Game Day

Ah the excitement of Game Day. You go to bed the previous night, dreaming of victory and anticipating celebration. You finally awake the next morning, focused and primed for competition. Noone will derail you on the path to victory, and you shall crush all that stand in your way! You're concentration is peaking and you're ready to go.

The competitors have arrived, and battle is set to begin. I get things started and make the first play...

Me: "Seven...one, two, three, four, five, six, seven...CHANCE!....Go directly to Jail, do not pass GO, do not collect $200...DAMN!!!"

Yes friends. The Greatness that is Sunday Funday has recently expanded beyond going to the beach and finding adventure. It now includes "Game Day" at my house!

Somehow, over the last couple of months, my place has become the official "congregating-game-playing-venue-of-choice" for Sundays. Let me warn you though...these games get intense!

There's no such thing as a nice relaxing game of Monopoly at my house. At one point, we were on the verge of negotiating a four player trade which included mass swapping of property, money, as well as agreements such as:

"Well if you give me Park Place and $200, then I'll give you four railroads AND you have to promise me not to charge me rent the next two times around the board!"

To which the response was:

"No way! I'll give you half off rent, and you need to throw in Water Works!"

The four way trade fell through because Frederico refused to part ways which his damn "Get out of Jail Free" card.

Come Sundays, Game Day includes everything from Monopoly, Risk, and Tabu, to Poker, Kickball, and Spinners.

What's Spinners you ask?

Possibly the greatest game ever invented (and I'm not just saying that because I was one of the inventors).

Back in college a group of friends and I were sitting around a table, drinking beer, and spinning a quarter. Soon, we were assigning drinks for "quarter flubs," and thus the game was born.

The beauty of the game is that everything is arbitrary and group vote is law. There are rudimentary rules but decisions are made by mass yelling during the game. We introduced this game to a bunch of friends last week and we ended up playing for hours due to mass approval!

I do however, have a knack for inventing games.

Aside from the The Cone Olympics Aaron and I have invented some other great games. One of the most popular is "Pocket-E-Pocket." I can't do these games justice by describing them in writing, but it basically consists of tossing a quarter into the opposing players shirt pocket...with some other fun rules.

I tried playing this with a girl friend once, but for some reason she didn't want to play since the only "pocket" she had was in the middle of her chest ;)

In Acapulco, Aaron and I continued our Game Inventing tradition by competing in the "Pool Olympics" all day. Events included: "Who can do the most push ups under water," "Who can hop on one foot to the other side and back the fastest," and "who can do the most somersaults in a row."

No there is never a dull moment!

Sunday Funday is indeed a great day, and no excuse for laziness! Either I'm hanging out with Football Fanatics, at the beach adventuring, or am involved in some intense game-playing!

Oh the endless possibilities on days off!

Keeping Life Fresh

One of the things I've always been afraid of, is the risk of getting caught in a mundane, repetitive life. I see it happen to SO many people, and to me, having the same old routine is BORING. Now, I do think having a routine is extremely important (as pointed out in this article) as it affords you maximum amount of "fun time," but it seems like so many people waste their fun time doing the same boring things.

Sometimes, we'll do things exciting, but when you do the same exciting things over and over, they lose their mystique. Of course, you shouldn't count reading this blog as one of those things because it is just as exciting to read the first time as it is the last!

As I've gotten more comfortable with my relatively new surroundings, I've made a big effort to keep things interesting and fresh! I enjoy going to the coffee shop on week nights, reading and meeting new people, and I enjoy going out on weekends, and different as each one of those can be, I like to mix it up even more!

So how do I do this?

Well one of the things I do, is search for adventure. I get emails for certain events going on in my area, and try to keep on eye on anything exciting potentially happening.

I'm also a big "yes" man. When someone asks me to do something, I hardly ever say no. Now don't you all get any ideas and try to take advantage of poor ol' me!

For example, a few weeks ago my friend Mern asked me to participate on his "Relay for Life" team. Essentially, its a 24 hour event held to raise money for the fight against Cancer.
My first instinct was, "Well shucks...that's a big time commitment, AND its on the weekend." But, after thinking about it, I realized the potential for fun and adventure it had, plus it was for a great cause.

