Exodus

365 days ago, I left my safe and warm house full of support and love for the unknown. As I watched my folks in my rearview and choked back a few tears, I was feeling a range of emotions. I felt sadness, fear, anxiety, anticipation, hope, and maybe a touch of insanity. My brother fiddled with the CD player. Thank the gods he was with me. I don’t think I could have made it without him.

I had made the decision months before and saved up the necessary cash. It was still so surreal. I was moving across the country, in one of the worst economies in decades, without a job. I wanted change. Adventure something out of my comfort zone. Two hours on the road and I started to understand the difference between wanting something and actually making it happen. I felt shaky and uncertain and possibly a little sick. I kept driving.

I started to think about our trip as a vacation – a classic American adventure that I would just come back from in a few weeks with tons of pictures and a handful of stories.

We trekked through Las Vegas, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma (dislike button), Tennessee, Virginia, DC, New Jersey, and finally New York.

New York was oddly familiar but foreign for both of us. We grew up there many years before. We went back to some of our old spots, saw old friends, and wandered streets that used to mean something significant but that significance had long faded. It was like walking in a dream that you only half remember.

Then it came time for me to say goodbye to my brother. That’s when it hit me. I’m not going home. California is past - a beautiful sunny dream. I was headed to Boston; a place I had spent some of my happiest childhood memories, the place where my beloved grandparents lived and passed on – where my mom grew up. I was headed to my Aunt’s house to crash because a girl without a job and limited money left had no other choice.

As I pulled into my Aunt’s horseshoe driveway, I felt the love of my grandparents shine down on me. I felt more hope than fear. I knew I would be ok.

Fast forward to today. I have found an incredible life here. I have roommates that have become my sisters, I have good friends, and I job that I love. I’ve had hard times, love, loss, struggle, heartache, frustration, and feelings of great joy. I wouldn’t change a thing!

Happy 1-year anniversary of my Exodus!

My Fantasy Husbands

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who is smack in the middle of an “Age of Anxiety “ meltdown. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this condition, I will explain further. Once women get to a certain age (usually late 20’s early 30’s) they start to think about finding the perfect man to marry and pop out a couple of kids with. Luckily, this condition has never infected me.

Anyway she was complaining about the lack of available decent men out there and asked me what my perfect man would look like. I laughed at first knowing fully that no one is perfect. I then decided that I could pick and choose traits from my plethora of fantasy husbands to appease her.

James Franco – He is highly intelligent and talent plus he looks like a Greek God.

Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) – Since this is purely fantasy it doesn’t matter that Eric is a character and not a real person. He’s tall and a Viking. He is also sexy, quick, strong and a vampire (so he will look that good forever). If the book and series are any indication, he is an amazing lover. It doesn’t matter to me if he’s got amnesia or if all of his memories are in tact.

Nathan Fillion – He is my Geek husband. There will always be a place in my heart for Captain Mal Reynolds. He is also hysterical, witty, and such a kind hearted prankster.

Brandon Flowers – He is my rock husband. He has a beautiful voice, talented lyrical ability, an interesting fashion sense, and he’s not hard on the eyes. I could however do without his religious beliefs.

There you have it, my perfect man would be a highly intelligent, talented, tall vampire with a beautiful singing voice, features of a Greek or Norse God and a bit of a geeky side. Wouldn’t that be hysterical criteria for my Match.com profile if I had one?

Twilight Versus True Blood

Vampires as mythological creatures have fascinated people for centuries. As the years pass, the depictions and opinions change with the times but the passion never dies. Vampire stories tend to sync up with the culture of the times in which they are written.

A new stage in Vampire Culture has risen from the dark ashes of Dracula's world. Stephenie Meyer and Charlaine Harris have both managed to infect the masses with a new-found vampire fever. Although their message is completely opposite, the characters of these two female authors do share similar traits.

The Twilight Saga and the True Blood series have taken pop culture by storm. There are many attractive traits about the supernatural that help feed our curiosity and fascination. While investigating why Twilight and True Blood are appropriate for today's culture, I created a brief cheat sheet to help highlight the differences and similarities between these two supernatural universes.
Please click on picture for a closer view. Keep clicking to enlarge photo.

