It was my birthday last Friday the 22nd. It actually lasted all weekend and was totally awesome. The above picture is from that Friday. Jill came over and brought over my favorite beer, pizza and cake. In my excitement I decided to dress up like Geordi La Forge. I know, the resemblance is impeccable. About two weeks before my birthday I started a campaign among the people that I knew would get me a gift. The campaign was to only give me cash or a Best Buy Gift card so that I could get a Play Station 3. On Saturday I whined enough and talked Jill into letting me buy the PS3 before I got all my gift cards and cash. It turned out that no one had really bought my gift cards yet so I just told them to go with cash, it worked out great.

Then on Sunday I had a wonderful night eating awesome food and more cake with my Eugene family. Over all I give it a 24 out of 24, because that’s how old I am now.

As you can notice I have updated my theme. It is a long time coming that I finally design my own custom theme. Since this is such a small update I decided to post a picture I took of a dude with a ridiculous haircut :)

Teens can be hard to please – or to communicate with in general. They are typically at the age where they want to be independent but aren’t quite able to make the leap. The family vacation becomes a time of dread for most of them. But there are some suggestions that could help you get your teenage to look forward to the time together.

Also to find the best deals when traveling you can use Low Fares to find cheap flights to practically any where in the world

1. Give them control over the plans. Set some guidelines (cost and time) and let them decide what to do. When it comes to placing reservation, you can assist in the matter. For the most part let the entire vacation be planned by the teen in the family.
2. Let him drive. If it is legal in the state or country where you are currently driving (and if you have confirmed coverage with your insurance first) then let the teen get behind the wheel.
3. Let her talk. Don’t use the time for twenty questions, but do let her open up if she wants. Be sure to listen intently to what the teen is saying instead of using the time to plan out what you are going to say. She will be able to tell the difference.
4. Take the time to share. Tell stories that he may not have heard before (like the time you almost joined the circus or how you met his mother).
5. Leave her alone. Let her listen to the MP3 player or just stare out the window. Don’t feel like you have to get her involved.
6. Give him choices. If the rest of the family is going down to the beach then give him the option of staying in the room (or going to the pool). Make sure that he does check in with you through out the day.
7. Treat her like an adult (at least during “public” appearances). That means that you let her order when you get to the restaurant and you let her make choices (even if you don’t think its something that she will like).
8. Remember this is his vacation too. Don’t leave him to babysit his younger siblings the whole time (unless you have already agreed to it AND settled on payment). Let him recharge and relax as well.

Traveling with teenagers is not always easy (just try living with one for a few days and you will understand). Give them some control and a lot of flexibility and you will make the vacation experience one that the whole family can tolerate and enjoy.

My friend recently got a cup of tea and we noticed this strange sexual overtone to the whole label of this tea bag…hehe…tea bag.

Update - Here are other people did this too Jon Dewitt | Adam Patten | Bennie Mosher.

My friend Jon Dewitt recently showed me a funny way to see which side of your face you like best. So I took a straight on picture of myself, went into photoshop and then mirrored the sides of my face to make two different comps of myself but with only one side of my face. The picture is below. The top one is the left side (my best side I think), and well, the bottom one is the right side. I think of the pics as a before and after. The top was when I was still an athlete and the bottom one is the nerd I have become. Kind of cool, you should try and drop links in the comments so everyone can see some other people’s results.

I just recently got an iPhone and wanted to try out posting from it. A lot of people have had beef with the keyboard but since I have had the phone I have picked up typing on it effectively relatively quickly. I don’t like having to switch into a different menu for punchation but if helps retain the sexiness of the phone I will deal with switching menus.

Hello people, I have now passed the halfway point in my trip to South Carolina. I finally have some pictures to post. I have had a really good trip so far. It is hot as crap here. It feels like you are wearing a blanket when you are outside. The temperature will register at 88 degrees at 9pm, and that is without the humidity. I walked out of the house I am staying at and it was raining, but it was also 90 degrees, it was weird. I am out here to do some work for my friends Arron’s tennis club and hang out. His club is awesome and they will soon have a site to match.

