I went to my folks pad the other day to retrieve my mail, since I still get a bulk of it over there. As I was filtering it, I noticed that my lolo received something from 21st Century Insurance. Which is pretty normal, as we've been getting my lola's mail forwarded here. But the thing is, my lolo passed nearly 20 years ago! So it got me thinking, that my lola never really let companies know that he passed, since they've probably been sending out mailers for years. You'd think with no response they would get the clue yeah? Anyways, God bless the dead.

It feels good to be a sports fan. After many mediocre seasons, my team finally makes the grand stage. I've stuck with them for 15 years, and have waited 14 years to get to the Final Four. Woooo! Congrats G-Tech for making me a happy fan. Now go win on Saturday.

Anyways, here's a pretty random post. A few things been floating around upstairs:
- Why do people wash an orange, but not a banana? I've guilty of it, but have yet to eat an orange peel.
- Was watching women's basketball too, and its funny how they play MAN to MAN defense. Maybe they should rephrase it to GIRL on GIRL.
- This cat was yapping on his cell phone while driving with one hand. Which is no biggie, until you see that he's driving an 18-WHEELER.
- "I Don't Wanna Know"by Mario Winans, while a hot song (I dig the Fugees' beat), has probably the most retarded lyrics. "If you're playin' me keep it on the low"? His GF must be walkin all over him, and hopefully she doesn't get caught.
- Oh wait, I forgot about the Velvet Teddy Bear. "I'm Sorry 2004" by Ruuuuben is pretty bad lyrically also. What, is he waiting for New Year's 2K5 to mess up again?
- Remember I told you how I missed the Musiq concert? I was bummed because usually perfomers come through like once a year, and I'd have to wait. But wait! He's coming again in May with Mary J Blige. Very intriguing! And please listen to "SoulStar," whichisaverydopealbum.
- My passenger side visor broke. Now it just hangs there all limp. I'd figure it costs like $20-$30 to fix, but damn. $110?! Bananas, just imagine if it were my Bentley.
- Nas' Illmatic, which is reegsta's greatest album of all time, is celebrating its 10 year anniversary by rereleasing it. To show how much I love this album, I literally bought it 4-5 times due to the times it was stolen/lost/borrowed. But I'ma pass this time.
- I always preperforate toilet seat covers prior to using them. That's normal right? I'm not sure if the glossy side or dull side should be facing upwards.
- I went to happy hour on Friday, and if I ordered an appetizer sitting down, it would be regular price. However, if I were to move to a table 5 feet away, it would've been half off. Funny, but we didn't want to move, so we just ordered stuff NOT on the HH menu.
- I had a 16oz glass of Hef and a 23oz glass of Hef. I should've ordered a shot of it to make it a complete 40. But why not just make the 23oz glass an ounce larger?
- Which got me thinking how I hate drinking Snapple from a 12oz can. It's a 12oz can, but its only 11oz of fluid. They gip (sp?) you mayn, go check the vitals.

A Wednesday night TV recap? NO its not SV, but rather American Idol. Yes, I admit I watch the show. And I saw the tour of the original finalists 2 years ago. Shoot me. Anyways, as they whittle down to the top dime (10), I figured I can throw my commentary about the singers. Yesterday the football playa got eliminated, but he probably gave the most memorable exit performance, singing "Amaze" to Simon. Haha that was funny with all the homosexual overtones.

First there's Urkel, or George Huff. I call him Amare due to his resemblance to the basketball player. This cat seems to wake up with an ear to ear grin. Very likeable, but I would never spend my $ towards an album of his.

Then there's the group of sistas - La Toya, Fantasia, and Jennifer, who went from Macy Gray to Mary J seemingly overnight. While all talented, I think La Toya stands out. She has that aura and confidence thats necessary to succeed here.

The white boys - Finch and the Sk8ter b0i. I swear that tall dude reminds of of Finch from American Pie fame. He's a snooze, but maybe if this were AI in the 1940s, he'd have a chance. And that wildin' out kid is funky, but his antics overshadow his voice.

