What's my angle? I just got back from playing three sets of tennis with James. I pretty much kicked his ass. 6-0, 6-1, 6-0 was the score. It was definitely the best I've seen the ball all year. The cool part was that on four or five shots, I saw the ball clear as day and was also able to see great angles on the court. It's definitely hard to concentrate on the ball, the angles, and form; I definitely don't expect to be able to do it on nearly every shot like I could in high school. It's such a cool feeling when everything clicks. I didn't need to hit the ball really hard because the angles were so good, he couldn't even touch the ball. Tomorrow night I'm playing Phu again. Hopefully my game will continue to progress.

On tennis balls, jet lag, and aging I've finally recovered from jet lag. It's never taken me this long to get back into it. I guess it's part of getting older. How...unnerving. Speaking of getting older, it was my birthday last Wednesday. I didn't do anything exciting, just my usual Wednesday volleyball and hanging out with Steve. I had lovely wishes from many people, including some I was surprised to hear from. You shouldn't be reading this because I never gave you the link, but thanks for the flowers baby. And whoever sent Steve and I the nice assortment of Yankee drinking devices, thanks! Now kindly identify yourself (yourselves?) so I can properly thank you. (Also so Steve and I can solve this mystery. We each have theories....) Phu and I played tennis the other day. Of all the people I've played down here, he's clearly the best. I beat him pretty easily, but mainly because he's out of practice and made lots of unforced errors. It should get pretty interesting after he gets a few more sets under his belt. His forehand has some nice topspin, which will force me to hit the ball on the rise. I can do so with my forehand right now, but I don't have the timing with my backhand yet. It should all come back though. I bought Dunlop balls for my match with Phu. The last few times I used Wilsons. I forgot how much I prefer playing with Dunlops. They just take spin better and bounce a tad higher than other balls -- a definite advantage for those lazy topspin moonballs I hit to recover position. Oh, I bought a bunch of Fekkai hair products at duty free. This stuff so rocks! Paul Mitchell is such a fraud. I'm totally digging my numerous shampoos, conditioners, and other goodies. After more than a decade of Paul Mitchell use, I'm totally abandoning him for Fekkai. Frederic rocks! (And yes, I'm straight.)

I Think I'm Turning Japanese I spent the last five days and six nights in Japan covering Tokyo Game Show. It was a pretty cool trip. Like any tradeshow, it was a pretty grueling experience. There were more than a few hours when I felt online reporting was really stupid. As far as tradeshows go, it was probably the second easiest it has ever been for me. The last show I covered, I had one of the most amazing people I've ever met taking care of me. This time around I had two really great friends as my support system. It was pretty cool wandering around Tokyo with Justin and Jon. Having Justin work on my PC every night as I caught an hour of sleep was comforting. It was almost like he was watching over me, and I knew he'd wake me up so I could start cranking out my drivel. As usual, Jon kept things really lighthearted and fun. Those guys are awesome. Tokyo is a really interesting place. Some of the efficiencies are rad. There was this curry house with a menu and vending machine outside. You'd select your dish and put your money in the vending machine. It would then give you a ticket and you'd present it to the chef. Minutes later he'd plop your food in front of you. It was great not riding in cars for a week. Taking the subways and trains really reminded me of life in New York. Relying on public transportation really works for me. I'll miss all the cool sodas in Japan. There are vending machines everywhere. Life Partner was the funniest beverage of the trip. My new discovery was this Asahi honeydew-flavored cream soda. Naturally, I downed a ton of Suntory CC Lemon. That stuff rules. After not traveling for a few weeks, I forgot how much I enjoy the road. I have a few trips in October -- both business and personal. I've been getting in a groove in Irvine, playing volleyball and tennis as well as working out with Steve. Although that's been good, being on the road helps keep my mind occupied. Potentially I have trips to London, New York, Las Vegas, Redmond, Minneapolis, and San Francisco. I'm sure I'll have plenty of stupid stories to tell.

OMG, I Have the Power of Heart Remember that environmentally-friendly cartoon Captain Planet? It was a tree-hugging good time with kids that had the powers of earth, wind, fire, water, and heart. I always thought that the kid with the heart power was a lamer. I mean, what the hell could he do? Make people feel good about themselves? The other kids could conjur up an inferno or cause a tidal wave, while this little tart gave people warm fuzzies. I came to the realization that I hated him so much because he reminded me of myself. I'm not particularly smart, cool, good looking, athletic, or charming. But if there's one thing I'm good at, it's treating my friends well and caring about them. Deppresingly, I have the power of heart. Shoot me now.

And so with a heavy heart... ...and a pained pancreas, Raymond left San Francisco. I went to SF over the weekend to help Kate pack up. She's moving to Minnesota. It's going to be weird having her so far away. I've already missed her being 300-something miles away. Now there will be 2,000-something miles between us. She's been there for me throughout all my ridiculous...situations. So on one hand I'm extremely sad to see her go. On the other hand, I think moving to Minnesota will be fantastic for her. She was getting tired of San Francisco and my best-friend-in-the-industry will be there for her. Those guys are disgustingly cute. Ech. On Saturday I saw Phuong-Mai. We went to the comic-book store together. I haven't bought comics in months. I really missed them. I'm contemplating getting into comics again and perhaps working on the script again. I figure it will help keep me out of trouble and away from girls (isn't that the same thing?). Oh yeah, I saw Jenny last week. In addition to snagging another free latte, I learned that she does her Spanish homework in pink pen. This is not a good sign. I don't think college girls do their homework in pink pen, which would mean she's in.... Yeah, nothing but trouble there.