a little oblivion

I have moved

2007-12-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

I know you're thinking moved geographic states (or states of mind) but all my future postings, until further notice will be found here

Well at least I'm not the only one thinking it

2007-12-07T06:53:00.000-07:00

This comment is in reference to todays CNN money article about Apple's $15 billion cash surplus.

Finally, there’s always the chance that Jobs will surprise us all, break with tradition, and buy something big. Consider this: With the money burning a hole in Apple’s pocket, he could easily buy TiVo (TIVO), Netflix (NFLX) and Circuit City (CC), and still have plenty left in the bank.

I should be a consultant.....

Come on Apple

2007-12-04T16:35:00.000-07:00

Give the god damn iTV a HD-DVD drive and HDMI output and switch iTunes movies to a pay-per-month Comcast On-Demand style delivery, plug in an intuitive DVR, aka buy Tivo. Then all of this multi-device, go to the rental movie retailer bull shit is over.

When direct marketing hits a little to close for comfort

2007-11-23T13:43:00.001-07:00

Better start doing more pushups

alright already, I'll blog.....

2007-11-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

So after a few blog comments and a texted "WTF, I thought you're dead" messages I figured I best get off my ass an type something in here. Lets start with the highlights...

Found a new place to live, check
Packed my shit, check
Drove a semi up to my new place of residence, check
Unpacked most of my shit to a friend's basement, check
Started working again, check
Found a dirty Chinese take out joint, check
Found an amazing Italian joint, check
Sold my old house, almost checked
Snow, check

So being in a location that has seasons again is a welcome return to something I once knew well. During the morning jog it smells like cottonwood trees, I see pheasants and prairie dogs, and hear geese and train whistles. It reminds me a lot of Montana and my youth which is quite soothing for some reason. E and I live within 30 minutes of downtown Denver and have not had the slightest urning to go to the city, well that is a lie, we did wanted to go to football game or two, but still no desire to be in the city. Living in the city almost feels like a distant past already, I think I've finally got my urban dwelling out of my system. It only took a decade or so it seems. So I'll leave with you a few pictures of our neighborhood, the running trail, and the Honda braving the elements.

pictures from last weekends trip

2007-10-04T06:54:00.001-07:00

for those who wish to follow

2007-09-30T01:20:00.001-07:00

I got a comment of interest, I'd be interested to hear your opinions as well. Pardon my spelling.

Into the Wild

2007-09-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

I don't know how it snuck up on me without me knowing, but one of my favorite books "Into the Wild" is going to be a major motion picture released September 21st. Written and directed by Sean Penn, based on the book by Jon Krakauer, about the true story of Chris McCandless, one of my personal heros after reading the book. The book was amazing, I'm scared to reread it because I think I might quite my job.

The reviews are coming in as very good from early movie-goers and I can not wait to see it. I'm think a midnight showing might be in order if its available. On another note the soundtrack was done by none other than Eddie Vedder.

a date which will live in infamy

2007-09-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

My sympathies to everyone who lost a loved one on, or in response to the this tragic day, but I hope you all would remember that surrendering your opinion, rights, privacy, or right to protest in the name of security, does not help this country's security, it fleeces you of your freedom.

support micheal righi

2007-09-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

I love it when people stand up for themselves. This guy rocks...

two things I enjoy collide, Postsecret and NPR

2007-08-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

-----Email Message-----
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2007 1:33 AM
Subject: RE: NPR

I have to pretend not to listen to NPR because my friends think it's nerdy.

(above from postsecret.blogspot.com)

I honestly think NPR has made me smarter, and if not smarter, at least more aware.

odd dreams

2007-08-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago I had the oddest dream and I thought I would share it with you all. I know some of you look up the meanings of you dreams, but I don’t bother. I know some of my dreams tell the future….future insignificant moments that don’t make any sense till they actually happen and other dreams that are just pointless. So on with the oddity that was my dream…

It was dark and temperate night, so temperate that climate was of no significance, and the time was late, most likely early morning, roughly between 1 to 3 am in the morning. I was walking out of what appeared to be a bar or club, located in an industrial area, a place that reminded me of the shipyards in Seattle or the refinery areas of Baltimore. The bar was busy and parking was slim as cars were jammed in and around the building, parked in any haphazard way they would fit. I left the bar alone, but with my good friend B about twenty paces behind, walking to what I assumed was my car, but to be honest we were just walking away from the bar.

As I was about 200 feet from the bar when I was stopped by four men blocking the path to my car, face-to-face with these surly gentlemen, they demanded my wallet in a very after school TV special manner. You know what I’m talking about, four guys in flannel shirts, gold chains, mustaches, and bandannas demanding my wallet. So this is were my real subconscious comes out, after they demand my wallet I told them “why I don’t just give you the cash, because canceling all my credit and debit cards is a real pain in the ass.” At this time I look back to see B turning back to the bar, leaving me all alone to have my ass handed to me by these fine fellows. The would be thieves realizing I'm looking for aid, again demanded my wallet but this time I attempted to negotiate by telling them “B just went back into the bar to cancel the credit cards and they will be of no use to them, so just take the cash.” On this comment they all seemed extremely agitated and on the verge of breaking me into small pieces of me, but then I glanced back to see B wielding a 8 lbs sledge hammer, upside down swinging the handle around like Ryne Sandberg, the golden glove second baseman of the late 80’s Chicago Cubs. In a matter of seconds B took to the hooligans like softballs in a homerun derby, finishing the last guy with a very Leonitus-esqe sledge flipping crush to the ribcage, finally utilizing the business end of the hammer.