The hick chicks - Pink and the fisherman. Pink had a good performance this week, as she seemed natural for a country song. The chick from GA fishes if you saw her bio. They decent, but I think they're looking for singers with more pop appeal.

Camile is probably the flyest chick left, but if she were walking around Serramonte, I wouldn't turn my head. I like her steez, and she got good flavor (was that redundant?). The judges alluded to her lack of confidence, and its pretty evident. I'm pulling for her and was scared last night when the decision was about to be made. I doubt she'll win, but I'm pulling for her.

Jasmine is cool. Her family is funny, reminds me of my own. While she had a lackluster showing yesterday, she was out of her element, and I expect her to improve next week. Still these hawaiian pinays seem on par with singers in Manila lounges or on TFC. If only I have a Magic Mic maybe I could compete too??

I haven't concocted a list in awhile, and I feel like typing a lot today. So I'll do my best Letterman inpersonation. Without further ado...

top ten list of things i hate to do yet still do

10. When I put my TV on sleep, its on the Food Channel. Not a good idea to think of food before you eat.
9. Hit the OFF button instead of SNOOZE on my alarm. And waking up frantically thinking you've overslept - but its Saturday morning.
8. Going to sleep for "five" minutes. We all know we're not gonna wake up in five minutes - might as well call it a night.
7. Work. I need some type of income I guess.
6. Eat unhealthy. Its alright in moderation, but usually its the norm and not the exception.
5. Tell myself to go to the gym but the comfort of being home takes over, so I don't go.
4. Making a list of stuff to do, but I lose the list, so none of the stuff gets done! I need a Palm.
3. Losing eyedrops and chapstick. I swear I have never ever ever finished one of these.
2. When I do laundry, I don't fold the clothes right away, but like 1-3 days afterward. And the best time to fold clothes is right out of the dryer when they're warm.
1. Farting in an empty elevator, because its not gonna be empty for long. This happened yesterday.

There really isn't any order, just the order that it came to mind. You can attribute most of this to laziness, but I don't like to think of myself as lazy. Maybe a lil lazy/clumsy/airheady. But who isn't right?

Hi, my name is Regan. I have a gambling problem. Ok maybe not really, I guess a few people do actually gamble their rent money. But they probably win. Not the reegsta. There was a reason why I haven't been there in about 16 months, even if my fam had just bought a crib there - a pretty nice one at that, better than the pics! But anyways, since this was my first Bay-to-LV drive (I've done the LA-LV drive, but not the SB-LV drive), I figured it to be memorable. Note to self: never do this drive again. It takes a long time. So we arrive at like 4:30am Thursday nite, or Friday morn if you wanna be technical. We get a tour of the house, find our rooms, call in sick (*cough*) and sleep soon after. I capped myself to lose a maximum of 5 bills, which is not the correct mentality to have! Well neither is the idea of quadrupling your skrill either. Anyways, that following night we hit up Mandalay Bay, and I lost about a buck fify in about 15 minutes. That's 6 hours to make it and a 1/4 hour to lose it. Not a very good ratio! With that in mind, I decide to take a break. Me and V-may are waiting for my brothers to arrive, since they had to pick up some folks at McCarron. A casino isn't the best place to wait it. The tables are calling your name literally. Trying to redeem myself at Luxor didn't help, and I probably lost 2 bills that night. Having shorter pockets sobered me up, so I guess that made me the designated driver. We went over to the California Hotel (not the Hotel California) in old town Vegas and ate. Considering it was Saturday morning technically, I went ahead and ordered a NY steak for $3.99. And it was pretty good. We hopped in the van and everyone crashes, so suffice to say we get lost as I'm trying to navigate the desert at 4 in the morn. I can't wait til I have GPS in my own car. As we arrive, the suns about to rise.

