit occurred in April in London, Mr. Obama’s first major international conference.

Previous conferences have spawned demonstrations that have sometimes become violent in the host cities. Pittsburgh had a peaceful protest in April during the London conference when marchers went from Market Square to the Federal Building on Liberty Avenue.

More details in tomorrow’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Read more: “World leaders to hold economic summit in Pittsburgh” – http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09148/973412-82.stm#ixzz0GrBhFQFd&A





Thoughtful.

28 05 2009

So I can’t stop thinking about Hawaii. I’ve been eating, sleeping, and living with my excitement for Hawaii a full day now and it just won’t go away. I’ve been trying to keep it all to myself but somehow in someway it keeps spilling out of me like word vomit. I’m not one to rub my good fortune in other people’s faces because I am going on an adventure other people do not have the pleasure of sharing, but I am just too excited to keep it to myself. A compromise must be reached. Today was Tentative Itinerary day.

M & I looked at all of the things we wish to accomplish and at 3 am this morning (9pm Hawaiian time) E sent us even more stuff that we can do and it sounds so fantastic. Some of the things include a Luau, snorkeling, renting jet skii’s and kyayk’s, surfing lesson’s with a BBQ and trying to complete what’s called the Alpine Tower.

Now the Alpine Tower is what I am most excited about. Has you ever heard of a challenge course? That’s what this is since its on the base at Pearl Harbour and apparently it is run by hott marine boys according to E. This is great news. I am looking very forward to this and can’t wait to challenge myself.

After putting together the itinerary M and I decided to get off the phone with each other and start packing. This resulted in me deciding every few minutes I needed something from Walley World, and this ended in two separate trips over there to ensure that nothing would be forgotten. In the end, I’m pretty sure that for one, the woman that works at the vision center knows everything about me and see’s me way to often, and two, people might seriously begin to think that I live there or something. Hopefully I will have everything collected that I need by tomorrow so that I don’t have to make yet another trip and I can stop the word vomit from happening. The only cure is to stay out of range of people who don’t already know about my vacation because that way I can contain myself.

Yes, I can say that I have lots of things yet to do, but with a very light work load (This means no work tomorrow or Saturday) (YAY)(WOO)(LOVE IT) I will have plenty of time to preprare and pack for my trip. & no this is not relieving any of my excitement. haha.





T minus 5 days till HAWAII.

27 05 2009

Hawaii

As it so happens I am going to HAWAII!!!! && I absolutely cannot wait. My friend who is a year younger than me in the forensic program I was once a part of (weird… weird… WEIRD) (I really can’t imagine not going back to school in the fall) invited me to come and visit her on the island where she is doing her internship.

No she is not a native, but when she left for college her parents moved down there because her dad is a naval captain and was stationed there for a few years. My alongside my partner in crime, are heading down for one crazy vacation. Most likely the last awesome time before I head over to Rhode Island for Naval officer candidate school (OCS) training.

My only complaint is that I’m not a very big person on going to tourist filled destinations. I like to find the beauty in something not everyone is all about. The same thing with books which I do believe I have stated previously. I was a huge fan of the Twilight series but when it takes off like that the magic just disappears for me. Its way to big, the movie wasn’t to my satisfaction, and when everybody and there mother knows the love story, it doesn’t have the same impact nor will it ever have the same impact as when I read it the first time no publicity included.

The greatest thing ever is that I will be staying on Pearl Harbour base with E and her family and we will be getting a personal tour of Pearl Harbour due to the fact that her father has connections and doesn’t mind showing us around. This I am extremely excited for. It’s soo perfect.

Other adventures planned include a back packing trip to some of the volcanoes, staying in a Hostel for a few nights to experience Hawaiian nightlife, relaxing on Wakiki beach, going to the Aquarium, sushi, a Louau, snorkeling, and just the best time a girl could ask for with friends.

For this week I am sooo excited. This will be the farthest I have ever traveled from my hometown, which isn’t saying much for someone trying to make it all around the world. But, this is a good start for sure.

After Hawaii its time to get very serious. Getting into trained physical shape is a huge priority, pushups and situps are a must. If I think that I’m going to make it through OCS I’m going to have to work my buns off to be in good physical condition before I even leave. This is top priority.

On the return trip there will be no fooling around. Time to get serious. Until then, I’ll take a time of my life please.





Camping + Star Trek.

25 05 2009

Good combonation right? Talking about Camp, one of my favorite places on Earth, and giving a Star Trek movie review all in one post. You just got to go with the flow on this page I guess, because that’s what I feel like writing about.