At this point I woke up, stressed out beyond belief and happy that I could go back to sleep with a sliver of peace of mind left. As I laid by head back on the pillow my alarm went off, it was time to get up.

You make fat cash with "sweet marketing skillz"

2007-08-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

Bill Gates Goes to College

Posted Sep 15, 2005

The Microsoft bigwig teamed up with Napoleon Dynamite in this spoof video from PDC 2005. The camera's a little shaky, but you get the idea.

postsecret

2007-08-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are not addicted to the epic depression that is the Sunday Secrets, I encourage you to check out this week's. Its a different format and is quite interesting.

welcome to fabulous las vegas

2007-08-07T22:03:00.000-07:00

When I'm really looking forward to going somewhere, I have a tendency to pack early. Now if E is not around I have a tendency to pack even earlier. Now place in the equation that I'm home alone, very much looking forward to picking up E in Vegas and you have guessed correctly, I've already packed for Friday.

This is quite a feat considering I've just returned from Vegas on Sunday, after spending several days there amongst generally unbathed miscreants and good friends. I have a soft spot for Vegas, a place where I have been quite upset, but this is generally eclipsed by the fondness I have for the great times I've spent there.

I hope this trip, however short, goes as well.

Because its worth spreading

2007-07-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

My 100th post is brought to you by William Rivers Pitt a best selling author via Death-by-Blog.

This is why I (we) continue to look for somewhere to hide.... Switzerland, nope in the middle of Europe, Northern Canada, nope to close to the US, Hawaii, nope still in the US, Sweden, maybe but still close to EU, Mozambique, nope the possibility of civil turmoil is to high, maybe South America or Alaska is for me, if I just don't tell anyone I'm going or that I'm there?

i wonder if

2007-06-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

I wonder if AT&T knows what they are sponsoring?

guess what

2007-06-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

....chickenbutt. A most glorious piece on NPR, from "commentator Laura Lorson [who] is the very picture of verbal rectitude. She lives in Perry, Kansas."

its all in the title

2007-06-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

I watched this documentary by Eugene Jarecki last night with Eve and though it was pretty damn good. It sure did reaffirm many of the thoughts that I already had around the machine that is the Defense Department and bridged a couple of the gaps that I hadn't for myself.

Basically the movie is based on Eisenhower's Presidential farewell speech about the pending (basically imminent) military industrial complex that United States was facing with the cold war, Vietnam, ectera. Now they sort of stuff the term down your throat and it claims to be neutral, bi-partisan, or whatever the new flavor of the month politically correct term is. I think its pretty fair but most would say it errors on the side of blueish-green. So right down my alley! Give it a try, its something to talk about at your next barbecue.

*****************Update******************
The proof is in the pudding..............

my new favorite blog

2007-06-06T13:33:00.001-07:00

Ecogeek

top online advertising programs

2007-06-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

So I have schemed up a plot to make some revenue on my new but yet unannounced website using online advertising and thought that I should try out the Google Analytics to see if I like it. So this is basically a calling to anyone that has any input on any of the online advertising programs such as Google Adsense, Adbrite, Linkworth, or any others. In mean time I hope lots of folks visit so I can try out this nifty Google Analytics tool.

I have used Google Adsense and Adbrite in the past and have been happy with both. I was booted from Adsense for clicking my own ads, rightfully so of course. I guess curiosity got the best of me. The Google ads were fairly targeted and paid quite well while I had them. On the other hand I like Adbrite's options for configuration and direct sales but the pay off has been less than desirable but that could be due to my lack of content as of a late.

I’ll keep you all up-to-date on the new venture as I work things out with my “business partners” and hopefully in the near to not so distant future we can talk about it a bit more.

Hear no evil....See no evil

2007-05-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

Click here

a darwinian kick to the groin

2007-05-24T05:06:00.001-07:00

Wow because I don't feel useless enough, evolution will eventually kick my gender in the balls too!

He may not have invented the Internet

2007-05-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

But he sure as hell knows how to use it...damn 3, 30 inch displays.

You have my vote Al, but all the display real estate and the mountain of paper are not really helping your environmental image much.

rate my .......?

2007-05-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

RateMyNetworkDiagram.com uses the hot or not voting concept, this website allows users to rate computer network diagrams based on the function of the network & (unfortunately) "not the graphic design capabilities of the network administrator".

instead, the purpose of this site is to allow people to learn about computer networking & network documentation by exploring what other people have done with their networks.

The number one rated home network is shown below!

notes from coachella

2007-04-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

items to bring next year:
Blanket
Sun screen
Watch
My own TP*
My own hand sanitizer*
Flashlight*
Car marker, preferable a huge "Surrender the Booty" flag*
*items not brought this year

if the opportunity to see Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machines comes upon you.....see Rage twice

Pictures to come

the effects of effective marketing

2007-04-26T22:41:00.000-07:00

Coachella tickets $400, 2 nights at the Marriot in Indio, CA during Coachella $220 (don't ask how), gas, snacks and supplies, and several bottles of disturbingly overpriced water, probably somewhere around $1000. Removing Rage Against the Machine from the "I sure wish I could of just saw them once" list, price.....ok fucking expensive but its worth it.

embrassing pop culture triva

2007-04-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

It somewhere between mildly to amazingly embarrassing that I know this, but Julia Stiles is being cast as Esther Greenwood in a movie creation of The Bell Jar. The interesting thing is that this is the same book she was reading as the angsty teen in "10 things I Hate About You".