That entire weekend ended up being super fun as a result! I had never done anything like that before, but in addition to raising money, we played big games of football and ultimate frisbee, threw water balloons, I met a ton of great people some of whom are new friends, and had a really different and exciting weekend.

But that's not all! (Wow, this is starting to sound like an infomercial) I got involved in some kind of Kickball league, and played a refereed game. Again, a friend asked me if I could play, and me being me of course said 'yes'!

In elementary school I used to be awesome at kickball...apparently my kickball schools have dwindled a bit (and by a bit, I mean a lot). I was 1 for 3 kicking, and managed to flub two fielding efforts.

Now in my defense, I had consumed quite a few mimosas that morning (I went to a "victory" breakfast with my fellow "Relay for Lifers" to a place with all you can eat food and mimosas...dangerous...very dangerous). Also, I hadn't played kickball for about 10 years, so I had a good bit of rust.

This weekend, I had another little adventure. A my friend Jesse asked me if I could join his hand picked "Valet Team" for his sister's wedding. Again, at first I was resistant.

Me thinking: "Hmmm...me busting my ass parking cars, while everyone around me is having fun, eating, drinking, and dancing? All for free?"

Jesse sensing my hesitation: "Well you'll actually spend most of your time at the reception eating, drinking, and dancing...all for FREE. Plus you're getting paid and there WILL be bride's maids."

He just uttered the six magic words: eating, drinking, dancing, free, and bride's maids.

So we arrived at the wedding, and among all of us, I was the dressed the sharpest. As a result of that, as well as my outgoing nature, and devilish good looks. I was assigned the oh-so-taxing role of the "greeter." When cars would roll up, I would escort the passengers out, give them a claim tag, small talk with them, and give the keys to one of my drivers to park the car...hard work, I know.

In all honesty, we did bust our tails pretty good making sure everyone's cars were taken care of. When we got to the reception, I began getting a little paranoid wondering what people would think when they saw us.

"Hey wait! Aren't those the valet guys? What are they all doing with beers in their hands???"

Luckily, no one seemed to care, and we got lots of compliments from the guests. In fact, quite a few thought we were a professional valet service! Hilarious considering this was the first time any of us had done this!

Oh and the benefits were awesome! We got paid pretty well, filled our stomachs, and got to take home all of the left over beer, wine, and champagne! Suffice to say, I had a party the next day to relieve ourselves of the burden of being in possession of so many beverages.

I have no idea what I'm going to do yet to make this week interesting, but I'm sure it will be like no other. In fact, I'm already planning a Wednesday poker night at my house.

Don't let yourself have a boring life! Take charge and plan fun activities! Be a "Yes-man" (or Yes-Woman). When you get the opportunity to do something different, get out of your comfort zone and do it! Not only will you be happy in the long run, but if you're anything like me, you might get a good story out of it!

The Great Alaska Wild

It's funny how "living in the city" can mean two pretty different things.

In most places, it means living in the urban world, away from wildlife and nature, amidst hustle and bustle, with people, buildings, and entertainment abounding. That's pretty much where I live now.

I spent most of my youth growing up in Anchorage, Alaska. I know most people have a vision of igloos and polar bears everywhere, but let me assure you, Anchorage is a pretty urbanized city...sort of.

Sure there's some hustle accompanied by maybe half a bustle. It is the most urbanized city in Alaska and there are lots of buildings and people...but there's also nature and wildlife.

Anchorage is probably one of the only metropolitan cities where, no matter where you are in the city, you're also ten minutes away from densley wooded nature inhabited by bears, moose, and other happy little creatures.

In San Diego, you'll see caution signs on the freeway to watch out for illegal immigrants crossing. In Alaska, we have "Moose Crossing" signs.

And speaking of Moose, in elementary school, the we used to always get the same old speech every year of the "Moose warning signs" and "what to do if you encounter a Moose walking home."

Let me tell you, I am pretty tough, but a moose could lay some serious smack down on my buns of steel. We've had as many as three in our yard at the same time! They're generally pretty dosile and harmless unless you get in between a mother and her calf, then you're toast.

