Springtime

Springtime is here, and as Helen and I approach our 1 year anniversary of being in Portland, I thought it would be nice to update everyone as to what I've been up to lately. All Helen does is teach pre-schoolers and do yoga these days. That makes me Mr. Excitement. Well, here goes:

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Man, this show makes my day. If you know my sense of humor, you can understand why I love this show. What's even more amazing is the story of how it came to be. You can check that out here. Rumor has it that the guys made the pilot for $85 and sent it in to FX. The channel liked the pilot so much that they picked up the show and ordered additional seasons. The fourth season has finished up and season 5 starts sometime later this year. You owe it to yourself to watch it. Here's a clip from the episode, "Sweet Dee Is Dating a Retarded Person" (you might need to sign up for a Hulu account to view this but it only takes a minute and lets you watch t.v. shows for free online)



Breaking Bad
A show about a high school chemistry teacher dying of cancer who starts cooking and selling meth in order to leave his family enough money to survive without him. If that's not intriguing enough, it stars Brian Cranston, the dad from Malcolm in the Middle. The show is like Weeds, but without the rich-lady-is-too-lazy-to-get-a-job-and-doesn't-want-to-lose-her-cushy-standard-of-living feel to it.

The Portland Trail Blazers
I'll admit, I was not a Blazers fan when I moved to Portland. I was barely even an NBA fan. However, as previous posts have explained, I have an affinity for Greg Oden and I wanted to support him. I have watched almost every game this year and went to some in person when I could. As the season went on I became more and more enamored with the team. When they lost, I would be genuinely upset. They've had a rough past 10 years or so, but this is a team you can cheer for and not feel bad. As fun as they were to love, the Jail Blazers are no more.

Well, the Blazers are back in the playoffs for the first time in 6 years. I went to Game 1 of their series against the Houston Rockets and saw them get destroyed. Game 2 was a great game that saw the Blazers come out on top. Games 3 and 4 are this weekend in Houston. If you should choose to watch any of the games, which I highly recommend, let me introduce you to some of my favorite Blazers.

I've already told you about Greg Oden. If you watch a game and look at his hair, it looks like he's been wearing a bike helmet his entire life because of the permanent lines that run along his head.






Rudy Fernandez is every girl in Portland's favorite player. He comes from Spain. He has machismo. He can dunk the ball and shoot 3 pointers incredibly well. While it has not been proven, I believe that he wears only a black Speedo and a gold chain while walking around town. His English is terrible, but the ladies don't seem to mind.





With nicknames like "The Vanilla Gorilla" and "Thrilla" how can you not like Joel Przybilla? Also, after getting fined by the NBA for his role in a skirmish, his grandmother wrote David Stern (the commisioner of the NBA) a letter telling him to repeal the fine.






His name is Travis Outlaw. He's the son of a sheriff. He's from Mississippi. He sounds just like Eddie Murphy. He never met a shot he didn't like. He'd shoot a faberge egg in the basket if he got a hold of one.








The Chicago Cubs
With spring comes the beginning of baseball season. With baseball season comes the hope that the Cubs will make the playoffs and actually advance and play up to their talent level. I'm still sour about last year's playoff performance but I'm back again this year for more punishment.

A Job
It took forever, but I've finally convinced someone to give me a job. I'll be working at a pizza pub that is getting ready to open up. Yeah, pizza, I've never done that before. I haven't officially started yet, but I'll let you know how it is when I have. I've got other plans in the works, but I'll tell more of them when they become more concrete.

The Beach
The weather has warmed up nicely and we've had a handful of 75+ degree days here within the past few weeks. There's an island about 10 miles outside of town on the Columbia River that has beaches. I'm proud to report that my tan is already better here than it was in Birmingham. Maybe me and Rudy Fernandez can go together in matching Speedos.

Everything Else
- The cats are doing well. Butters is still on his diet and is down to 17 lbs. now. His weight loss has slowed but his desire to annoy Colle, Vicious, and Thor has not.
- If you're looking to increase your online novel reading, our friends Kevin and Carrie in Birmingham have started an online novel that they post in blog form. They release one chapter a week. It's call Some New Trend. Check it out.
- Sorry for the lack of pictures of Portland and what we've been up to. My camera is broken and Helen's is on the out and out too. The cats' drawing skills have improved but are nowhere near publishable.