Entry 87

Day 87 - The weather was beautiful all weekend, so before going on a short jog, I decided to take as good a picture as I could to demonstrate just how gorgeous conditions are outside.

The contrast is really high on account of all the sunlight, but isn't that sky just amazing shade of azure?

Entry 86

Day 86 - My third and final date with Jessika. We had an awesome picnic in the park near the Denton library, took a nice walk in the spring weather, and talked over most of the issues we had set out to address in the first place.

The whole time, we both knew they weren't real dates. I still treated them like real ones in practice, because I have been where she is now -- the post-relationship limbo -- many more times than she has. I know that sometimes it's just nice to experience things with other people, and realize they aren't exclusive to your former paramour.

Now that she's finally decided she can give the idea of finding someone new again, my work is pretty much done. So, Jessika and I have decided we can stop now, and continue just being friends.

It was good practice for me, and it gave me time to decide that I do, in fact, still want to be a nice guy and not revert to old habits. It's more fulfilling to pointlessly go on dates with someone you have no intention of being with, than it is to just fish for someone to keep you company for a night...

Entry 85

Day 85 - I went out with some of my nerdier friends to celebrate our friend Stephen's birthday. It meant I got to see Kaylei again -- I had hung out with her on my birthday earlier this month -- as well as a few other friends that I hadn't seen in a while.

The party included people from the normal group of friends I'm used to -- Craig and Bill on the left -- and some of Stephen's coworkers whom I had never met -- Logan and Aaron on the right. It was good in theory, by Kaylei and I were both kind of peeved that Stephen cared more about his coworkers than his normal friends.

Entry 84

Day 84 - My brothers and I went to get dinner at TJ's, a small pizza place right across the parking lot from our apartment. They noticed I was taking a picture, and decided to do goofy random stuff...most of it came out blurry, so I chose the least blurry picture from the group.

Entry 83

Day 83 - Derek had a big project to finish, and he decided to get to work on it. By "get to work on it" I mean that he decided to play Bejeweled on his computer because he felt completely uninspired. That was the highlight of my otherwise boring day.

Entry 82

Day 82 - My friend Caitlin drove up to visit today! We went to Fuzzy's Tacos to get some dinner and drinks. She had many people to see, so I only got about an hour and a half of her time, but it'll do for now.

Hiatus 2010

That's what I'm going to start calling my replacement for "Spring Break" from now on. "Spring Hiatus" from work, from stress, and from worries. I decided that I might do that this coming week, so I have time to update my blog (sorry for the delays) and not worry about the job hunt for once. I might even drive out of town to visit some friends and family.

We'll see how that pans out.

Other than that, I spent a week working on my websites so I can get paid in time for May. I have to remember to at least make some phone calls this week, and pay some bills. I also have to invoice my clients once their projects near completion, otherwise I could potentially get gypped.

I promise a week's worth of updates tomorrow! For now, I might start off my hiatus with some snoring.



Over and Out,

David

Entry 81

Day 71 - Spring Break is now officially over for my brothers, so they were returning to classes. I had to continue freelance work, and I was starting to feel better, so my father felt it was time to go back to D.C.

We grabbed breakfast, took him to DFW Airport, and said goodbye. It was great having him here, but if he and our mom are apart for more than one day, they both get very sad. Thanks for sharing him, mom. Love you both!

Entry 80

Day 80 - I went on a date tonight. It was a second date with Jessika -- the girl I went out with in February. We had it all planned as a very relaxed evening, including ice cream, maybe dinner, and getting a movie from RedBox.

Throughout the course of the date, I fell UP a flight of stairs (and yes, it is as dumb and painful as it sounds), I shattered the screen of my iPhone (and she cut her finger on it when she picked it up), I forgot my jacket so she insisted on not bringing hers (it was freezing cold) and I lost our parking space so we had to walk from Fouts.

To top it all off, when we went back to her room with dinner, she did a "10 second cleanup" and put a bunch of stuff under her desk. I then accidentally proceeded to spill a 32 oz. Dr Pepper all over and under her desk. We spent the next 15 minutes cleaning...


...but she was an amazing date, yet again. She was patient with me, calm about the spill, sweet and worried when I fell, apologetic even though she did nothing wrong, and we stayed up for hours just talking. By the end of the night, we were laughing at how ridiculous the date was compared to our amazing first date; we set up a third date to make up for it this coming Saturday.