Seeing a moose in the city is nothing out of the ordinary. Now seeing a bear is a little more special!

Yesterday, my Mom called me and told me there was a black bear in the tree down the street! It was near a park, and the poor little guy was scared of all the people watching him below, so he refused to come down!

The pictures above are from a friend of my Mom's who, while camping, came upon this micheivous little bear trying to steal some food from the birds!

I love life in San Diego, but I will say that I miss the Great Alaska Wild. I figured San Diego needed some Alaskan natural beauty, so I decided to move myself down :)

Cell Phone Snafu

The leash, the lifeline, and the prime source of attention and entertainment for many people around the world. Yes, the cell phone.

I got my first cell phone about five years ago. At first, it was just an amazing convenience. Slowly it started invading my life at an astonishing rate! Now I'm no phone junky, but my cell phone is literally my only phone, and is pretty much something I take everywhere....whether I mean to or not.

So last weekend, Brent's parents are having this pool party at their amazing house. The backyard of this house is PREMIER for entertaining. It has a pool, jacuzzi, cabana, fire pit, BBQ, and hidden speakers for surround sound music. At night, everything lights up in different colors, tiki candles are lit everywhere, and the fire pit is...well...firing.

Anyways, the sun was shining and it was the perfect day for a pool party. One of the main events that usually occur at there house is Pool-Volleyball.

Me, liking to stir up the pot a little bit, got the trash talk going with the "older folk" concerning the imminent pool volleyball domination that us younger folk were about to put down.

In preparation for the big game, I ripped off my shirt (to much audience approval), tossed my keys aside, and dove in! After doing a warmup lap I suddenly start feeling a tingle....no a buzzing....no.....a VIBRATING...from my cell phone! My first instinct is, "Ooooh! I have a call. I wonder who it is!" (This instinct lasted about half a second).

My second instinct was, "Oh shit! I'm in the POOL!" Apparently my first instincts aren't exactly the sharpest ones.

I wipped the phone out of my pocket as soon as possible. The screens were all dead, but the phone was vibrating uncontrollably. Hmm, probably not a good sign. I tried saving it by following the drying instructions I found on the net, but I made a few mistakes before reading the instructions (namely, trying to turn it back on while the phone was still wet) which rendered saving it impossible.

By the way, if anyone ever gets their phone wet, or submerged in water, Turn it off and remove the battery immediately. DO NOT TRY TO TURN IT ON UNTIL IT IS COMPLETELY DRY! That's the mistake I made. Anyways I trust all of you can look up the rest of the "phone save" instructions on your own.

Or you can finagle a BRAND NEW, practically free phone from the manufacturers like I did!

How did I do this you ask? A little bit of charm, a lotta bit of sympathy, and maybe a smidgen of luck.

So I walk into the Verizon Wireless store a couple days ago and go directly to customer service. There's a young girl working behind the counter. Immediately I look at her name tag and take notice of her name.

Me: "Hi Adriana, how's your day going?"
Her: "Oh, pretty well. It's busy as usual"
Us: Blah blah blah...some small talk and banter.

Since I worked in customer service before, I know a few things that help get them on YOUR (the customer's) side. Being super friendly is number one! Then, establishing a simple rapport (the ensuing conversation), and using the persons name to establish a sense of familiarity.

Now she was ready to help me!

Me: "Well I was at a friends party this weekend, and I'm not really sure what happened, but I think my phone may have gotten a little wet. Now it doesn't seem to work."

Ok ok...so I didn't tell her the ENTIRE truth about jumping into the pool, but I wanted to save myself from looking like a complete idiot. Fair enough, right?

Her: "Hmmmm, well I'm looking at your account and you don't have insurance do you?"
Me: "Unfortunately I don't" (I've never had it because I've never had to use it...until now [assuming I had it])

She then opened the battery compartment to look for the moisture indicator sticker. Someone at the party removed it for me apparently thinking not having the sticker would help...wrong!

Her: "Well the sticker is missing and unfortunately that voids the manufacturer's warranty"

So here I am with a double whammy. Not only do I not have insurance, but my manufacturer's guarantee is gone! Time to up my game.

