i just finished the entire "hajime no ippo" series after watching a couple episodes a night for a long time now. this has been such an enjoyable series full of character, heart, substance and quality. it's a show about boxing, but to be more specific, it's a show about the power of spirit. i loved it - definitely up there as one of the best anime series. thanks tran, for the recommendation (and the episodes!).

thursday night jamie and i headed out to the pasadena city college to see an art show in which drew roullete (bass player of dredg) contributed some pieces. obviously, that's why we went. the gallery was tiny, but there were some really cool paintings (including drew's). we were hoping to see him there and possibly catch up a bit after jamie interviewed him a short while ago for kotori, but we got too hungry and had to go get some food.

all is not lost, musically, for i scored some tool tickets. the house of dork will watch them at the staples center in september, and it will NOT be general admission, which is excellent, because there is nothing worse than seeing a tool show amidst tool 'fans.'

we've been playing a lot of basketball recently thanks to the lovely, 6-court, air-conditioned, hardwood-floored, fiberglass-backboarded, (almost) always open cal tech basketball gym. the discovery of this gym (and it's open door) has been a blessing. my shin splints have been acting up, but they come and go, and it's worth it. my shot is coming back (last time felt excellent), my heart rate is up, and my weight is down.

yesterday we spent the day driving around the beach towns of LA (santa monica, venice, marina del rey, hermosa, manhattan) apartment hunting for beth. it was a good, lazy day. driving, walking, laughing, sleeping, ice cream, movie, done. zzz...