Ode to Jacob Black and Sam Merlotte

I really feel for these two hotties. They are always the confidant and never get what they truly want. It sucks to be considered a good “friend” and not a lover. It doesn’t help that both of their desired women have a huge vampire fetish.

Dear Jacob,

You are hot in all ways. Your body temperature is toasty and you have magnificent abs. You also make an adorable pet wolf. You are part human and alive. You age slowly. You are fully capable of finding a woman who appreciates you (not a little girl). Give up your Bella obsession. She likes the cold, hard, pale type that enjoys overacting and reading people’s thoughts.

Dear Sam Merlotte,

You had your chance but you blew it. You are sexy, funny, sweet and magical. You also make a cute pet who doesn't even need walking. Sookie has a thing for Vamps and one sexy Werewolf. You will never be able to make that transition from trusted friend to lover. Instead of sleeping with her best friend, Tara find yourself a trustworthy shifter or Were.

The NBA's Terrible Tattoos

Since I am utterly disappointed in the contenders for this year’s NBA Finals, I decided to write one last fun blog discussing the league. I have noticed recently that NBA players keep getting more and more hideous and ridiculous tattoos. I thought it would be fun to put them on visual display and comment on just how ludicrous they are.

Chest and Back:

Praying with a Gun - Stephen Jackson

His tattoo of two hands praying with a gun doesn’t surprise me. Although it’s not a shocker is still makes my worst idea to get permanently inked onto your body list.

Crazy Chest Tree – Monta Ellis

Monta Ellis, WTF was going through your mind when you made this unintelligent decision? I understand that you are a family man and love your kid. That is fantastic but scarring your body in this way is just foolish. You are also kind of repetitive. You have a giant tree on your body with a picture of your son and the words “Family First” eternally inked on your chest. Why do you also need Ellis family on your arm? Are you afraid people won’t realize which family you are referring to?

Angel Wings – Paul Pierce

Really? The angel wings and heart shaped tattoo makes Deron William’s panther look downright manly. This is a chick tattoo. Can you imagine the tattoo artist’s face when he picked this feminine design out? Thank god he wears a shirt on the court otherwise all the other players would just laugh him out of the arena.

Super Cool Beas - Michael Beasley

I am sure Beas is his nickname but someone should tell him, if you have to tattoo that you are super cool on your back, it means you aren’t super cool. Plus he needs to hop in a time machine and return those angel wings to the late 80’s early 90’s where they belong.

Chosen 1 - LeBron James

The ego on King James is unprecedented and the fact that he has chosen 1 tattooed across his back is no surprise. He is arrogant, obnoxious, and immature. His back tat reflects exactly who he is.

Neck Tats:

Free Bird – Chris Anderson A.K.A Birdman

Horrible strangulation of color and distaste. Even Lynyrd Skynyrd would cringe if they saw this one!

Virginia Slim - Allen Iverson

Allen used to be one of my favorite players but I will be the first to admit he has a number of stupid tattoos. The most absurd is his prison neck tattoo that has the words “Virginia Slim” surrounded by cobwebs. It just makes him look like a thug out for some yard time.

Swish – J.R. Smith

We all get it J.R.; you like to make the ball go swish. No need to tattoo that piece of info on your neck. Don’t even get me started on the Young Money tat underneath it. This just makes you look like a fool.

Believe – Matt Barnes

I love Matt Barnes. He is kind of a punk so a neck tattoo suits his persona. His choice is just ridiculous, even if he got it when my beloved Warriors were actually good.

Shoulder Tats:

The Panther – Deron Williams

Not hideous or over the top this black panther tattoo just seems cheesy. It would be cute on a girl as a tramp stamp or on an 80’s glam rocker. On Deron it just looks wrong.

Vanessa - Kobe Bryant

I love Kobe. He is one of my favorite players but yes he f**cked up. Besides buying his wife the trillion-dollar ring he got this tattoo. A queen’s crown with a butterfly her name and some horrid representation of her hair. He could have bought her more jewelry or a car instead. No need to defile his body with such repulsive art.

NBA Finals: My Thoughts on Game 1 and 2

As I have already stated this year’s finals is quite different from the last few years. I’m not sure where my loyalty lies because I have negative feelings for both teams. This year, there is no clear hero or villain. The one thing that remains is that I love the game of basketball. So of course I have to watch. Here are my thoughts on the first two games.