Me: "Darn. Well Adriana, is there anything I can do? I feel so stupid for not taking proper care of my phone, but it looks like I made a $250 mistake eh?"
Her: (Looking at the computer screen thinking)
Me: "Do I have any options Adriana? Is there anything you might be able to do for me?"

This is where is gets good.

Her: "Well....I suppose I could we could pretend that you have the insurance and we could pretend that the moisture indicator sticker is still intact in which case you just have to pay the deductable for a new phone"
Me: "You'd be able to do that for me?"
Her: "Yea I think I can swing it"
Me: "Ahhhh! Thanks Adriana!! You're the BEST!"

So instead of shelling out over $250 for a new phone, I paid the $50 deductable under the insurance I don't have and got a brand new phone shipped to me!

Verizon is the best! I've always liked their customer service, but this girl seriously hooked me up!

So what's the moral of the story?

Moral 1: Don't jump into the swimming pool with a cell phone.
Moral 2: If your first instinct when it's vibrating is, "Oooh, I wonder who's calling?" Slap yourself, and get out of the pool!
Moral 3: Don't give up hope! You might be able to charm customer service into giving you a new phone even if you don't have insurance!

I'm back on the wire, so feel free to call me!

Adventures in Mexico

Ahh Mexico....a place where thieves abound, corruption in rampant, hookers are cheap, you can make money from marriage (assuming you're American)...oh and opportunity for adventure is everywhere.

Naturally it made sense for me to go there! Over the last year or so, I've been to Tijuana (a few times), Mexico City, and Acapulco. Each is completely different than the others, and has brought different forms of excitement.

Take Mexico City for example, a place that's rich in Mexican culture. The Incan and Spanish ruins are incredible, and the best part is, for a price, you can go anywhere.

We were walking around La Cathedral checking out the Catholic art and prolific organ. Naturally, as a cathedral, there were towering bell towers at each corner. Naturally, I was curious. Naturally, I set about to find a way to get up there.

We finally found some stairs, but there was security guarding the entrance. Thwarted??? I think not!

We chatted with the guy for awhile, and after some discussion, he agreed to take us up for 120 pesos each.

There's a reason they don't let most people up to the roof. It's totally unsafe! There are sections missing railings, the stairs are ridiculously steep, and the roof is uneven everywhere. One misstep and you've had it!

That being said, the views were incredible. We experienced similar views in Teotihuacan on top of the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon. Again, there's no way people would be allowed to ascend the pyramids in America under the setup the have there. Not to mention, we stopped by a tequila farm on the way where we indulged in free tequila and mascal straight from the cactus!

Extremely steep steps, janky hand rails, loose ruble, and a nice tequila buzz. Can you say Lawsuit?

As much as we enjoyed the history and culture of Mexico City, Acapulco was all about the clubs. For those of you who enjoy going to clubs, you will never visit a better club scene than in Acapulco.

We went to three different clubs over the time we were in Acapulco, and they were by far the best places I had been to! Thirty five bucks to get in, but drinks are free once inside! FREE!!!! The light show is unreal, the views are incredible, and the women are, well....yes.

And then there's Tijuana...what can I say about Tijuana? Might be the shadiest place I've ever been.

On one particular impromptu excursion we went to "Club Animale" and proceeded to get crazy. Around 2am we decided to check out some other venues. My friend Jeff meanwhile was completely plastered, and decided to head back across the border to the car with Brent.

On the way to the car, they stop to get a hot dog from a street vendor...things escalate. Apparently Jeff and the Vendor started arguing and yelling! It ended with Brent dragging Drunk Jeff away as he's yelling at the hot dog vendor to "suck his ____" in Spanish. Why was Drunk Jeff upset?

The vendor was out of Sauerkraut.

Meanwhile Bryan and I are partying until the streets of Tijuana are empty! That's right, we closed down Tijuana. At this point all the hookers go after you, and its not too subtle either!

They sit down next to you, and start grabbing your junk as they try to negotiate a price! No thanks. I can get my own diseases without paying, thank you very much.