Some one shoot me NOW!

flat tax?

2007-04-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

This would be more relevant if the rich actually paid taxes, but with all the saving and investing tax incentives [loopholes] that are available we know this isn't true. I'll continue to use all the tax laws to my advantage until they are gone, but I would vote to close them, its the communist in me I guess.

Speaking of taxes, if your looking for real estate cost segregation, contact these folks.

...what I really mean is...

2007-04-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

on bowling...

I was doing well then the ball got heavy...what I really mean is...I wasn't doing as shitty as you, until my arm got tired

...what I really mean is...

2007-04-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

I'm poor at time management...what I really mean is...I like to sleep a lot

feeling a little "home"sick

2007-04-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

"I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love..."
—John Steinbeck

calling the average joes of the world

2007-03-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

So here I am, your average Joe planning, training, but mostly hoping to run a marathon. Then today as I scan through the plethora of news articles that I do, I come across this. Being the technology, internet dependent person that I am, this is hard to say, but for reasons like these…I HATE THE INTERTNET. Even with its boundless answers, glorious humor, and generally limitless entertainment value there is one thing that really frustrates me about the whole “I don’t know, ask Google generation”. Yes if you’re reading this, I’m referring to your generation, it spans a large demographic. The thing that frustrates me is the amazing amount of inadequacy I feel as I research or peruse new things that interests me. Let’s take the obvious example in my case, I want to run a marathon. So what do I do, well I go on the internet and start looking at all things marathon related and one of the first things I would run into is the classic, “How I prepared/ran/trained for my marathon” articles, this is great and mildly inspiring at times even, but try to imagine twenty years ago before the interweb.

If I wanted hear about someone’s marathon experience I would have to ask around. Now I’m fortunate enough to have a friend that has run a marathon but we communicate through the internet so I can even negate that for now (no offense T). So I could ask my local friends who has run a marathon, no one there, people at work, no one there, people I take classes with, nope no one there, people I climb with, again no one. Now I can look at a marathon as this amazing feat, something that no one I know has done, basically a monumental feat. I know it’s been done but no one I know has even tried, wow running a marathon is a big damn deal. Unfortunately these days we just jump on the answer machine and search marathons and find Ethel the 91 year old women that has completed the Ironman with her best friend Teddy, a St. Bernard, tied to her back, all while dragging a palette of rice and flour to raises awareness for starving children in South America. Wow that’s great Ethel, but you sure do make me feel like a steaming pile of shit.

I can associate this feeling with about everything I attempt to do. I want to start a business, so I go online and find Billy the 16 year old orphan who has franchised his lemonade stands into a multimillion dollar, multinational corporation that is using its profits to save the rain forest. I want to play guitar, I go online and read about Brain, who can play Vivaldi with his feet because he has no arms. Oh did I mention he was also saved by Ethel's Starving Children Foundation, deep in a rain forest protected by Billy’s Lemonade Stands, Inc. I know these are extreme cases, great stories, and each should be told, read, and celebrated by the world, but as the average guy, I feel like a loser. If these people with all their hardships and handicaps can excel, then what the hell is my problem. I’m just a regular guy with all my limbs, raising no awareness, with no amazing circumstances at all. I’ll never run in space or create the next Gates Foundation but I would like to feel like completing one thing in my life that is actually an accomplishment, not a pittance compared to Bob on the internet.

paying by the pound

2007-03-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

From the world's perspective a man that will someday inevitably lose all his hair should cherish it while he has it. To take the other path would be seen by some as an atrocity against "man"kind.
With the advice of my gender pressed cleanly from my mind I sat before the butcher and asked for a prime cut.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

I'm gleefully happy for my choice.

haaaahhaaa

2007-03-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

I'm so emo

it's always hard to find pictures of yourself you like

2007-03-15T16:09:00.000-07:00

Complements of Eve's photoset

never trust anyone named hal

2007-03-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

So in a previous post I mentioned that I was following a well researched and scientifically accurate training regimen fit for my fitness level and body style. The actual training regimen that I'm loosely following is listed here. Besides what is on the chart below, I do the following.

1. Not the Sunday cross training
2. Not the runs when my joints are more sore than average.

What marathon am I running, I think its going to be this one. Here is a quote from the description of the race.

This is one of the toughest Marathons in the United States. The terrain is rugged, the altitude exceeds a mile above sea level and the weather can be severe. If you feel dizzy, have pain or exhaustion, please ask for assistance.

Please pass the crackpipe because I have no idea what the hell I'm thinking!

from the amazingly sharp mind of dooce

2007-03-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

I try not to go crazy with the brushes because it’s very easy to get out of hand and make it look like Photoshop spilled diarrhea all over the design. But it’s very hard to resist because these brushes are so much fun to use. These brushes are the bourbon-dipped Dorito lap dances of Photoshop.

"i want to hear how the marathon training is going"

2007-03-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

Ask and you shall receive, "how is the training going", you asked and I’m going to let you into my little training world, but be prepared for the shock and awe of endurance training that is absolutely lacking any shock and awe.