Game 1 - Heat 92 Mavericks 84

Overall, I was unimpressed by the offense in this game. Despite the fact that the Heat won by 8 points the first two quarters looked ugly on both sides. I think both teams were shooting under 40%. Both teams had a long rest between series. In the fourth quarter, the Heat stepped up their defense and began making shots. The Heat scored 27 pts and shot about 48%. In the final 10 minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks only scored 10 pts and shot about 40% (their lowest of the playoffs). At the end of this game all of the commentators and Miami fans were guilty of hubris. This was just game one. Dallas fans worried about Dirk’s hurt finger.

Game 2 - Mavericks 95 Heat 93

Game 2 was a completely different story. It was a competitive game for the first quarter and actually exciting to watch. Both teams had stepped up in the offense and defensive departments. At half time the score was tied 51-51. The Heat owned the 3rd quarter. They were shooting 53% with LeBron making 8/11 and Wade making 11/15 shots. Dallas was turning over the ball left and right. Even with the Heat scoring numerous times in the 3^rd, Dallas was only down by 4, when headed to the 4^th quarter.

The second half of the 4^th was when the momentum of the game shifted drastically. The Mavericks went on a 17-2 run. Everything worked for Dallas and the Heat seemed like they were asleep at the wheel. Every shot Miami put up was off the mark. They couldn’t make an offensive play to save their lives. The two points they scored were actually foul shots. Dallas ended up winning the game in a thrilling come back victory. I found myself actually rooting for them and forgetting my dislike for the team because of this riveting win. Just as I kind of pledged my allegiance to Dallas, the camera shot to Mark Cuban jumping up and down. I then quickly remembered why I don’t like the Mavericks.

Side note: The Heat and Mavericks series just got interesting. Miami heads back to Dallas for three straight games, so I can’t wait to see what happens in game 3.

Unrelated note: Steve Nash was at the game to support Dallas and he looks really hot now. I guess divorce agrees with him.

2006 Revisited

As most of you already know, I am a basketball fanatic. This made the Eastern and Western Conference Semi-finals especially hard to watch. I wanted to see Chicago and my MVP D. Rose shine. I wanted to see the smug grins wiped off the faces of Miami’s Big Three. Most of all, I wanted to see “the Chosen One” fall. That obviously didn’t happen.

I knew that the young Thunder had no chance against the veteran Mavericks. I knew that once Dallas swept the Lakers, (it still makes me a little nauseous when I think about it) they would be the team from the West in the Finals. I hoped that Oklahoma could win at least 2 games in the series. That also obviously didn’t happen.

Sadly, both underdog teams lost 4-1. I also think that both Chicago and Oklahoma are 1 player or 1-2 years away from having their shot in the Finals.

Where does that leave us?

It’s a rematch of the 2006 Finals where Miami beat Dallas. I remember at the time, I was rooting for Miami because that was the Wade/Shaq combination. I also hated Dallas and Dirk, which hasn’t changed in the last few years. I recall Miami was down 0-2 and came back to win it all. I was in Cancun on vacation and met a bunch of rowdy guys from Houston. We bonded over Mexican beer and our mutual hatred for Mark Cuban and all things Dallas (except maybe J.R. Ewing).

Things are completely different now. How can I in good conscience root for Miami? If I do its like proving LeBron, Wade, and Bosh right. Their collective egos would explode like a volcano. They are like the Yankees of the NBA, although as a New Yorker, I love the Yankees.

On the other hand, I still detest Dallas. I hate Cuban and Dirk. I have love for Jason Kidd, especially when he was in his prime with the Nets. I also respect Jason Terry because he preformed well for me this fantasy season.

It’s like picking the lesser of two evils. I’m not even sure if I’ll watch the entire series. For a basketball freak that is practically insane.

Wade and Shaq 2006 Finals

I will be rooting for: not sure jury is still out!

Who will win: Dallas has a giant axe to grind and the Triple Threat have something to prove. I pick Dallas in 6.

My Thoughts on NBA Finals Round 2

Like the first round of the playoffs, the second round was full of drama and shocking upsets. Some of the NBA elite teams were brutally eliminated, young stars played up to their full potential, and two teams engaged in a battle royal that brought us our first 7 game series of the post season. I personally found this round hard to watch and even more challenging to write about. Luckily, I’m a professional and just because my team was annihilated doesn’t mean that I will ignore my love for the game (and analyzing it). Here are some my thoughts.