Yes, Mexico is certainly an interesting place. Honestly, my adventures have been relatively mild. We've never been robbed (knock on wood), only had problems with the police once, and have avoided being kidnapped by any of the taxicabs!

It's a dangerous life, but I like to live on the edge :)

Compete For Success

Whenever I write these sort of "personal growth" articles, I try to pick something prevalent in me that makes my life richer or makes me feel great.

For example, I'd never write a column titled "How to avoid sweets" because I'm the WORST person at resisting the temptation of sugar! Similarly, I'd also never write something like "Save the Chicken Population!" because God only knows how many poor chickens have sacrificed their lives to nourish yours truly.

I AM however very competitive by nature.

I seriously view SO many daily activities as some kind of competition and try to win! What am I talking about, you ask? Well, here's one example:

When I go to the grocery store, I always shop with the mind set that my cart is going to be healthier than both the person in front of me, and the person behind me in the checkout line. I secretly, in my head, observe what the people around me are buying and tabulate the healthiness. If I win (which I almost always do) I do an imaginary fist pump!

I have this kind of competitive mind set for all sorts of things. One reason I love sports so much, is that it allows you to be openly competitive. A lot of times, I'll play something that I don't have much experience at (ie. pool, golf, soccer etc.). However, I usually end up doing ok despite my lack of skill. I want to win so badly, that my mental focus is much more intense than anybody else.

When I was in Junior high and high school, I was really Chubby. I still loved sports though, and tennis was my first love and the sport that I was best at. I think its pretty obvious that I didn't exactly have blinding speed around the court. EVERYBODY was faster than me. I did however manage to win quite a few tournaments. Why? Because I wanted to win more than everyone else. I had to focus much more intensely and be twice as competitive to compensate for my lack of twinkle toes.

For this reason though, I hate bowling. Maybe hate is a strong word, but no matter how hard I concentrate, and how bad I want to win, I suck at bowling!!! But I digress.

I am a firm believer that having a competitive mentality can make one's life better and more successful in many ways.

One of the most obvious avenues were competitiveness pays off, is in career growth. If you think about businesses, the ones that succeed are the ones who are better than the rest, and best the competition. Look at Bill Gates. He is so competitive, that other companies are filing lawsuits because he's effectively eliminating all competition!!! I don't know about you, but I'd say he's moderately successful in his career.

Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Pete Sampras. These are athletes who had so much will to win, they became icons. There are athletes out there that are more athletic and just as talented as Michael Jordan, but his intense competitiveness is what made him GREAT.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to be the best at everything! I know I definitely do, and that's a strong motivating factor in my life.

As a disclaimer though, there is a definite line between being a great competitor, and being overly competitive. We all know the "over-competer." He's the sore loser, the steroid taker, the exam cheater, and the whiner. The key to maximizing your success is to get as competitive as possible without submitting to any of these annoying behavior traits.

I hate to lose, but I consider myself a pretty good loser. Fortunately, this doesn't happen very often! :)

In fact, today's post is just another contribution on the way to making this website the BEST BLOG EVER!

So what am I saying in a nutshell? Try to be the best and don't stop competing because good things are bound to happen!

The Accidental VIP

Full service, special treatment, free stuff...there's nothing like being a VIP, especially when it happens completely (and maybe half-completely) by accident!

For some reason, I have a tendency to wind up in these VIP situations without explicitly trying to. Somehow, I need to figure this tendency out and exploit it for permanent VIP status!

So I know you're all wondering, "what is this VIP stuff you speak of Arun?" Allow me to share a few episodes:

Episode 1:
The first time I went to Las Vegas we ended up going to this amazing lounge at the top of Mandalay Bay. As you can see, the view was incredible. Well I end up talking to this attractive girl for a long time. It turns out she's some fancy schmancy VIP coordinator at the hotel!

Cha-Ching!

Naturally, she didn't reveal this to me until some time later, after she had fallen under my mystical charm.

Her: "Let's get out of here and go to some more places!"
Me: "Are you sure? It's getting late, and it's gonna cost---"
Her: "Don't worry about cost!! We're not paying for ANYTHING...trust me!"
Me thinking: "Jackpot! Time to release "Smooth Arun!"