On Saturday we go shopping, and I'm still depressed about my losses, so I didn't buy anything. Or maybe the fact that I didn't see anything I liked had more to do with it? Well I thought the Primm outlet was better last time, even though they are opening an AE there (whoooo!). So we shopped, we ate, we watched basketball, and prepared for our last night out. We head to Palms, and there's mad people there. Not mad as in angry, but mad as in hella. Rain cost like 2 twomps plus a 2 hour wait. I forgot all along that this was spring break weekend for a lot of honeys, umm, I mean college students. Oh to be a collegian once again. Well whatever now. V-may for some reason wants to play War, and it wasn't at any of the casinos we've been to. So we take a taxi to Harrah's, and we probably had the dopest/craziest/zaniest taxi driver ever. This guy had mad road rage, was funny, and crazy - doing u-turns on the right lane on a 2 way street! Anyways, we go and find the War table, and its full and no one is leaving for awhile. We say screw it, let's play Pai Gow. Of course we pick the game when you win, you'll lose anyways because of commission. Remember my cap of 5? That quickly changed to 3. And it reached 3 even faster. As I'm waiting for V-may to finish losing her money, I just try to get as many free drinks as I can.

However, I am proud of myself in 2 ways. Even though I didn't win, I didn't lose as more than I budgeted (true accountant yo!). Also, I never went to the ATM, and those probably talk louder than the tables. To offset my losses I'm selling a couple pairs of kicks too (I guess I should airbrush a couple pairs out on that current pic). But of course I turn around and bought another pair this morning =/. That's another blog right there.

Sunday morning we leave, and luckily I didn't have to drive at all. Thank God for Arby's, as myself, my brother and his wifey gave up fast food for lent. Ignore the fact that Arby's was situated between a Jack and a T-Bell, it's not fast food! Not when you have to give them your name. Plus its basically a deli anyways. Funny, the last time I ate there was my last time in LV, but in Barstow and not in Bakersfield. Thank God alsofor mMode (even though ATTWS sucks), for I was able to follow my beloved YELLOW JACKETS pull out a victory on their way to the SWEET 16. And because GT advanced, this weekend wasn't so bad GO TECH!

Oh yeah, before I leave for Sin City, I updated my kicks section. I figured it would be waay more time efficient if I took a group pic than solo pics. Man I love zapatos.

I have a gambling problem, which isn't good if you're going there. I learned there are 2 types of gamblers: professionals and amateurs. Pros play with probability, and amateurs play the the idea of possibility. Think about it. We are blinded by the stacks of "high society," but most of the time its not possible. But it could be! My goal each time I go is to obviously win, but not head to the ATMs there. I hate paying non-BofA transaction fees.

Wish me luck. But moreso, wish GEORGIA TECH luck, for I have them winning in all my brackets. See you next week, and hopefully I'll be a little richer.

Wow its already Thursday and I haven't posted yet. I wanted to earlier this week (really) but when I did, the blogger site was down. I took it as a sign of not posting. In about 15 minutes is the genesis of March Madness, arguably the most wonderful time of the year, no offense to Christmas. 2 words: GO TECH. OH Pleeeeeeease let us advance the farthest.

Its been a pretty busy week also, plus I've been getting here at 8 and leaving around 6. Man know I know how busy season feels! Another reason for my expected busyness (not business) is that our accounting manager is on maternity leave. Check it: she delivered on Feb 15, a Sunday. But her last day of work was that Friday the 13th! If that's not a soldierette I don't know what is. Plus she sometimes is working from home. Talk about a slacker!

I have a lot of t-shirts, so I try not to buy anymore. Plus I cap by t-shirt budget so I won't spend more than 10 bones on a shirt, but I do break that rule pretty often, so I guess I'm lenient towards myself. However, I saw the DOPEST t-shirt ever online. It was $20 + shipping! So considering that would cost like $28, I still bought it. As I'm waiting for my shirt to come, I get the email saying it was out of stock. What a heartbreaker like Jennifer Love Hewitt. They do have a size XL, but I wanted the LG, and if not that, then the MED. Maybe if this was 1996 I would've got the XL. Now I'ma size Extra Medium. I'm sure you're interested in what the shirt looks like, so here it goes:

I made a couple updates to the wessyde on my page. Ya notice it? No that's not my foot, but it would be pretty cool if it were. It was shown in an art exhibit. And I'm reading this new book about a teenage drug dealer who primarily sells to kids of affluent parents. "Affluent" is a funny word. If I was an ESL guy, and sometimes I am, I would think I to be affluent is to master the language, or something to do with speaking. Oh the intricacies of the English language.

