Take me out to the Ballgame!

Last night I basically lived the American dream. I went to the Dust Devils' game (Colorado Rockies short season A affiliate) with my dad and two of my brothers. I ate peanuts and cracker jacks, cheered for the home team, stretched in the middle of the 7th inning, and belted out the American classic "Take me out to the Ballgame." I am excited for the MLB post season and all the good things the next couple of months will bring. I will be moving to a duplex in Provo, UT on Oct. 1st (220E 2680 N). Here, I will once again enjoy ESPN during the best sports month of the year. I just finished my 1st year of grad school and I am excited about classes the next 2 quarters and then I start an internship for the last 6 months. I got Halloween, my 3 year tumorversary, and my birthday right in a row. Prognosis positive doctor!

Reunion

Had my 10 year high school reunion last weekend and I think TV has misled me for the first time in my life. The hot cheerleader and the football star didn't get back together (they didn't even show up), no one hired a stripper to be his/her date, and no one cared about anything that did or didn't happen in high school. We were just a bunch of working stiffs who hadn't talked to each other in 10 years, (in case anyone who went reads this there were some exceptions of course-you know who you are) Kind of anticlimactic, but fun to see old friends. Strange, I never felt like I was comin' home, maybe that's because I live less than a mile from the old high school and had to travel away from it to get to the reunion site.

If you're goin' to San Francisco...

Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. Seriously, I forgot to wear one and the mean glances and impenetrable stares didn't stop until I got back on the airplane. Scott McKenzie knew what he was talking about.
So yeah, I went to San Francisco and had a blast with my old college roommates Matt and Chad. We saw the sites in the Bay area, watched Zito carry a shutout through the 8th inning (and be awarded the 1-0 win), went to the State Fair in Sacramento, and generally had a good time hanging out and reminiscing. The best part was probably going to church and finding out that the primary had a put together a long paper chain around a picture of Jesus. Naturally I assumed it was a "Jesus is Coming" advent chain. I was tempted to pull off a few chains to screw everybody up, but my nice guy instincts kicked in too fast.
The day before I left, I met with a replacement oncologist (my onc was on vacation) and wanted me to have a spinal tap that day and go to the hospital to see if the "smooth dural enhancement" on my last MRI was meningitis, metastases or something else. At first I thought it would be really cool like the band and its documentary, but then found out it's a potentially painful test that is somewhat risky for patients with a tumor in the back part of the brain. I don't need to endure any more pain and discomfort, or increase my risk of morbidity or mortality just because a doctor is jittery and prone to over testing and over treating. Turns out it's in the "something else" column, it has to do with my ventricular shunt. I'm glad I didn't go crazy and put off my trip to California, it was a good time.

Going to California

That's right folks, I'm going to California today. Hangin' out in San Fran and Sac-Town with my old college roommates. I am looking forward to a two hour big jet plane ride with my favorite Led Zeppelin song on continuous replay.

Green Green Grass of Home

For those of you who don't know, I've had a giant backhoe in my dirt yard for awhile now and last week it was joined by a smaller tractor-like backhoe. It was fun for a time, but a man wants a lawn to grill on, relax on, and mark his territory on. To my wonderment, they are both gone, the dirt has been smoothed out, and the dirt is being watered! Does this mean we're finally getting the grass we were promised 10 months ago? I am so excited to finally join Tom and touch the green green grass of my home.

Caught in a Bad Romance

Despite the suggestive title, I am not involved a new romance, good or bad. No, Lady Gaga's hit was one of our theme songs at the First Descents camp I went to recently. We went kayaking down the Klickitat and rafting down the Little White Salmon in Washington. It was tons of fun, but really hard and really wore me out-I haven't quite been the same since. First Descents is an organization that sets up these week-long camps for young cancer survivors and everything is paid for. The instructors/counselors are amazing kayakers; professionals with stunt videos who leisurely paddle backwards and direct me as I am struggling to keep afloat going forwards. They took tons of pictures and made a youtube video. The soundtrack is not family friendly and you may want to watch it on mute. I will be posting photos soon, so look forward to that.

Don't Stop Believing

So a couple of days ago I found the greatest book title & tag line combo ever. The Plutonium Blonde: He was the last P.I. on the planet, but could he save the world from a nuclear-powered, genocidal, exotic-dancing fembot? Wow. What a literary masterpiece. Imagine my deep and delightful guffaw when I found it was published in 2001, not 1971 at the height of the science fiction era. It is clear that the science fiction awesomeness of the 70's continues to live on. Don't stop believing in things long past, history often repeats itself (as we can see from today's hideous fashion trends that are reawakening nightmares that I put to sleep long ago).
To continue your rock education I will teach you that former Foreigner front man Steve Perry hails from Hanford, CA. Additionally, Richland, WA (my current residence) is home to the Hanford nuclear site which produced the plutonium for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan to end World War II. It also produced plutonium for countless tests and our atomic arsenal during the cold war. Some "liberal" reporters also claim the site engineered a crazy fembot who threatened to destroy world peace, but those claims are unsubstantiated.