This picture is of the desk, the wipes we used to clean it, and the Dr Pepper in question. Enjoy the humor in the awesome metaphor that was the most unique date I will probably have for a long time.


p.s. I keep forgetting to mention that she read Pablo Neruda to me, played a song on acoustic guitar for me (I think the guitar's name was Oscar?), and brought me her favorite children's book from home just so I could read it. I think I'll keep her around for a little longer...

Entry 79

Day 79 - My friend and her fiancé -- Brooke and Chris respectively -- threw a late St. Paddy's day party. I completely forgot to take my own pictures, but at some point Chris and his friend -- Kate -- asked me to take a picture for them.

I used my iPhone for the picture and emailed it to Kate; it's the only photograph I took from the entire night. But take it from me, it's probably for the best...

Entry 78

Day 78 - We picked up Duran from the airport in the morning, and then spent the day doing some shopping. Our main stop was Grapevine Mills, but after a couple of laps we needed a break.

Derek ended up with a PS3, and I bought a few new shirts from PacSun out of the sale area. It was a damn good day.

Entry 77

Day 77 - Derek got a new P.C. in the mail today. He had ordered it a few weeks back. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning opening it up, and then we broke it in with a good, old-fashioned raid.

Nerd day.

Entry 76

Day 76 - Sometimes, when stress hits, the only solace I can find is in family and music. I did just that today -- played for hours and waited for my father to visit me.

Entry 75

Day 75 - I was "summoned" to Lucky Lou's by my friends Ashleigh and Kyle to shoot some pool. I don't get to see them often (since January in this case) so I joined them. I beat Kyle once on a fluke, but aside from that he usually runs the tables over me.

After that: a little chaos.

Entry 74

Day 74 - A long day of working on websites, working out, and busy work (read: census papers). Since I don't want to post a screenshot of my work, and I won't take my phone jogging with me, the best I could do was get a shot of my post-workout electrolyte intake...or something like that. Tomorrow will likely be just as boring, but I'll find something more exciting for the picture.

Entry 73

Day 73 - Jessica wanted to take Daisy to the dog park today, so Sarah and I joined her. I even let Daisy play around in my new car! We picked up some beverages, and the girls picked up snacks, and we headed out.

We watched the dogs play around for a couple of hours, and we even came across a beautiful black lab that looks just like my dog back home -- Ditch. I nicknamed him "Mitch" to make myself feel less sad.

Now I'm ending my day watching Season 3 of How I Met Your Mother with Sarah. It turned out to be a good weekend afterall.

Entry 72

Day 72 - It was a pretty boring Saturday, so Sarah and I decided to finally go see Alice in Wonderland. I loved it! It stay much truer to Lewis Carroll than the original cartoon. Plus, there's a Jabberwocky!

Entry 71

Day 71 - That gift I was talking about -- a 2009 Dodge Caliber! I took some time to think about it, and I decided to name her "Sorairo-hime," or 'Sora' for short. It means "Azure Princess" in Japanese, and the nickname means "Sky."

She's standard transmission, gets 30 MPG, is spacious as hell, and (my favorite part) has an "AUX" hookup that I can use a direct line for my iPhone.

Sarah rode around with me while I took Sora out for a celebratory joyride, and then I picked up a new hat and some shades to sport in my new vehicle. Sure, I miss Beni-hime -- my old 2003 Neon that now belongs to Derek -- but I adore my new car. I'm thinking roadtrip soon. Ideas?

Entry 70

Day 70 - Technically, my younger brothers' Spring Break started tonight. They were both thrilled, but I -- being a bitter, out-of-work, college graduate -- was not all too empathetic. To me, this meant I might have to take a week off to chauffeur them home to visit family and relax. Thankfully, my parents assured me that this would not be the case.

My dad drove down from D.C. to come spend some Spring Break time with his sons, and to help take the boys home. He also brought me a new toy as a "Happy Graduation" and "Happy birthday" present combined. But, we'll talk more about that later. For now, it's just good to hug my pops. Hope I get to hug my mom soon too...

Entry 69

Day 69 - To completely kill all innuendo about this entry, I decided my picture would be of what my brothers and I watched tonight during dinner: Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

What can I say? I like sword fights. Have a nice day!

Entry 68

Day 68 - Sometimes I find that I almost exhale nerdiness, and when I am not being nerdy enough I get withdrawals from not releasing enough. When this happens, the best course of action is an obvious one: Dungeons & Dragons.

