White Elephant...Meet Rainbow Trout

As you may recall Megan and I went to a White Elephant Holiday party this past weekend where she received the creepy mask. What you don't know is which White Elephant gift I got...well you probably have a guess now.

However, unlike Megan's scary mask that will never see the light of day, I rocked my White Elephant gift on TV last night for everybody to see. It's a little something I like to call integrity. You see when someone gives you a gift it's important to show your appreciation for it...and what better way to do that then to embarrass yourself on TV?

Can't wait to see the ratings!

It's A Wonderful Life

I know a lot of people think the Jimmy Stewart/Donna Reed classic "It's A Wonderful Life" is a boring old movie that gets way overplayed this time of year. In my opinion they are half right...it does get overplayed at Christmas. As far as the allegation that it is a "boring old movie", it is my contention that most of the people who say that have never actually sat down and watched it through from start to finish.

"It's A Wonderful Life" is a wonderful movie!

I first saw it in my high school English class (thanks Mr. Mayfield) and have made a point to watch every Christmas since then...and I'm not afraid to say that I cry every time. I can't help it, I love it at the end when the whole town rallies behind George Bailey. It just puts me in the holiday spirit like nothing else can.

My present to all of you this year is the challenge to sit down and watch this movie from beginning to end. Find a free night, get cozy on the couch and give it an honest view...I'll bet you love it.

Serendipitous

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines Serendipity as " The faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for".

I define it as the best White Elephant gift ever!

Recognize that mask? Here's a hint...look up. That picture was taken last year at the Clarke's Christmas party. The one of Megan and I (yes that's my lovely wife) was taken this year.

There were probably 40 people the Clarke's house on Saturday and everyone of them had a chance to draw this gift, but the hands of fate delivered this ultra-creepy mask to Megan. I don't know how else to explain it...pure serendipity.

Windows to the Soul

There seems to be a lot of debate over who first commented that "the eyes are the windows to the soul", but this much is clear...those are some mysterious souls behind those windows.

Piercing.

Building Party

The fact of the matter is, ever since the economy went into the crappy a lot of companies have stopped having holiday parties. It's a bummer but I get it. If skipping the holiday party means Gus in accounting gets to keep his job, then I am all for skipping the party.

That has been the case for Channel 4 for the last few years...this year included. That is what makes the building holiday party all that much more sweet. 2 hours of sliders and quesadillas getting washed down with light beer.

Now let's go make some news!

First Dance: The Sequel

Even though I have explained to my wife that we are only having boys once we decide to start a family, she still felt it was important to get her wedding dress professionally preserved. Just is case we have a daughter she tells me.

Whether we adopt a Somalian baby girl sometime in the future or not, I tend to agree with my wife...mainly because I know it is important to her. So we packed up the dress tonight to have it shipped away to the preservers, but before we stuffed it into a cardboard box, we had one last go at it.

Look, I know it easier to find a teenage girl who has never heard of Justin Bieber then it is to find a bride that doesn't look great on her wedding day, but my wife may have set a new standard. She was absolutely gorgeous. To put it simply, she wore the crap out of that dress!

So just for old time sake she put it on one more time and we danced to our song in the living room. I even remember most of the steps.

The Offseason

People always ask me what I do in the offseason and I always answer the same way, "I'm on Channel 4 every night doing sports...thanks for watching." The point is I don't have an offseason, I'm just like everybody else, I work year round.

Okay maybe not like everybody, a lot of the athletes I cover do get an offseason...but it's not a vacation. I interviewed the Washington Nationals Stephen Strasburg today at SDSU and while we were making small talk while the photographer set up, I found out just how busy Stras was. It's not the kind of busy that you and I know, he wasn't stressing over TPS reports and spreadsheets, all he was concerned about was the future of his career.

When Strasburg was born the gods reached down, touched his right arm and turned it into a lighten bolt. The only problem is that triple digit fastballs tend to strain the ligaments in your elbow. When they blow out, you need surgery. When you need to replace the ligaments in your pitching elbow, your pitching career is in jeopardy. That's what happened to Strasburg last year in his first season in the majors. That also means this offseason he is working his ass off to get his arm back in shape and his career back on track.

I don't know, all of a sudden TPS reports don't seem that bad.