My memory sucks. You'd think that I'd be able to remember key moments in my life. You know... like the first time I ripped open a pack of cards. Or the first time I drove a car. Heck... I can't even remember the first time I kissed a girl. Those are all things I should remember... but I can't.
Thankfully... I have this blog to help me remember things down the road.
Like watching my first Ronda Rousey fight last night. Well... let me clarify. It's the first time I've seen her fight live and thank goodness I didn't have to pay for the event, because she beat down Bethe Correia and knocked her out thirty-four seconds into the fight. It's like watching Mike Tyson in his prime.
Anyways... last Christmas I received a few Barnes & Nobles gift cards from my students and discovered that they sell signed copies of books. I was pumped to see that Rousey was going to release her new book this year, so I used the money and ordered a copy for my collection.
Her book titled My Fight/Your Fight came out in May and arrived a few weeks later. She signed the book in red Sharpie and it looks amazing.
While I'm on the topic of firsts... back in June I sat down at a restaurant and ate by myself for the first time. Now I'm sure I ate at the cafeteria at De Anza or SJSU by myself... and there's even a chance I've gone to McDonalds and grabbed a Big Mac by myself. But I think I've always been self-conscious and never wanted to sit in a restaurant alone.
However that all changed when I went to a Hawaiian restaurant called Hukilau in San Jose's Japantown. I was going to meet a fellow sports card collector about some supplies he had offered me and I arrived about forty-five minutes early, so I sat down at the bar and ordered a bowl of saimin:
I guess I wasn't completely alone... since Tony was there to witness me scarfing down those delicious noodles. After dinner, I drove over to the nearby grocery store and met Peter, who's collects a lot of vintage stuff. He found me on my blog and offered to donate a ton of extra supplies he had sitting around:
In addition to the nine shoeboxes filled with toploaders and screwdowns, he also gave me some Corinthian Headliners and comic trading card sets from the 90's:
It's the first time I've seen four of the sets shown above. The only one I've actually opened packs of is the Spider-man set on the right.
Thank you so much Peter! I'm sorry it took me so long to write up this post. I hope you and your friend had fun at The National. Don't forget that I still owe you dinner for this generous donation.
Happy Sunday and sayonara!
Thank you so much Peter! I'm sorry it took me so long to write up this post. I hope you and your friend had fun at The National. Don't forget that I still owe you dinner for this generous donation.
Happy Sunday and sayonara!
8 comments:
I miss all of the Comic Images sets from the 90s with their cheesy "holographic" chase cards that were really just prismatic backgrounds. They were never too expensive to open a box and sine the cards weren't glossy, they were great for sending to artists for autographs (that was before I started attending a ton of conventions and found out most artists gladly sign for free).
That McFarlane Spidey cover is still such an amazing image. What a waste of talent, but if he's never going to hit deadlines then I guess the front office is the best place for him.
Nothing beats a meal with Mr. Padre. Seriously, that food looks amazing. We don't have anything anywhere close to that around here.
Awesome Rousey book!
I never ate alone until I took a job that required travel fairly recently. Because of that, I was alone often and had to get over my inhibitions. I've found that it allows me time to clear my head and think, and I truly love those opportunities now. Anyway, just my two cents, hahahaha
Also, setting aside the Brees for you. Still looking for other cardboard to send your way!
My memory is shot as well. I remember the time period from 1988-1998 quite well, but before and after that is pretty much where if I remember something it's more luck than anything else. That's why I keep lots of notes on things, because I know I won't remember anything later. Health problems aren't fun. I do remember the first time I drove a car though...even the exact date. (August 15th, 2000) but I've always grown up infatuated with cars.
Nice find on getting those comic cards. Although I'm a DC fan much more than a Marvel fan, I still pick up the Marvel cards when I find them at a reasonable price.
I have to travel a good bit by myself so I'm always eating alone. I've never really minded it as it allowed me to try off the grid places that would be hard to visit with others.
That food looks amazing. My wife loves those kind of dishes, but as Mark said above they are hard to find in the Pittsburgh region.
Dang I am hungry-I sure miss those days I could get to Japantown.
offy - I'm still trying to chase down the Spider-man prism cards from back in the day. i've never thought about requesting an autograph from one of the artists. might need to try it out. i always wonder why mcfarlane switched over. i knew there was a lot of hype around his talent back in the late 80's/early 90's... but didn't realize he couldn't meet deadlines. good info.
mark - not gonna lie... it was pretty good (although nothing beats the reals stuff in the middle of the pacific ocean).
sports card collectors - thanks!
j. meeks - now that i've broken the ice... i might need to dive in again. if i recall, i was watching some sports event, but i could see where it would be a great opportunity for me to sit down and clear my thoughts.
billy kingsley - i probably should actually keep a real diary to document my non-hobby related events as well. my family has a history of alzheimer's and dementia, so i kinda worry about that. the good news is that it doesn't usually become an issue until people in my family reach the late 80's and early 90's in age.
as for marvel vs. dc, i've always been a marvel kind of guy and i think it has to do with trading cards. back in the early 90's, i wasn't impressed with the dc sets as much as i was with those marvel universe cards. on the flipside... arrow is one of my favorite shows.
matthew scott - my next big step in life is to take a trip by myself. almost flew down to san diego this summer to take in a game by myself... but i chickened out. baby steps i guess. maybe i should take in a few dinners by myself first.
b man - whenever you're going to be in the area, let me know and we'll hook up. i'd love to grab me some more saimin
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