The first couple of days in Charleston Arron worked and I was in true form posted up at a coffee shop also working. It was mild culture shock coming over to the east coast and more specifically the south. Within ten minutes of meeting people I had my checkered vans joked about and asked if my wardrobe was “west coast”. People seem to be relatively set in their ways here, but whatever makes them happy. Another major difference between coasts are the names of things. The coffee shop I was at was nice and air conditioned. Decently good coffee and fast free wifi. The only weird thing about the coffee shop was the name. Here is a picture of the sign on the outside:

Apparently no one has told them that “Beaner’s” isn’t a very politically correct name. I would like to see someone open up a coffee shop named “Beaner’s” in San Diego and see what kind of response they get.

On Friday night we went down town. We ate some food and walked around and got a dimly lit tour of a lot of the historical parts of Charleston. It was really cool and has a ton of character. On Saturday I hung out at the tennis club while Arron did some teaching. Saturday was UFC night so after he taught we started making phone calls to find out where we could watch the fight. We found an Irish bar called Obrien’s. Before that we went to a place called Red’s and got some food and beers. The restaurant sits right on a creek/river thing and was a really unique place. After that we headed over to Obrien’s. That’s when the trouble started. Arron I posted up and bullshitted about sports and what not and were drinking beer. Eventually the bar started to fill and Arron and I had found a table that could fit like 6 people. Since we were the only ones sitting there some people asked if they could share the table. We agreed so one of the dudes bought everyone Yager bombs. I know that if I mix what I drink I don’t do well, but I was trying to be a good sport or something. UFC came on and I got really excited and kept on drinking, and eventually another Yager bomb came. After Randy Couture fought it was time for me to go. I ended up having a long, painful night. I love Arron. He stuck with me and was the good friend.

Sunday came around and I was not feeling great. I had nachos from Taco Bell for breakfast and a Sprite. Strangely it hit the spot. I vegged out for most of the day and eventually started to feel better. Arron and I got antsy and decided to go downtown again during the day. We walked all over and it was super cool, I some pics below. After that we ate at a really cool place called Poe’s. It was an Edgar Allen Poe themed place. They played awesome loud music, had a bunch of good beers and delicious burgers. Jill you would love this place, we should definitely come here and go to it.

This is what their website says about it:

“Poe’s Tavern, located in the heart of Sullivan’s Island, was founded to preserve the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe. A man who at once celebrated and bemoaned life, and always enjoyed a good drink, or several.”

Here are the pics from downtown and what not:

This is “The Battery”

Here are some houses around town, the architecture has so much character:

This house was funny, looks like a dude with a beard:

Here are some historical buildings:

This building is really long and used to be a slave market. It gave me a really weird vibe when we drove by it. Crazy/disgusting to think that human beings were sold and traded here.

Here is the customs building:

And this is Buckingham Palace:

So that is my trip so far, I will update again when I am back in Eugene with Jilly!!!!

Hello. I have returned from the Coastland of Oregon. It was a great trip and it was really good to get reunited with my Oregon family despite being light a member (my step sister had to house sit). My family stayed in Waldport in a house that we rented for the week. The person that owns the house apparently blind folds herself before she goes garage sale shopping to buy stuff for the house. It was the most mismatched place I have ever experienced, but it was not my house and it sat 20 yards from the beach, so I can’t complain too much.

This is the bridge we crossed over the Alsea river, well part of it:

It was really nice to drive for a while around Oregon again. I forgot how awesome it looks.

This is on I-5 about five minutes away from my house, it’s a big change from what I am used to and I am grateful for it.

While on the coast my brother and I got a few surf sessions in. Zach, my bro, has surfed the Oregon coast quite a bit, where as I haven’t ever surfed it. In the summer, just like San Diego, the waves aren’t that great, but it was still a lot of fun.

Here is my bro and step dad, Steven Segal:

I compiled a little video of some surfing footage. The waves are tiny but have a lot of potential for the fall, and the music is well, really bad, but it is better than no music at all I guess.

I also finally got my new MacBook Pro. I am totally pumped. Here is a photobooth picture to prove it:

The vacation was really awesome, and I had a lot of fun with my family. I am really ready for to get some structure back in my life, things have been really hectic lately. And most of all I can’t wait for Jill to come home. If you haven’t seen her blog yet you should. She has some amazing pictures of Spain, most recently she visited some of the buildings that the architect Gaudi designed.