“At first I was afraid, I was petrified! Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side! But then I spent so many nights, thinkin’ how you did me wrong, and I grew strong! And I learned how to get along!!!!!”

Tambourines go with every song, I love tambourines! If you can read the lyrics in this photo, you might be able to guess the song we’re singing. Here’s a hint…”Spare him his life from this monstrosity!”

I think Jojo is having too much fun. Did you know that Jojo has never once sung karaoke in his life before this night??? I don’t know what got into him, but he actually sang! Maybe it was all the soju.

Look at Isaac go, what a crooner! We will really miss you, Isaac!

Great shot of us. Why is it we never have a decent picture of us where are smiling and looking normal?! Maybe it’s because this is normal for us?

So the story continues. Jojo sings karaoke for the first time, then somehow agrees to go to a bar to celebrate Isaac’s going away. We head to The Office in North Park, which used to be sort of a dive bar with live bands but is now a cleaner, nicer bar/club. We knew the DJ spinning that night and that the music would be excellent (lots of old school, with a bit of 80s, some swing, and some golden oldies). For some reason, Jojo went into the club (a very rare occurence), had a few beers (first time ever in a bar), and danced with me non-stop for 3 hours! That has never happened in his lifetime, I don’t know what has come over him! All I know is that I had so much fun last night. I love dancing, and I just discovered that dancing with Jojo is 10 times better!

The auspicious night continues with a late night dinner at Santana’s in Hillcrest. As we wait for our food, a bunch of guys enter the building. I look up, wondering if I’ll know any of them, and it turns out I know 2 of them! How random is it, that at 2:00am in Hillcrest at a taco shop, I run into a friend who is currently living in Costa Rica and the sushi chef from our wedding last August!?! What a crazy and truly auspicious day!

U.S.S. Valkyrie, course charted, warp 9, engage!

Captain Jean-Luc Picard has decided to embark upon this mission with us, humbly agreeing to command a smaller vessel.

Lieutenant Feliciano running routine diagnostics.

Ensign Feliciano and Ensign Sterling dealing with a troublesome turbolift.

The mission was a success! Exploration of the exhibit concludes with the discovery of new species, pictured below.

Click here for the full report and photo gallery of this mission.

Actually, we went to Medieval times to celebrate our friend, Ted’s birthday.  We very much enjoyed the tournaments of skill, the hearty fare served on heavy pewter plates, the deep drinks, and the fierce competition between knights on proud Andalusian steeds.  Here is Mike eating the delicious roasted chicken (no utensils by the way, we ate with our hands back in the day).

And here’s Jojo, myself, and Mike sporting our pride for the black and white knight.

Unfortunately, our knight perished at the hand of the green knight.  Here are Ted and Julie with the actor who played the black and white knight, very well I might add.  His arrogance and prowess were quite convincing.

Behold, an offer of sacrifice to the gods!

Just kidding, we wouldn’t dare sacrifice Mike’s new kitten for anything.

Happy Birthday Ted! For more photos of our night at Medieval Times, click here.

Too bad I am not currently located in Greenland, the Arctic, Russia, Mongolia, or China.  I never get to see these things!  I would probably go blind if there was a solar eclipse here, I know I wouldn’t be able to resist looking at it in all its majesty.  Of course I will be watching the live webcast on NASA TV, tune in with me!

The March 29, 2006 eclipse seen from Accra, Ghana. AP Photo/Olivier Asselin

Yes folks, it’s Star Trek, The Exhibition!!!  For a limited time only, you can grip Captain Kirk’s original command chair and say “Scotty, beam those men up at once,” or you can sit and think pensively in Captain Picard’s quarters.  I can feel it, you’re all SO excited to go!  Wait, maybe that’s just me.  OK, so even if you’re barely mildly interested in Star Trek, you may get a kick out of the motion simulators.

The exhibition will be at the San Diego Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park from June 21 through an unknown date.  Hours are 10am-5:30pm for most days, open till 10pm on Saturdays until July 19th.  Tickets are $24.

(If anyone really wants to know how I calculated today’s star date, I used this javascript calculator.)

Then on my birthday, he surprises with me a whole new setup for my computer!  If I didn’t already mention this to you, Jojo, you are my knight in shining armor! (or shining circuits)  If no one minds, I’m going to get a bit technical here because I’m so giddy about all the new, juicy innards of my computer.

1. AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+
2. Asus EAH3450 video card
3. Two, count ‘em 2, new hard drives: Western Digital 640GB (on par with a Raptor) and a Maxtor 750GB (total space = 1.5 terrabytes)
4. Silent Cooler Master heat sync fan
5. And the coolest thing is the Antec P180 case in white, love it!!!!!  Take a look at my case in all its glory (pictured here with my Super Mario Invincibility Star).

Another great thing about getting an upgrade is getting to customize Windows again.  I know, that sounds tedious and not fun at all.  But to me, it’s like dialing in the shutter speed on my camera to get just the right exposure, or tuning my guitar so it rings true when played.  There are so many little things to customize, and it’s fun because I can set it up to reflect me and fit me perfectly.