The West

Dallas vs. LA (4-0)

I knew a three-peat was not in the cards this year but the last thing I expected was a sweep. This is hard for me to say aloud but I think the dynasty is dead. Phil is gone and what way to go out. The Lakers lost the first two games at home and were completely humiliated in that last game. The once glorious two-time champs were shamefully swept by the Dallas Mavericks.

Luckily, I chose food shopping with my mother (Mother’s Day) over watching that last game. Watching SportsCenter was a nightmare that night. Much to my dismay, we had the wrong Gasol. Pau’s game was atrocious. I was happy to see Bynum finally get aggressive in many of the games but once he let loose he couldn’t be contained. If you need any more proof just ask J.J Barea. Odom didn’t seem to show up maybe because he was busy shooting his reality show with his annoying wife.

What else can I say except Dallas out played the Lakers. Dirk knows how to take over a game and lead his team to a possible championship. I have my fingers crossed that his Hasselhoff loving ass falls short. I can’t believe I am saying this but if it comes down to a Dallas/Miami series; I have to root for Miami. It would be quite poetic if Dallas gets back to the Finals only to loose to Miami again just like in 2006.

Oklahoma vs. Memphis (4-3)

This series has been a battle of shooters, scorers, and pure will. In fact it’s not only the first 7-game series of the finals but probably the most interesting to watch. The Grizzlies were an 8 seed team, who people thought would be crushed by San Antonio in the first round. Oklahoma is a young team with talented players that can score when it counts. I had never seen Memphis play in a regular season game but Zach Randolph was on my fantasy team and he performed miracles for me every night. I wasn’t surprised to see him continue his reign throughout the post season. 

Every game between these two teams (except the last one) was a battle. Durant and Westbrook are sleek and speedy shooters and Randolph and Gasol are a combination of brute force and talent. As most people expected Oklahoma won the battle in the end. They finally figured out how to contain Randolph, when it really mattered. I found myself a bit disappointed in the end. The last game wasn’t really that competitive and I was rooting for the underdogs. I know that the Thunder have a better chance against the Mavericks, so for that I am grateful. Despite that last game, I have a newfound respect for the Grizzlies and I hope that I am not the only one.

The East

Miami vs. Boston (4-1)

This series surprised me. In the regular season Boston had no problem beating Miami. I truly expected this match up to be more competitive. The fact that Celtics only won 1 game at home is almost unbelievable. I must admit that I was a little giddy that they preformed so poorly. I was rooting for them only because of my loathing for the Heat. After the way they humiliated the Knicks, it seemed like justice that they almost got swept. The Celtics might have been over confident and had too much rest. They also probably regretted that Perkins trade.

The bottom line although I cringe to acknowledge it is Miami has figured out a way to play balanced basketball together. The big three are making quite the unbeatable team. Wouldn’t it be horrifying if they proved everyone wrong? My last hope is Chicago but if it comes down to a choice between Miami and Dallas in the finals, I might have to swallow my pride and root for Miami. My hatred for Dirk and Mark Cuban runs deeper than my disgust for LeBron. Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to that difficult choice. I’m putting all my faith in my #1 fantasy player and current MVP, Derrick Rose.

Chicago vs. Atlanta (4-2)

The Hawks played well and deserve respect especially because they managed to beat the Bulls at home in game 1. Joe Johnson scored 34 pts during that game and the Bulls had a scary moment where D. Rose starting limping at the end of the game. Thankfully, he recovered quickly and played his heart out the rest of the series. D. Rose proved just how healthy he was feeling in game 3 with a career high of 44 pts. The Bulls shine as a great defensive team as well as an amazing bench team.  As long as Deng, Boozer, and Noah need to keep up their competitive roles and Gibson, Asik, and Brewer keep playing hard, the Bulls have a shot at beating the Heat.  Hopefully their strong bench will be the key to their success in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Predictions:

Dallas will win the Western Conference Finals 4-2 (Hoping the Thunder will win at least 2 games at home)

The Eastern Conference Finals could go either way. It will be a tough defensive battle. It could go even go 7 games. I am picking the Bulls (wishful thinking) but I know it my heart it’s could be the Heat.