Happy Holidays!

We are now entering the year 2012, a year that based on Mesoamerican or Mayan beliefs will be the end of the world.  I always laugh at these claims, but I guess it all depends on what your interpretation of "end of the world" is.  Sure, I could believe that human race will go extinct in some hundreds-thousands of years maybe due to diseases, natural disasters or depleted resources, but for planet Earth to actually explode or something is simply preposterous. You know how much energy would be required to take out the planet?  It'd pretty much have to be done by another planet colliding into ours or a sun eventually engulfing the Earth in some billions of years.  Anyway, I plan on living past 2012, so all you believers can do whatever you want. :)

Before the new year, I was home in Scottsdale for the holidays as I usually am. My family didn't do much for Christmas since my sister and her family stayed in Tucson, so my parents and I just took it easy on Christmas day.  We don't do gift exchanges anymore, so all we had were chicken and turkey wings for lunch and then we went out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. 

On Christmas Eve however, Kyle, Puza, Tom and I got together to finally create the NFP (Nameless Food Product).  The NFP is something Tom and I conjured up while we were high one night about a year and half ago at Kyle's.  We had just eaten Totinos pizzas and thought it'd taste awesome to throw a hot dog in there and use the pizza as a bun.  Tom would eventually move to Denver, so we figured now was a good time to try this monstrosity while he was in town.  Each person also had to bring a secret ingredient.  Kyle crumpled Goldfish crackers on his, Puza wrapped his dog in bacon, Tom spread on some horse-radish, and I sprinkled chopped onions on mine.  The final concoction was basically a chili and cheese Nathan's dinner frank wrapped in a Totinos pizza.  I finished mine in 5 minutes since I carried the tradition of being high for this event. :) Kyle, Puza, and Tom were unable to complete theirs, but they also had dinner earlier whereas this was my meal for the night.  They also argued that I was on performance enhancing drugs, LOL.  Anyway, I guess since I crushed my NFP so fast, I'm supposed to name the thing, but I can't think of any ideas.  Suggestions in comments below are welcome!  All I can think of is "Dog in a Comforter" a la pigs in a blanket. :/

Over the winter break, Mike, Peyman, and I went to the Scottsdale Gun Club to go shooting.  Chris and I had never fired a gun before and it was definitely something I wanted to try.  We tried going to the Gun Club one afternoon, but since it was so busy, we had to go the next morning right when they opened up at 9am.  Yes, it was very challenging for yours truly to get up that friggin' early.  We told them to just give us a basic, entry-level handgun, so they gave us a 9mm Sig Sauer.  We collectively fired off 100 rounds in an hour and had a great experience.  It was fun learning how to load and cock the gun and I also did really well hitting my targets considering it was my first time firing a gun.  The three of us will try and make this a tradition for next year, which we may want to try a rifle or shotgun instead. :)

The only other highlight for the break was being in Las Vegas for the New Year.  Pamela and Jody were calling this vacation one of their "last hurrahs" before trying to have kids.  You know how I've felt about Vegas lately, burnt out and boring, but I figured I have a good time whenever Matt and Pamela are involved and I hadn't been to Vegas with them yet.  Also, my usual crew of Mike, Nate, and Peyman were all doing their own things with their significant others, so it was kind of a no-brainer to go to Vegas.  I flew in early Friday morning some 5 hours before everyone else would arrive.  So I sat down a Pai-Gow table at 9:30am, ordered a couple of bloody marys and just played to pass the time.  I actually hit a Royal Flush on one of my hands which paid out 110:1 on my $1 fortune bonus.  I was like, "this is gonna be a good weekend!"  Little did I know that'd be the only real luck on my side all weekend.

Matt, Pamela, Jody, Alex, Jonny, Kim, Claudia, Richard, Kevin, and Shannon would eventually arrive in the afternoon.  At that point I was probably a good 5 drinks in, but I kept my buzz going so I wouldn't want to take a nap.  It was a good call and I eventually pounded somewhere between 25-30 drinks on the day until I started passing out at Tryst at the Wynn around 2am (not a bad club in my opinion and thanks to Pamela and Jody for getting 10 of us in for free!).

We spent New Year's night on the strip, where they block off the entire strip so that you can walk and drink, kind of a like a mile long block party.  It was grossly crowded.  Matt estimated 500,000 to a million people.  Anyway, Kevin's Smirnoff vodka really helped and we enjoyed a 7-minute firework show just in front of the Bellagio with fireworks coming from 5 or so different hotel roofs.

Overall, it was a good decision to go to Las Vegas with Matt, Pamela and friends and I had a good time.  Although that still doesn't change my opinion of Vegas and I hope I won't have to be back for a while.  Not likely with bachelor parties on the horizon...we'll see.  =For now, my next trips are New Orleans and San Diego.

Happy New Year everyone!