So when most people decide to run a marathon, they do some research, talk to others that have done it, get advice from the experienced runners, read an article or two or three, and consult their physician. Then there is me, and my though process went about like this, “wow Tracie ran a marathon that is so fucking cool, I want to do that too! I lack originality and am a follower, I'm going to run a marathon” I think I was drinking beer at that point....Yes I must of been that is the only rational explanation.

So how did I decide to start my training, well let’s get a few of the details out of the way. From the single article I read, training for a marathon requires dedication and sacrifices. So what do I do? I basically call them liars and decide to start a training regimen that will affect my life as little as possible. Marathon training cut into my social life, get out of here!

Next step pick a training regimen. So like any savvy person I jump on the answer machine (Google) and search "marathon training". The first entry that caught my eye looked like a winner, so book marked it and deemed it my training regimen. After all that intensive research, dedication, and sacrifice I went and took a nap, I was exhausted.

Next week I decided to look at the training regimen that, based on extensive research, best fit me for all the following reasons: one, I found it first and with the least effort. So while looking at the training regimen I realized that it was going to be a lot of work, just the thought of it all was exhausting. So I drove down to the drive-thru, bought a milkshake, and then sat on my couch and watched FitTV. Man it’s awesome to be inspired by fitness.

So the first few days of running started and by the end of week two or so I had what felt like a strained achillies tendon so, like any experienced runner, I ignored the pain and kept running because I’m amazingly dedicated to my craft. The next day I laid in bed, ate advil like red hots, and quit....But only temporarily because some day I'll recover from this amazing ignorant approach to endurance race training and be stronger and more dedicated.

Over then next few weeks of recovery I meticulously monitored my diet of Zingers and Dr Pepper to ensure I was maintaining higher than average sucrose and overly processed starch levels. My nutrition and diet plan worked, several weeks later and 15 pounds heavier I emerged a new man.

Since then the mornings have been grueling, especially the getting up and dressing part, and the Sunday mornings have been long, rewarding, but tiring as well. Today I recorded a 14+ mile day, only a few more miles to go before I reach the mark I've been telling everyone I’ve already run.

where you at dog?

2007-03-02T11:56:00.000-07:00

That is a damn good question, especially if don't have to deal with me stealing blankets in the cold night, have me help apply the stealth black to your cabinets, or happen to be a sounding board for business ideas. I know I proclaimed content is king in all of this blogging magic but honestly I've just been swamped. Excuses, excuses, you've heard them all before but honestly here is what I'm trying to balance:

1. Full-time job that is now requiring full time hours
2. Full-time school, I'll finally be done this summer but now I'm considering a MS. I'm a moron.
3. Training for a marathon, did a half marathon last weekend. Said half marathon is now referred to as the Sunnyslope Nearly Spring Sunday Morning Impromptu Half Marathon (SNSSMIHM for short) in my mind
4. Climbing, more precisely bouldering, I'm getting better but the level of poor is still a long way off
5. Taking a class and practicing guitar. On the scale of 1 to 10 on how shitty I am at playing guitar, I give myself roughly a five-thousand three-hundred and two, give or take few (couple).
6. Tossing around the idea of starting my own business to work on while I'm not busy with other things, if that is any indication how much time I'll be dedicating to that.
7. Working on the house to make it a little more comfy, so as soon as we are satisfied someone will come along and buy it.

So there you have it, "that's where I'm at dog."

snow, ice, and bodily injury

2007-02-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

Now that my wrists have returned to a mostly normal state, I thought I should get back to blogging. This last weekend I found myself knee deep in this oddly cold white substance. It was quite interesting and must be unique to regions that are not generally referred to as sweltering portions of scorched earth. Now really is not the time to be complaining about weather in the Valley, because living in the desert in February is as some would say, glorious. Regardless, the crisp mountain air and the joys of riding a chairlift remind me of the free spirited days of my youth. Someday I would love to return to this life, if I could just convince my parents to start paying for everything again! In mentioning this to them I'll be sure to leave out the fact that my tastes are much more expensive now, and I also require a beer allowance.

So with no regard for my own physical health and well being I decided to attempt the art of snowboarding. In making this decision I thought to myself, “you can ride a skateboard, snowboarding shouldn’t be a problem right?” Two throbbing wrists, a strained groin, bruised knees, and partially crushed tail bone later I realized snowboarding IS just like skateboarding, except its down a steep hill of concrete hard sheets of ice, at twice the speed, with no ability to bail due to being strapped to a five foot plastic sled of death. With all that out of the way, I would say we had a great time and I hope to go again soon, although my body would prefer I just ride the chairlift and drink Alpines.

i'm scared, aren't you?

2007-02-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

So they're having a promotion for some "Save the Kids" walk or something today at work. While walking from building to building I rounded a corner into common cafeteria area and I came face-to-face to what appeared to be a strung-out, balloon tying, circus clown. I'm pretty sure they hired him from some third rate temporary work services company. Frankly it scared the living shit out of me.

Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns. In discussions of causes of coulrophobia, sufferers seem to agree that the most fear-inducing aspect of clowns is the heavy makeup, often accompanied by the bulbous nose and weird color of hair, that conceals the wearer's identity.

Sufferers sometimes acquire a fear of clowns after having a bad experience with one personally, or seeing a sinister portrayal of one in the media.

for when you see a tiny man in a huge hummer in the hov lane all by himself

2007-02-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

This has been considered here in Phoenix

political satire

2007-02-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

Original image is the property of Susan Walsh of the Associated Press

for the mr. spork in all of us...