I've been blog constipated for awhile, as opposed to my blog diarrhea last week. Not sure why. Oh you could always use the work excuse. Yeah its been busy lately, but its not like I'm doing OT or anything.

I think my sister has a boyfriend. This has made the reegsta concerned. Usually we'd call each other daily just to talk about whatever, ever since we got cell phones and had free long distance. She would call me anytime of the day, like at 3am. She be like "Ugly! Why are you awake?!" I'm like, "uhh, because my phone was ringing." Instead of Reeg or even kuya, she calls me Ugly. At least its not Fugly. But yeah, she's never had a BF before. And she doesn't call me no more. I have been speculating this for a lil bit, but the kicker occurred in the last couple days. There was a pair of kicks that she really wanted, and I told her I'd throw down half for her. But she didn't call me back! I'm not sure how I should handle this situation.

"The greatest rapper of all time died on March 9th" - Canibus

Ok, he's probably not the GOAT (greatest of all time), but he's definitely up there. I recall that day in 1997, I had just came back from a round of golf only to learn that Biggie had died the night earlier. Funny, I learned 2pac died also after returning from the driving range. Maybe I shouldn't golf anymore? As I bumped Biggie in my car and on my work speakers, I reminisce about this talented rapper and what he was capable of fulfilling. He no doubt left a void, probably a space that no one can fill.

I also remember that day in 1995. His first album had been out for a few months, generating some buzz. As I was making my weekly record store rounds, Biggie comes walking in Creative Music in SF. In this sweltering heat, homeboy was rocking some tight leather pants! Regardless, he came in unannouced, much to the surprise of about a dozen patrons in the store. The owner blurts out if anyone wants his autograph. Being the starry-eyed 16 year old, I rushed to the counter to get my free 8x10. The following dialogue ensues:

me (nervous): Hi.
biggie: What's up?
me (still nervous): How's it going?
biggie: Chillin'. How do you spell your name?
me: Regan. R-E-G-A-N. (imagine a spelling bee competition)
biggie: Cool. There you go.
me: Thanks man.
biggie: No problem.

I get my 8x10 with the inscription, "To Regan, Keep Bangin'. BIG" Many of you probably have seen it hang in my rooms through the years. I often had it next to my "THINK!" poster - creating the conundrum "THINK BIG." Who would've thought that would be my closest encounter with hip-hop royalty? RIP Christopher Wallace.

Last night I was organizing my papers around my desk area at home. I came across a parking ticket I received a few months back. And usually I don't pay these right away because I'm irritated by the fact that I received one. However I never did receive the follow up letter that's automatically sent out when the ticket is still outstanding after 3 weeks. Of course I thought nothing of it and thought I would have to pay it when I reregister my car or something. They'll eventually get me. Anyhow, I was looking at the ticket, and I realized that the officer incorrectly wrote down my license plate #! And he also didn't enter the VIN # either. Looks like I got over on that one! Overjoyed, I proceeded to tear the ticket it half. Ladies and gents, that is not possible. These tickets are made out of super paper and they not but torn in half. Go get a ticket and try it. I was able though to tear it in half length-wise, not width-wise.

Lesson of the day: never pay your parking tickets on time.

I've never had a 5 for 5 week, or have I? Whichever the case, I feel like Joltin' Joe. Is that a baseball reference? Must be close to spring training. Or it must be all that steroid talk. We all should know though that March is reserved for college basketball. My friends, this is the only even that matters in March. The Madness (even though it officially ends in April). So thats means root for the Jackets, and boo dook. As I am starting to say, Fuke Duck.

I'm writing this even though my lunch had just finished. I must be getting restless and anstey. My desk is messy and my To-Do list (the work one) to longer than ever. Friday afternoons aren't very productive for me. Thinking back, its been like that for awhile. I made the grave mistake or scheduling a Friday class frosh year, and was so traumatized by the ordeal I never had class on Friday again. Maybe those Thursday nights had something to do with it? Whatever, I should be more active on a Friday. Starting next Friday that is.

