Hey there people. Checking in. I'm doing remarkably well. Coming back together, piece by piece. I took these pics yesterday afternoon. Oddly, the biggest bruising wasn't from the actual surgical points, but rather from the NG tube, I think.



There is some yellowing along my jaw line, but my sweet, sweet beard hides most of it. I actually took the clippers to my face yesterday so as to not scare little kids or small dogs.

ps. Catheters pretty much suck. Wow, so freaking terrible. The worst part wasn't having it removed, even though that was terrible. But rather, 2 hours or so after having it removed and drinking what seemed like gallons of water, the urge to urinate is super high. However, the body still thinks it has the catheter and is a little confused. I think there might be an air bubble block that has to be worked through too. Before my first piss, I thought I was going to explode. It was a pretty terrible feeling, like I was going to burst. Once I finally went, I was pretty much in a heaven / nirvana. Pure bliss. Weird.

pps. What about those sweet myspace-style shots? Better than glamour shots.

ppps. Current weight: 163.5 lbs. I think I was at 175lbs a week ago.

Some have you who read this blog have a regular chance to speak to me face to face. Anyone who has spoke to me face to face in the last 3 years has probably noticed I have braces. Yes, braces. Orthodontic work. Probably a little strange for a man nearly 30 but you know what they say, "young til I die." Anyway, Tuesday was a big day in the braces game for me. Part of my ortho process involved oral surgery. Below, I present the before and after pics. Turn away if you are slightly squeamish. Fear not, I didn't post up "the day after pics" but rather "the day after the day" The day after pics are much more gruesome and are probably worse looking because I was still in ICU at the time with about 6 million wires plugged into me.



Oh yeah, I'm fine too. I experienced very little pain and got out of the hospital one day early. My doctor and nurses were really amazed by my progress. I lay all my thanks to a healthy lifestyle and an endless supply of PMA. Really, PMA got me through a fucking lot.

And now slow eating, but I'm doing fine. Much love to every person who texted me or shot me an email. I really appreciated it. You'd be surprised how slow those nights wore by in a little hospital room. Good thing I had baseball and basketball to keep me company. Oddly, I somehow fell asleep before Papelbon blew both saves. Weird.

Last week, I ate something terrible and fought food poisoning for a few days. A diet of apple juice and gatorade isn't the life for me. Somehow, I thought it was still a good idea to do yardwork. It went like this "rake for 2 minutes, lay down for 10 minutes, rake a bit more, dump leaves, lay down for 20 minutes, rake more, ..." At one point, I spread out my hooded sweatshirt to lay on. Tucker would steal that spot when he wasn't chilling in this spot.



I spent some time wondering the mall. You know how I do it. The Burlington Mall got a name change for the movie. Hot times.



Thankfully, summer is around the corner. That means I can put winter behind me. So the winter wheels got put in the corner of the garage and the summer wheels make an appearance.



I also got back into the swing of trading last week. I sent a ridiculous amount of vinyl to a friend in the UK and he has offered to send me some sneakers and candy. I plan on sending him a few more records along the way in hopes of receiving more amazing kicks. I broke out these today.



Sadly, the chocolate didn't survive the flight. They arrived in what appeared a melted-frozen-re-melted state. For the most part, they tasted like dirt. Except for the almond one. That one held up the best.

Leaving my building one day, I said "SFKL!" If you know skfl, you know what I'm talking about. Pretty damn close.



And over the weekend, I hit up the 10th anniversary of the Metal & Hardcore fest. This year was very unhardcore. Cold World even cancelled (I found out later). They were the only hardcore band playing. Wow.

Here's a picture of Behemoth ripping up a bible and trying to get the crowd to chant "Hey Hey Hey." It was a little sad. When I think death metal, I don't think of "Hey" chants.



Lastly, while I was in the men's room, which was basically the smoking room, I saw this tag on the toilet paper dispenser. I figured Fred Hammer would approve and snapped a pic. Locals only!



Maybe I'll add some non cell phone pics of Metal Fest up tomorrow. We'll see. That crowd was soooo metal. It was good hanging with Pike, Merrick and Nick, and meeting new people like Bridgewater and Ramona. Good times.

Saw this. Made me laugh.


Shout outs to Larry.

My birthday is a month away. You should probably band together and buy these for me. K? Thanks.



That's not asking too much, is it? Got to aim high, right? In reality, I'd just be happy to get a pair of these: air structure triax 91. Size US 12-13. You have to love those OG colors.



Good luck!

Movie shooting was in the Rainforest Cafe today so there wasn't a ton of staff shooing people away. Here are some better pics.



Jump the alligator? Someone did it last night.



LOL. I wish I had stood behind someone trying to find the Verizon store with that map.

Of course, since all the shooting was in the Rainforest Cafe, the food shop was closed and has been closed for 2 days now. I have never seen more unhappy kids in the mall EVER. Sooo sad.

Just like Classic NES, Skate or ... SHOP! The mall has been taken over by skate rats. Here's a few of the new skate-able structures. Enjoy.



These are actually mall directory signs. The white piece of paper says something like "this is a scene prop, NOT actual mall directory information." Lol.



Maybe some hand plants on the mall planter?



This one went up yesterday or the day before. Immediately upon seeing it, I knew what it was for. What mall would have such an item? Who knows.



Someone must have been doing some gnarly wall rides last night. This guy is busy painting some coping and cleaning off some tire marks.

First, I'll apologize for this pic. Some lady was busy painting the rocks and the staff didn't looked psyched about me standing there.



With this ramp, you could literally jump the ... alligator. Yeap, right over the alligator into the rain forest cafe.

Finally:



These "benches" just look ill. Metal coping on the edges, plenty of room to work with. Not bad at all. There are a few of these scattered around the mall.

That's all. Sorry for all the bad play on words. I couldn't help myself. Peace.