2007-01-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

Considering my status as a fully employed IT guy, more specifically a IT security guy there are many stereotypes that usually exist for people such as myself. Usually we love to play video games, are raving gadget whores, can quote Star Wars, and consider the "History of Star Trek" worthy of a 400 level college course. Well sorry to disappoint folks but besides my raving gadget whore status I don't really know much about the other required knowledge areas of my demographic. The truth is, I've watched and enjoyed Star Wars a few times throughout my life but don't own any of them and the only quote I know is, "Luke, I am your father", which I'm pretty sure doesn't constitute any level of Star Wars knowledge. Until a month or so ago I had never watched more than a handful of Star Trek episodes either, but since then my father-in-law moved in and we have been watching an episode of Star Trek Voyager almost every evening. This has been a learning experience in itself, but what I find much more entertaining is listening to my father-in-law mock the show. I'm pretty sure he watches it just to make fun it. His favorite game to play is to mispronounce and rename characters, which sounds pretty dumb but when you put into the context of the show is hilarious. My personal favorite goes something like this.....

"I'd hate to be the janitor of holodeck after that Twovak, Chiptole, and the Space Harlet, Janeway went a round or two"

is that OS X (ten) in your pocket, or you just happy to see me!

2007-01-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought they were just texting in the stall next to you!

chuck taylor, a player and a salesman

2007-01-26T14:06:00.000-07:00

Most people have their shoe of choice. Some people will never ever part with the 90's icon the Doc Marten, some people love their skate shoe, and for some its not a style but a brand that they pine and urn for. For me its the Converse All-Star, you know the Chuck Taylor's, Chucks, the original basketball shoe, the shoe that has zero ergonomic properties but comes in the most fashionable styles and colors. Recently I've downgraded my footwear at work from your average business casual shoes to my old standbys, but recently they have been causing me a bit of an issue. You know that annoying feeling of your shoes slipping off your heel as you walk, but the more annoying flatulation sound that it makes with each stride. Well my work ready brown Chucks are displaying this most unflattering property making me wonder if every person that I walk by thinks I have a rapid-fire gastric problem.

get your civil rights on...

2007-01-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

In a recent news article a Mesa, Arizona city council member refused to stand for (or say) the pledge of allegiance at a city council meeting as a form of protest of the war in Iraq. Now whether or not you think this guy is out of place, or glad he is executing his rights as a citizen, it all brings me to an interesting point that I have been thinking about recently. Now technically I think this guy has done a fairly brilliant job of protesting. He is exerting very little effort, hell he is sitting down silently, and he is getting massive amounts of national media attention for his cause.

I think a lot of the protesting people of the world should take notice. I'm not here demeaning the protesting people of America or the world for that matter, I applaud you, but you see millions (rough estimate) of people go to Washington DC or where ever and picket, march, and scream their asses off for a just cause and no one ever really hears them. Sure there has been the Million Man March and other large demonstrations that have created some media attention but generally protests need to be extremely large or destructive to get any attention.

So I present a problem without a solution right? What I'm suggesting here is strictly theory and at the risk of being labeled a terrorist. What I'm recommending is that more effective protesting mechanisms need to be used. I mean what amount of coverage does picketing inside a fenced area, 8 miles from any government building really produce? You want to get peoples attention, I've got an idea for you. Take your 5,000 protesters that will probably never be heard, and break them up and march them down different sections of Washington's 495 beltway, the 295, the 395, the 267, the 66, and 50. (DC Map) It only takes 4 or five people to block 8 lanes of traffic so really you could run them in shifts, in different areas of the city and there is no way the police could remove everyone in a timely fashion with the traffic the way it is. Now obviously you would be wielding banners and signs for your cause and encouraging the stopped motorists to get out and join your cause, leaving their cars as an added obstruction. Then once your protest is a national media sensation you could start a fund that allows all the people of the world that believe in your cause and don't live in DC area to send you money to get all those peoples' car out of the impound.

I'm not saying your not going to be arrested but when 5.9 million people in the DC metro area are stuck in traffic for 18 hours or better (Sorry b & t) because the city has been turned into a parking lot, the world will notice you cause. Now this is just one of many techniques that could be use to get the word out, and most are probably labeled as terrorist acts but you have the right to protest and the right to an attorney and you will probably need the latter. My point is that the traditional methods of protest seems to very ineffective and unfortunately the method of high paid lobbyists seems to be very effective. As the not so privilege peoples of America we need to take the options we have an use them.

Now I know many people will not agree with me and the working people of the DC area will be the victims of such a protest, but some issues are bigger than people being late for work. Knowing my luck the KKK will use my strategy to promote their agenda, that is just the way shit works out for me.