We left and went and partied at another lounge, and a crazy club. No lines, no wait, nothing! We went into the club 'Rumjungle' and met up with the President of some company called Apex International whom she somehow new. Suffice to say, drinks were on him for the rest of the night.

Somehow, free drinks taste soooo much sweeter!

There's nothing like cruising around Vegas, with a pretty lady who happens to know everyone significant, drinking for free, and getting extra special treatment. And while we're on the topic of Vegas, lets visit the next episode.

Episode 2:
Well, on this most recent Vegas trip, Aaron and I were cruising around club 'Tao' in the Venetian. In the process of cruising, we found an interesting staircase which we decided to ascend. We went up, enjoyed the awesome view overlooking the packed club, and turned to go back down.

All of a sudden, there was a nice velvet rope in front of the landing at the top of the stairs! Yes, we happened to be on the VIP side. Somehow when we were obliviously walking up, we happened to pass into the VIP section without anyone, ourselves included, noticing!

Now we were standing next to the rope, and a group of beautiful women were hollering at us.

Beautiful Women: "Hey can you guys get us in, plleeeeeaaaase!!!"
Me: "Oh, I don't know...this is pretty exclusive. What do you think Aaron?"
Aaron: "Hmmmm, do you girls promise to behave?"
Beautiful Women: "Well, most of us do!"
Me (to Aaron): "Good enough for me!"
Me (to big VIP security guard): "It's cool man, these ladies are with us"

Everything was all fine and dandy until security started getting a little suspicious. I was acting like the ringleader back there, but we had no VIP booth (nor did we have the special wristbands).

As soon as I saw them approaching, we sneakily exited our VIP section and disappeared into the crowd.

Episode 3:
On an adventure up in Orange County a few months ago, a big group of somehow ended up going to some joint called "Club Detroit." I trust from the name, you can ascertain just how classy an establishment this was. Upon entering the hostess informed me (the one leading the herd) that the cover charge was fifteen dollars.

Now normally I'd be ok with this, however this was Club Detroit and there was no way we were each shelling out fifteen hard earned Washingtons to get in. How did I solve this problem? I got social.

Me: "Awe common Alison! (She had a name tag on). We're celebrating a birthday and we all just want to come in and drink a lot and have a good time!
Hostess: "Well....I don't know..."

At this point I saw in the distance a VIP area surrounded by a velvet rope. Sure, the difference between the "normal" and VIP area at this place was about equivalent to the difference between sitting on a pine cone or a peanut, but hey, as long as I'm bargaining, I might as well start at the best they have!

Me: "How about we each pay five bucks and we get that VIP area over there, but only if you come and party with us Alison!"
Alison: "Well let me go talk to the manager."
Alison: "Ok, JUST THIS ONCE I can do it for you."
Arun: "Alison you're the best!"

The rest of the night, we were the royalty of Club Detroit. We had security guarding our entrance, discounted Champagne service, the works!

Episode 4:
Ever since the VIP treatment we got during the Model Photo Shoot Jeff and I did, he's been milking the whole "model" title.

So we were at the mall in La Jolla this weekend feeling parched and hungry. What food offers BOTH hunger and thirst satisfaction??? That's right, a SMOOTHY! So we found a smoothy stand and the conversation went like this:

Jeff: "Do you guys have free samples?"
Smoothy Lady: "No, sorry...wait, you guys look familiar, do you work at the mall?"
Jeff: "We're models"
Smoothy Lady: "Really? Where do you model?"
Jeff: "Banana Republic" (now lying).
Smoothy Lady: "You model for the one in the mall? What exactly do you guys do?"
Me: "Well, we don't really work for the mall. We are contracted and do some photos for San Diego Coupon magazines"

Now this was the truth, albeit presented at an angle making us appear more accomplished than we may otherwise be.

Me: "We also do some runway stuff here and there"

Again the truth. See The Great San Diego Walkoff and I'm Too Sexy For This Club.

Smoothy Lady: "Cool! And what do guys do for Banana?"

