The great thing about a blog is that you can keep track of stuff that happened a long time ago… Let’s take a look into the past and see some CharlesSpot blogs from years ago (crazy how long I have had this thing…)

– Jan 6, 2006 – Bowl Madness
– Jan 3, 2007 – SBFF XII with a quick follow up on Jan 4, 2007… For Auld Lang Syne.
– Jan 2, 2008 – Happy New Year. Looks like things with vDream were just getting ramped up. My how things have changed.

For this year, I already have several 2009 resolutions. I stole a couple of them… but overall I’m excited for 2009. I have no idea what the new year will bring and I’m sure I’ll be completely caught off guard when the fireworks go off in 2010. Somebody told me that just means I am getting old. I just think it means I tend to have too much fun…

1. Be more active. Active is loosely defined as getting outdoors more, being physically fit, and trying new things.
2. Blogging more. Did you know that my last blog was back in November 2008 and the one before was in September. Lame no more.
3. Laugh a lot. Should be self explanatory.
4. Take more pictures. I like pictures. I didn’t take enough in 2008.
5. ….?

This past Saturday I finished the annual South End Rowing Club Alcatraz Invitational… in record time (ok, I only swam it one other time). With wetsuit (thanks Jim!), ear plugs, Barracuda cap on… I escaped in 39 minutes which was faster than last year! Woo hoo!

I almost didn’t make the swim this year because I read the website incorrectly the night before and almost missed registration. Big thanks to Lij and Lu’s MDX, which helped me get to Aquatic Park in < 15 minutes. Some quick analysis comparing last year’s swim to this year’s. – The water was warmer this year. Either that or I have more blubber on me than last summer… – I was again beaten by more seasoned swimmers ranging in age up to 65!!. I pray I’m in that good shape when I’m 60+ – No run ins with sea animals, although I did get way off course and probably swam an extra quarter mile because of it. Sorry, no fun pictures from this year’s swim. If anyone (and I mean ANYONE) is interested in doing the swim with me next year… please don’t hesitate to call.

Have some time to kill? Only streaming until July 20th… Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog!! How can you not want to watch Neil Patrick Harris?

I was digging into my photos and found these awesome fish eye pics. Enjoy!

So I am having trouble sleeping this evening… so what better way to kill some time (and hopefully get tired) than write a blog post! This past weekend I went to Napa and spent the afternoon drinking wine, eating cheese, and being merry. We stopped at three wineries. Here is my quick assessment of each one:

– St. Supery – [Best Tasting] the best wine overall. I went with an all red selection and did not regret it.
– Peju – [Best Looking] the best grounds. The wine was pretty good but the guy pouring was doing the sales pitch non-stop which made the whole tasting pretty crappy. They did have some good fudge.. and beautiful statues.
– V Sattui – [Best Food] the cheese and pate were really good. Keep in mind at this point I had a few glasses of wine so that may have influenced my rating…

We ended the day with dinner at Tra Vigne with some delicious pasta.

I uploaded my pictures from the day, but the one below pretty much sums it all up in one picture. Fun, romantic, and a little… retarded.