***Disclaimer***
The protest method described here is a theory and is not safe, approved, or in anyway legal, but god damn I bet it would be effective. If you decided to do this its at your own risk and in no way, shape, or form my fault. I placed this here as an academic theory, and a work of fiction. I'm not responsible for any of your actions and I don't condone illegal activity but I fully support your civil rights and your right to protest. Also if you decide to make this fictional work a reality I suggest you get in touch with these guys.

critical pedogogy

2007-01-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

The teacher stands in front of the class, but the lesson plan he can't recall. The student's eyes don't perceive the lies bouncing off every fucking wall. His composure is well kept, I guess he fears playing the fool. The complacent students sit and listen to some of that bullshit that he learned in school. -Zack de la Rocha, Take the Power Back

Over the course of the past decade I have been attempting to attend and see in the flesh many musical acts and artists that I have long admired and generally worshiped throughout my teens and twenties. I have been mildly successful in seeing many of these artists perform live and unfortunately some of them I will never get to see thanks to drug overdoses and murdering spouses. Others have just escaped my grasp due to geographic distance or the fact that I was born after their death. For whatever reason I always make an attempt to see artists that I enjoyed now, but for some reason I feel even more compelled to see artists from my earlier years, back when music was the answer to everything, when riding in the '84 Corolla rocking the power chord champions Silverchair was about as much fun as anything else on the planet.

One band that is still alive, but escaped me throughout the years has been Rage Against the Machine. Although they were touring in my youth, living in Montana is not conducive to attending major national acts such as Rage Against the Machine. Also for some reason my parents didn't think it would be a good idea for two 15 year olds, that had just got their drivers license a couple months previous to hop in the car and drive two states away and attend such an event. What the hell parents know anyway? Regardless I've never been able to see RATM. I have been able to see Audioslave, you know the RATM band with Chris "you make my loins hot" Cornell as the front man, hell they even covered a couple of Rage tunes but it really didn't satisfy my desire to see the powerhouse of a band that was Rage. So why am I ranting about this all of a sudden?

Yesterday I got an email about presale tickets for the Cochella music festival in Indio, CA and guess who is headlining the third day? You guess it, Rage Against the Machine. Yep Zach, Tom, Brad, and Tim playing it live. No word if there is other tour dates in the works but if this is a one time show, it might be a once in a lifetime for me. Last year I made the pilgrimage to Cochella to worship the closest thing to a deity for me, Tool. Eve being the good sport that she is came along and only heckled me on rare occasion about my ridiculous Tool fanboy status. So I'm considering going back to Cochella and anyone else that is interested, let me know and we can make the trek from AZ to CA, eat carnival style gyros, drink watered down beer, and rock it like its 1996. God I'm old

supporting my npr

2007-01-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

I was listening to Talk of the Nation as they talked about the Academy Award nominations. Neal Conon received a call from a very ecstatic caller that made laugh hysterically and I wanted to share. He comes in at 10:56 but listening to whole segment makes it much more entertaining. Most NPR callers are quite dry but this guy was definitely not dry in the Native American reservation sense! Enjoy it here

talking to your pets

2007-01-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

Me: I wish I could sit on the dresser all day and do nothing
Frankie: (no response)
Eve: That would be worth skipping class to see!
Me: What, watching me sit on the dresser all day?

trail mix and fruit cups

2007-01-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

Do you ever really take a day off? I mean really take the day off, no homework, no laundry, no cleaning, bills, or trips to the grocery store? Eve and I had plans for getting ready the upcoming week yesterday by completing many of the above mentioned items but after apathetically moving our pajama clad assess from the bed to the couch we decided to do nothing. What a great choice! So instead of being proactive and all that bullshit, we sat on the couch, ate trail mix and fruit cups, and mocked Troy Aikman while we watched the Colts and Bears, persevere against their lack luster reputations as chokers and losers. I accomplished nothing yesterday but watching football, movies, and playing guitar. Now my laundry needs to be done, I have no food in the fridge, and cleaning toilets will have to wait a few more days but I feel rested and relaxed, like I really had a weekend.

i drive a volvo, a beige one

2007-01-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

This morning I pulled into the parking lot at work, while substituting concert volume Tool for coffee and placed my car directly between two white lines. A moment later a lady pulled up next to me to park her beige sedan. Once she pulled up even with Booger, she looked at me (and I assume heard the music) and backed her car out to find another parking spot. As if while our cars were parked there in this corporate parking lot there was going to be fornication, corruption, and Booger would end up taking her sedan to automobile hell. All this in the course of a single business day.

i'd kick my own ass

2007-01-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

So over the weekend I attended, what I once would of never foreseen myself attending, a pop concert. This was not just any pop concert thou, this was an ex-boyband, synchronized dancing, tabloid ridden, girl shrilling Justin Timberlake concert. A concert that if I would have proclaimed my attendance to during an average rock concert, probably would have resulted with me being riddled with beer cups, M&Ms, D-cell batteries, spiked wallet chains, and probably someone's sacrificial goat. I'm not going to try to defend my position in going to a JT (that's Mr. JT to you!) concert because in all honesty I not only wanted to go, I looked forward to it. Maybe its old age, commercial brainwashing, or the acceptance that I'm not hard-core now, and I never really was. Now you might ask what I see in this platinum selling pop culture icon and it comes down to 4 things, a good beat, catchy lyrics, a reason to dance, and the way he moves his hips. Wait, scratch that last one, its 3 things I'm just jealous of the 4th. So all-in-all the show was destined to be an all around good time, and it was. He played all the songs I wanted to hear, had an impressive stage presence, knew where he was geographically, and didn't run at the mouth like some other performers of the past. So on a scale of 1-10, I'd give the show an 8+ for what it was, but sorry JT you're no Cedric Bixler, Scott Weiland, or Reverend Maynard.

see no evil, hear no evil....