Yahoo! Launch is a pretty dope service. I <3 internet radio. Oh yeah, I take back what I said about ClearChannel. They must of heard me. Not many things excite me, but I get a tingly sensation whenever I hear "throwback fridays" on 106. You know some dope muzik is gonna be played. Maybe I should just listen to radio on Wed and Fri mornings. Rappers are lazy nowadays. Remember how they used to make 2 versions? The dirty one and the radio one? Now every other word is beeped and the listener is left with a pourous version. Use substitute words! I do. Arsehole. Freak.

Have a good weekend. I'm out like Martha Stewart!

Yesterday was a good day. I awoke to "Wesssyde Wednesdays" on KMEL, and usually I hit the snooze button right after. But they were playing some old jams so I just left it on, albeit lower. I had left my blinds open and it was a sunny day. My room was clean. "It was a Good Day" by Ice Cube started playing in my head, but it would've been perfect if it were blaring on the radio. But it wasn't. There was no traffic to work, and I got there the earliest I've been in weeks. What's the opposite of ominous? Well that's how it felt. I coasted through work, anxiously awaiting the much anticipated Georgia Tech-dook game. Keep in mind we haven't won there since I was a HS junior. Even though the game was nationally televised on ESPN, my only chance to catch it was on Internet Radio. Thank God because I can't stand Dick Vitale, who is probably the most biased and obnoxious announcer in the history of sports television. Regardless, I had a warm and fuzzy feeling about this game, and the good guys won! That had made my day, probably my week. A;so yesterday Stephon (my fav current player in the L) outplayed Allen Iverson and outscored him 36-11 in the W.

After the game was over, I headed home for some grub. My sister calls me and tells me we're having sushi. And I love sushi like I love Tech basketball. So with my food and testosterone fix, I headed home and watched the 'Ville, which I haven't seen in awhile. It was a cool episode, once again with Clark saving Lana (more on this later). So I finish watching it and head to V-may's house, where we caught up on a few Newlyweds episodes. After that I went back home, took a shower, and called it a night.

Then this morning, I find a damn 2 mm crack on my windshield! I have nooo idea how that happened, and I'm sure it'll be a grip to fix. It's probably not even worth it man. Errrrr.

Its not that hard to blog on the daily. It just takes like a 15 minute window to do. So I guess I'm fulfilling one of my resolutions mentioned earlier. Anyways, yall remember Friendster? Yeah, that site is so 2003. I haven't been on it in a minute, but I get a message saying "New message from Regan." I'm like, um, did I send a note to myself? So I go and check it and I receive a pretty strange letter:

eh... just for fun, a friendster network of all the people named
regan. check out the amazing diversity... of extraordinary
people with a name that can be hard to pronounce, hard to
gender-guess, etc.

I can't request you because I don't have your real info, so if
you're interested, message back either with your email address
or last name and I will invite you... or invite me
(reganzzzz@hotmail.com) and then you can see all the other
regans.

cheers,
regan

And I thought I was a weird Regan. I'm not gonna request him (or her), since I haven't requested folks since like summertime in the lbc (no I'm not a Friendster snob). If you want to know the etymology of my name, here it goes:

Regan - The descendant of a king. A boy or girl's name.

fun fact: Ranked #657 of the last decade
origin: Irish Gaelic

Sounds cool! At least it wasn't ranked #666, or those Exorcist connections would scare me even more. Yes I do love my name by the way. And the one of the best compliments I received was..."Regan, I'm gonna name my first daughter after you!" We'll see if that comes true. =)

So far I haven't done ish at work besides taking one. I brought my laptop in, and I swear its a B tryna burn a cd with only one disc drive. 2 programs, 12 new cds, 3 wasted cds, and 0 successful recordings. Hopefully that'll change soon, and at least I got my K-West cd copy. I was thinking about that, and I felt bad burning an artist I actually like, but this guy is on the Roc, which quelled any anxiety I might have.