One of my favorite smells is that of a camp fire. I love camping. I don’t care how dirty I get, how nasty things are, if you can’t rough it then you need new priorities. When I go camping, I love the company of people I am around because these are all of my childhood friends, and I love the atmosphere. Everyone there is happy, we relax, we eat ALOT, we drink, and we do everything on a whim. There are no plans. Whatever happens happens and that’s the way I like it.

I also like laying out on a hammock and having serious conversations with my friends for life because they are the only people that really understand me. When I talk with them they give me good advice, they tell me straight up if I’m wrong and they don’t hold back. I love that.

We always bring up the fact that after we all went our separate ways in college we weren’t able to find true friends like the ones we left back home. This is so unfortunate because I wish I could make friends like them, it just doesn’t work that way. Although I was able to make one friend that would have been in my group of friends had she lived near me growing up. Nobody else fits our circle. This is sad but very true.

Overall, my memorial day was awesome. I am already home now getting ready to help my family do yard work and I can’t wait till next Monday! Why you ask? Because I have a plane ticket to HAWAII and I just can’t wait to GOOO!!!

In other news:

STAR TREK MOVIE REVIEW:

I meant to post this last week after I saw the movie but some how the days have been flying by and I haven’t had time till now.

After seeing the Star Trek movie I can only say I was really really impressed. I, a person who has never even watched an episode and know little to nothing about Star Trek, went to see the movie and loved it! I loved all of the characters and I loved all of the action. The story plot was good, a little hard to interperet at times, but defintiely my kind of movie.

Everybody is loving Chris Plank (Captian Kirk) but I’m not going to lie I was a huge fan of Spock. I mean not really the bowl cut and ears but his physique was Amazing! When I was watching him walk off screen and just his quiet actions I decided I would totally do him. He’s also really smart and I can’t help but fall for a total nerd. ha.

Overall this movie is bomb and I want to see it again before it leaves theatre’s. I can definitely see myself buying it.





Graduate Class of 2009.

16 05 2009

Yes, yes, crazy I know. As it turns out I will be waking up very early tomorrow morning and heading back to school one last time as an undergraduate student. My days are finally done. College has smacked in the face a few times and I have paid attention, but the years have flown and I don’t even know what to do with myself.

Now, four years later, I can say that I have learned many streets smarts, I have learned some serious book smarts, and I have above all, met some crazy kids who I can say have turned into great friends.

Life as I know it is over after tomorrow. Yes, I do get my graduate dairy queen ice cream cake but it can only last so long. This new phase will not be prolonged. After tomorrow I enter the world as an official big kid in which I become faceless and just another worker trying to make a living.

Have I sounded just slightly depressed yet? Besides the fact that even if I decide to return for a masters and later a docrorate the college experience can never be the same. I have matured. There should be no more ridiculous nights, no more epic stories of drunken adventures, and especially no more partying tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday. The next time I enter another college classroom I will be only expecting ten tons of work and no play. Its sad but true. Time to face the facts.

Like I said earlier I am workingo n Gears of War 2 achievments and thinking about the last day as an undergraduate as it becomes time to embark into the mists of the future.

graduate





Gears of War 2, Acheivements Long Overdue.

16 05 2009

gears of war 2cSo, it is finally time. I do realize that Gears of War 2 was released about six months ago. I also realize that I have been a lazy ass and have not got my second cog tag achievement, which I damn well want. Now most of you can that I just waited until all of the locations were posted and they put up the how to video on you tube. You would be absolutely correct in your thinking. In fact, you are brilliant. I mean really, they hide some of these things in the darndist places. Why only get them here and there when I can wait for the locations to be posted and get them all at once?

Plus, I will also add the fact that they aren’t just cogtags this time. They are different articles of things and I don’t want to miss one.

With a thunderstorm rolling over my hometown, I will camp in the basement and play away to my hearts content. Maybe then I can get this achievement done once and for all. Of course, it might be a bad idea to play in a thunderstorm because 1. I might loss my place if the power goes out and 2. the locusts kind of sort of scare the shit out of me and a thunderstorm really doesn’t help with that aspect.

The good thing is that I am not going out tonight. I am staying in, relaxing, and kicking ass at gears of war 2 because its what I do.





Video Poker–> Free Health Insurance

14 05 2009




GAME 6 HOME ICE ADVANTAGE BABY!!

9 05 2009

Penguins

Soooo Excited!!! I cannot wait to bring the pen’s back for a Monday night game at the mellon arena vs. the Washington Capitols. The only problem I have is Gonchar’s injury. Please let him be okay!

Right now we are in a very good position. The series is 3-2 Pens. Lets just hope we end it at home and move on to bigger and better things. haha. LET’S GO PENS!