2007-01-16T10:06:00.001-07:00

Well Blogger was official blocked at work today, which means no blogging at work right? Wrong! These people really don’t realize that unless they block the internet in general, people can keep blogging. Hell they could block the internet in its entirety and if I felt compelled to, I could update via text and picture messages. Well I applaud their effort as weak sauce as they are. Onto the subject at hand…

Eve and I were killing some time over the weekend looking for a backpack for her triumphant return to academia. Without any good idea where one would go about finding your run-of-the-mill JanSport bag we headed to our local shopping mall. A side note about this mall in particular, it’s where they filmed the mall scene for Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. If you haven’t seen this movie you should, if only for 80's pop culture references. In thinking about the Wild Stallions (see pop culture reference) I laugh because I've realized that Keanu Reeves has not matured as an actor one iota since his role as Ted "Theodore" Logan. Back to the subject at hand, while meandering through this enormous monument to commerce, we walked in and out of possible stores that might carry a backpack to Eve's liking. All the time being hit up by the sales people in the kiosks in the center of the mall thoroughfares. Now these generally rude, but just doing their job sales people place me a huge moral conundrum. We’ve all had jobs that we didn’t like, or didn’t want. The jobs might have even been a bit demeaning at times, but you do them regardless. You have to pay the bills right? Also I always try to treat people that work in retail, food service, or any other customer service position with respect and a bit of class because I remember being shit on while working the counter at the grocery store, working retail at a sporting goods store, but basically so they don't spit (if you're lucky) in my food. I always hated it and I attempt as much as I can not to be that guy we all loathed.

So here is the crux, if you don’t ignore these people and pretend they don’t exist they won’t leave you alone to save your life. It used to be that you could just say, “no thanks” or “I’m not interested today” but now-a-days if you even acknowledge their existence they will hound you like those kids in Mexico trying to sell you Chiclets. So what do you do? Pretend as if they don’t exist like some upper-middle class, nose in air, raging asshole, or hang-out for 5 minutes with every high school girl regurgitating a sales script about the amazing moisturizing effects of this particular hand lotion? I’m sure many of these people understand why they are ignored, hell many of them probably get off work and walk the mall ignoring their peers. I just wish I didn’t have to pretend like I don’t hear them, avoid looking them in the eye, and basically treating them like a sub-class of human beings.

for god sake just open it!

2007-01-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

So here at my place of employment we have lots of automated building facilities like any other building or corporate campus might have. You know badge activated revolving doors, automated flushing urinals, and automatic paper towel dispensers. One oddity is that we have automated glass double doors between some of the buildings. These are to meet disability requirements I’m sure. So these doors open and close automagically if you are coming into or out of the building. I personally find them annoying because they don’t open quick enough for my walking pace and I always have to wait or push them open to maintain my speed and heading. The reason I bring this up, is that time-to-time the sensors that detect the approaching pedestrians stop working on occasion and people walk right up to the door and just stare at it, confused and dumbfounded by this epicly confusing device known as the door. Now the humorous part is that you can see through the glass and watch their priceless expression. They look like a caveman staring at a Zippo for the first time. Now don’t get me wrong I know they expect the door to open, it’s what they are used to, but you would think that this would not stump them. I can't imagine a door being a complex problem that boggles the mind. Either grab the handle and pull or push on the bar, its quite simple people. Either open the door or get the hell out of my way, your inability to operate this centuries old device know as a door is getting my way.

The kicker to all this is that last night I told Eve that I had a blog entry nearly ready to go about the doors at work.She replied, "the Doors were at your work?" In which I replied, "yes, Jim Morrison stood on my cubicle and serenaded me with Riders on the Storm in a cappella", or something to that effect. Either way I think Eve was born in the wrong decade, but I'm very grateful she was.

i'm a gadget whore

2007-01-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

Being the gadget and Mac whore that I am, I'm stoked that Apple is releasing a phone, but not just a phone its an iPhone. Almost as cleverly named as iShit. The iPhone will provide, phone, texting, camera, internet, music, and everything else you could imagine with the possibility of automated ass wiping in the near future. The phone has basically all the current cell phone functions and the integration of the celluar internet access (Cingular Edge, Sprint PCS...) with a very nice design (according to the website) running OS X. That is right OS X, eat it bitches OS X is going to take over the world thus throwing the operating system debate on its head where everyone will bitch about OS X and cool people will run sick OS'es like OpenBSD. The only thing that I'm upset but not suprised about is that Cingular will be the sole carrier for the new Apple iPhone. I was in the market for a new phone but I think I'm going to ride it out until Verizon carries the iPhone then I'll get it, if the price is reasonable, because really what good is a sweet phone if your carriers sucks monkey nuts.

genius

2007-01-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

posted from http://www.asofterworld.com

bikram yoga

2007-01-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

Entering the yoga studio I took off my shoes just like the website told me to. I’m not sure why this detail of all the “Tips and Etiquette” information that I read stuck with me so well. For some reason I imagined myself not taking my shoes off and being brutally scolded by Pei Mei of Kill Bill fame for disgracing this sacred place with the mud of western soil. Doesn’t matter though, I remember to take off my flip-flops, but I did notice that someone else didn’t and was sorely disappointed that they were not struck down by a lighting bolt from Buddha. Don’t worry I’m equal opportunity when it comes to deity slander.