Me (now forced to fib and cover Jeff's fiblet): "We wear the clothes and do some photo work."
Smoothy Lady: "Well I'll tell you what! I'll give you guys two free smoothies if you promise to walk around the mall with them!
Jeff: "Ah you don't have to do that."
Smoothy Lady: "No, its advertising for me to have you two walk around with them!"

We didn't want to take advantage of her generosity, so we ordered one smoothy and were going to share. We were soon countered.

Smoothy Lady: "No! You each have to have your own! I'll tell you what. Any Saturday you guys come in, stop by here and I'll give you a free smoothy if you promise to walk around the mall drinking it!"

Us: "Uh...OK!"

Yes, Jeff and I are now VIP status at the smoothy stand in the mall! Apparently our good looks gave away our "profession." Actually, I'm not sure if I'm going to try and get any more free smoothies because I feel a little guilty about the whole Banana Republic thing.

Yes, living life on "the other side" is nice! I think I'm just going to have become ridiculously famous now to maintain this life of luxury! The Accident VIP is going to become no accident!

The Great San Diego Walkoff

Ever since my friend Jeff and a I began our Modeling Careers word has spread pretty fast. Friends are intrigued by our newfound career despite our trying to lead a normal life.

Jeff commonly tries to insite frenzy by flashing his "Blue Steele" look which everyone gets a kick out of. I on the other hand, go for the "au natural" look and play it pretty nonchalant.

Well, recently our friend John had the genius idea of hosting a big "build-your-own-pizza night at his house. The only problem was, despite having lots of food, he was lacking in the entertainment department! Soon rumblings about our model status began making rounds until John finally announced to the world that the entertainment for the night would be a runway Walk-off between yours truly, and Jeff! Thus was born The First Annual "San Diego Walkoff."

Soon after the announcement, I received word from multiple sources that Jeff was talking trash. This was mistake number one, because anyone who knows me, knows about my profound ability to talk trash.

I knew in this case however, it would not be needed, for I would let my performance and dashing looks speak for themselves.

The night arrived, and anticipation was high. Everyone had a belly full of pizza and Jeff and I won the unoffial prize for best pizza of the night. The audience was gathered around the runway as final setup and preparations were being made.

I sensed Jeff's nervousness.

Jeff: "Hey I took Billie Jean off the Music Mix."
Me: (Incredulously) "WHAT!?!" (he knows I love that song, and have been known to bust a move or two to it)
Jeff: "Yea it's not fair! And no doing any of your crazy moves"
Me: "Hey if I can't have my song, I'm definitely stepping up the moves!"

John announced us, Jeff the favorite, and I the challenger. The black lights were blacking, the strobe light strobing, and the music was musicing.

The rules were simple. He would go first, then I would follow with my best effort to duplicate his moves while adding a shimmy or two of my own. Then, in the next round, the order would switch.

My plan worked to perfection! It consisted of professional level moves such as:

1. The "Arun's Too Cool For School Ass-Shake": always a crowd favorite and my personal best move.
2. The "Shoulder Shimmy of Magic": To showcase my shoulder flexibility
3. The "Worm of Wonder": Just to Demonstrate to the crowd that I can get down and dirty.
4. The "Indian Charmer": A wink and blown kiss, just to get the ladies excited.
5. The Fully Dressed "Lap Dance of Flaccidness": A necessary evil to wake the men up
6. The "Splits of Pain": I knew I had to bust out something BIG in the finale. I knew I couldn't do them, or at least do them comfortably, but a model must consider his audience before his own well being. I executed, listened for audience approval, then quickly returned my legs to a less excruciating position.

By the time all five rounds were finished, I was spent. When queeried by John, the Master of Ceremonies, as to who was the winner, they cheered in approval for me.

The Challenger had become Champion.

Jeff was incredulous. I think he is still in denial at the notion of losing the walk-off. I have invited him, along with others to challenge me at the next walk-off. Although I will continue my modeling career, I find myself thinking that I should maybe retire from these "walkoffs."

A man once said: "With great power comes great responsibility." I take this to heart. I should use these devilish good looks and irresistable charm to please the masses, while minimizing bruised egos resulting from these walk-offs.

Then again, winning does feel great!