Anyways, most of my latest entries have been retrospective instead of introspective. I was reading some random blogs yesterday to stir up any creative juices I may have to inject my own domain. I realized that yo, I write for me, and I welcome you all into my virtual world. But at the same time, I write for an audience. Otherwise I wouldn't write half the stuff I put down! What am I tryna say I really don't know. Sometimes its hard to channel your thoughts onto a keyboard. I guess these words here are a reflection of reeg, but not sure how accurate that portrayal is. Maybe turning 25 was more significant than I imagined, almost like a wake up call. It kinda feels like Tom Hanks in Big! Okay maybe not that drastic, but there seems to be an unfulfillness lingering. Even so, that's staring out through my rearview (2pac reference), when I should be looking through the windshield. "Remember the past, prepare for the future, live in the present." Possibly I'm just getting cranky.

Alright enough with that serious stuff, I got other music-related thoughts bumbling in my head.
- "CD created successfully", whew, who would ever thought that a Lil Jon cd would be the 1st burn on my comp (it's for my sister, don't hate).
- I referenced Willy Hung right after his audition, and received some slack for it actually. I saw him back on AI last night, and a creepy thought occurred: what if Willy and KK hooked up?! Oh no, that would be a travesty.
- At least he inspired my new porn name - Well Hung.
- I still doubt he got some poo-tang after all his notoriety.
- I love 2pac, but can't listen to his posthumous releases. Man were his songs butchered. However, his official catalogue even before his demise will never be played (out that is).
- 2pac died when he was 25.
- Is it too late to purchase turntables?
- There are more rappers that I HATE than rappers I like. Maybe I'm just a hip hop snob.
- The demise of hip-hop: it's the media! (it a Chris Rock voice) 1. radio (ClearChannel owns all the darn urban stations, essentially having the same playlist in every major city), 2. the source (this mag is so wack, no credibility whatsoever - i hate this mag), 3. mtv (every aspiring rapper nowadays just wants to floss - please see the Roots "What they do?" video for reference - the GOAT of hip-hop videos)
- I'm not worried though, good music is good music, and that'll find it's listeners.
- Five for Fighting's "100 Years" is a pretty dope track.

Pretty random post huh? I guess that's what I get tryna juggle things mentally.

"I wanna write the songs
that right the wrongs
right on"
- Kweli "Def Poetry Jam" 2003

This weekend happened pretty fast. Had a lil shindizzle at the Triangle Lounge, which I had never been. It's a pretty poppin spot, except for the fact that they recycle more records than any ClearChannel station. The vibe was good, the turnout was better. So thanks yall for coming! And thanks for the dranks too. I surprisingly had no beers, just a bunch of Vodka tonics (w/ Grey Gooose ya heard). I felt a bit perved, but surprisingly kept control, for I didn't throw up, snapping the streak of 6 consecutive b-days in which I did. The next day I had a fatty headache and stayed in bed all day until we went to Marie's 25th b-day at Club EZ5. This was another cool place, and I saw a bunch of old familiar faces from the good ole Gaucho days. So Happy Birthday again! Man, it seems like everyone's a pisces - got two more birthdays to celebrate this weekend, so hopefully I'll still be standing on Sunday.

I never mentioned any new years resolutions yet, because I typically start them around my birthday. I just think about if for the time between. Moreso I guess you can call them goals in this 25th year:

- I wanna be able to lift more.
- I wanna learn to drive stick.
- I wanna be able to swim.
- I wanna be a better gambler.
- I wanna play more hoops and golf.
- I wanna look at potential grad schools.
- I wanna get a promotion/raise at work.

Is that asking too much? I chose feasible goals, so when I turn 26, I'll check my archives (hopefully I'll still be blizzogging) and check my status. And they'll all be knocked off and a new list will be composed.

Funny line of the weekend:
Mac Dre plays in the background (Too Hard for the F*(@#g Radio)
Reeg: (i'm starting to rap along, minus the cuss words of course) Do you know who this is?
Tiff L: Naw, never heard it in my life.
RT: It's Mac Dre!
TL: (in a straight voice) Oh...is he related to Dr. Dre?

Man that had me rolling like I was some sushi. Also a bit of advice from a wise one: if you bring your camera out, make sure the batteries are charged, otherwise you'll only end up having 5 shots, and 5 boring ones at that.