I started a new character, and he proved insufficient, so we reworked him to a Dwarf Fighter named Mason, with high Charisma, Full Plate, a Dwarven Waraxe, and abilities that would otherwise make him what we call a "Tank." Now at level three, he has 40 hit points. /drool

I don't get to see these guys often, so I stayed after our campaign run to watch them play some Final Fantasy XIII. Once my levels of nerdiness were under control, I went home and got some rest. It was much needed -- the rest and the gaming.

Entry 67

Day 67 - Duran turned 19 today. He's the youngest of my brothers, and yet still older than any of our cousins. His friend Miranda opted to take him out to dinner, so we all went to Chili's.

Since I had my minor share of embarrassment on my birthday, I decided to inform our waiter that it was his. They came over, sang a song, and gave him a milkshake. He got off easy if you ask me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DURAN!

Entry 66

Day 66 - The night before this, I was thinking to myself, "Man, it would be awesome if we got some rain tomorrow."

I woke up to the rimshots of rain on the roof of our apartment, and was instantly happy. That is, until I remembered that it was laundry day. Oh well, I'll take the good with the bad, even if I have to walk to the laundry room.

Entry 65

Day 65 - Lazy Saturday recuperating from the night before. The boys and I stayed in, got some Wingstop, and watched Battle Royale. All-in-all a nice relaxing night.

Entry 64

Day 64 - My actual birthday celebration was Friday night at a place called "Magic Time Machine" in Dallas. Jessica recommended it, and so I agreed, not having any idea what I was getting into.

The party consisted of two of my brothers (Duran and Derek), me, Jess, Sarah, and our good friends Francisco, Courtney, and their friend Diego came to join! The food was decent, and the wait staff was awesome -- all dressed up in costumes and acting their parts. But my favorite part were the drinks called "Magic Potions" that were delicious and bubbling!

It was a much more entertaining evening than my actual birthday, and I'm glad to have such hilarious friends to share it with. Hello 24. It's nice to meet you.

Entry 63 - Happy Birthday!

Day 63 - It's my 24th Birthday today! That's it. Nothing else exciting happened today. Most of my friends were busy -- I suppose it's a side-effect of being a working-class adult.

My friend, Kaylei, called me when she got out of class and invited me to come hang out with her in Arlington later that night. The funny thing was, she didn't even remember it was my birthday. When she figured that out, she decided we should go to Hooters for dinner. That was basically my entire birthday...

Entry 62

Day 62 - Spoke to Audrey at Fortis First this morning; they were the company in charge of my recruitment for the internship at {algo+rhythm} -- the one I'm super anxious about. She basically passed along the same message, "Only a couple of weeks left of deliberation for the position. Be patient!" I'm excited!

In the mean time, today I worked on the SQL Database (NT Daily archives) for three hours straight. In case you don't know, that's enough to drive someone clinically insane. True story. I also started on my new freelance project to kill time.

I met with the new client, Stephanie, at Art 6 this afternoon to draw up a wire frame and site-map for her new photography website. I'll be using Drupal for the first time to layout the website, and have it done by May. I also got a French-vanilla latte, and continued my crazy workout today.



Tomorrow: Changeover. The movie keeps going, and nobody in the audience has any idea...

Entry 61

Happy 26th Anniversary, Mom and Pops! Enjoy!

Day 61 - Today is March 2, 2010 -- my parents' 26th anniversary. They have five sons, including me, and have lived very hectic lives; still, they persevere and have been together for more than a quarter of a century.

My brothers and I collaborated on an impromptu video gift, using webcams and a quick stint in Windows Movie Maker (I did say, "impromptu," afterall). We made a video counting down several landmark points in their lives together; it has many inside jokes, a whole lot of heartfelt sentiment, and 26-years' worth of love.

Happy Anniversary to Rick and Melissa Lucio! We love you very much, mom and dad.


- Your sons,

The 5 Ds:
Daniel Ryne, David Armando, Derek Robert, Dario Miguel, and Duran Arturo

Entry 60

Day 60 - My brothers and I started a new spring-cleaning movement for the month of March. This included me spending most of today reorganizing the living room, cleaning, and starting a new workout regimen.

I'm sore all over, but I really feel the results coming through. I figure if I keep this up, I'll be back in fighting-form before April! But along with a new routine comes a new diet, so I am eating light and healthy.

In honor of that, the boys and I decided to order from Sukho Thai II. I had rice to eat, a Powerade to drink, and nothing else. I'm proud of myself...but tomorrow is where the real test comes into play -- can I keep this up!?