So we received the nickel tour of the place, fortunately we were in the big room in the back, not behind the creepy curtain with animal pelts on the floor. I thought these yoga people were vegan-environmental-nazis and shit, what the hell is with the animal fur on the floor, faux or not? We signed the waiver that if contort and burst that I won’t sue this strip mall yoga outfit, then we paid them for the first timers’ package while safely navigating the “buy a millions sessions now and save 4 whole dollars” sales pitch. Now began the purgatory period of waiting for the class to start. I had no idea what I should do? Wait in the lobby for the instructor, go into the room and set down my stuff, or maybe roll around behind the curtain on animal pelts reading books on the super healing powers metaphysics and acupuncture. I opted for the couch slash futon looking thing and a trusty copy of Backpacker magazine!

If I would have known then, what I know now I would have marched back into the hot (90-110 degrees) and humid (40%) studio and staked out a good piece of real estate in the training room. Due to my lack of foresight in this area, I landed me a sweet piece of floor, not next to Eve and staring directly at some R35 styrofoam insulation, but none of this compares to Miss. Super Bikram Yoga USA (SBYU) that bullied Eve out of the spot next to me like a strong safety for the Chicago Bears. Once things got rolling, you know with the awkward breathing and contorting stuff, Miss SBYU started making these nasal-throat breathing sounds that fell somewhere between a wheezing of a dying man and the sound I would make if you jumped on my chest unexpectedly while I was laying down. All this basically scared the shit out of me right off the bat. Now to make matters all the more awkward, I had no idea what each pose was called or how I should be going about getting into and out of them. So what does any sane person do? Look at what are others are doing right? So that is what I did, but all I could see was overly sweaty Miss SBYU, who at this point thought I was checking her out. Honestly I was looking at everyone, including her to figure out what the hell I should be doing. I felt like the slow kid at the dance recital, four steps behind looking around, skipping portions in order to catch up, then immediately falling behind again.

So I went through the class, some poses being more difficult (and/or impossible) than others but things were going well. Towards the end of the class, before nappy time (which was my favorite part) we had to do some crazy breathing exercise where I thought I was in a lamaze class for speed addicts. I just skipped that part for now, but maybe next time I’ll try to invigorate my inner-self through rapid breathing techniques, but mostly likely I'll just hyperventilate. The fact of the matter is that I know all this yoga stuff is suppose to be about self awareness, self improvement, enlightenment and all the mumbo-jumbo but really I just want to be able to do those wicked poses and impress my friends and others at parties! Possibly make a buck or two betting my intoxicated friends.

resolutions research

2007-01-08T09:03:00.001-07:00

As I’ve made very apparent in the last few posts, I’ve been keenly interested in New Year’s resolutions as of late. For obvious reasons I think, anyway I also mentioned the fact that I read an article about a Professor that is doing a study on New Year’s resolutions. As I come to find out from Eve, I never actually said that I was participating in the study. I thought some of you that are interested in the scientific process and statistics might be interested to see what they have been asking me thus far. I’ll try to keep up as things go on.

This first set of question was a general questionnaire.

1) Is this the first time you have taken part in this experiment?

2) Are you male or female?

3) How old are you? (This was divided into age groups)

4) Where in the world do you live? If your country is not listed here, please select the 'other' option shown at the end of the list.

5) If you live in the UK, please indicate whether you are in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Wales. If you live outside the UK, please leave this question blank.

6) In general, have you been able to achieve your New Year's resolutions in the past?

The second question was a fill in the box that asked:

1) Please BRIEFLY note down how you have applied these ideas. For example, have you told someone your goal? Have you written your resolution down? Where have you placed the paper?

Thus far that is all they have asked me, but I intend on continuing to answer their questions as long as it doesn’t get out of control.

my internet is down

2007-01-04T14:54:00.000-07:00

As many people point out to me nearly everyday, I grew up in the computer slash internet generation. For some reason my people, the roughly 30 and younger crowd, grew up with the computer thus know everything about computers. Yeah right! Now we could debate, especially among geeks, how much most people really know about computers and especially the internet but I will leave that to a single quote from my very internet savvy friend Zeke, "THE INTERNET IS NOT DOWN, its just your connection that sucks". Anyway, with the propagation of the internet to all corners of the globe including those places that can't get water, food, or medicine, most everyone with regular access to the internet has a number that they have come to associate with all things interweb related. Myself, I have always use the trusty 21. Now the oddity in all this is the number 21 has absolutely no significance to me conscientiously, just that I use it when the sweet internet handles, such as uberhaxor, kittentits, and 2legit2quit, that I so deeply desire are taken by some other equally clever minded person. So now I wonder if this number is subconsciously telling me something? Is it the age I desire to be, the number of millions I should be making off my blog, or the number times I'm going to push an amazingly heavy, blistering hot boulder up a 10 mile path covered in goat heads in my bare feet for not accepting a deity of some sort. Either way I have no idea where or why I use this number and I know many of you also use a number as well. What is it and if you know, why did you select it?

child size

2007-01-04T12:36:00.000-07:00

I read this article today and still haven't decided what to think. I would like to think that the parents have their child's best interest in mind, but I don't know. I would not want my parents running my life. Then again I have the mental capacity to know that, does she? It is really odd, I'm all for the advancement of medicine and use of science (though I think it will be the demise of the human race), but at what capacity can you use it to control someone else's life? What are your thoughts?

perpetual unnoteworthiness

2007-01-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

I’ve posted a few pictures from our trip to San Diego that was most awesome. I have to say that it was one of my most enjoyable and probably memorable New Year’s celebrations of all time. Now the most awkward New Year’s happenings goes to the 1999-2000 celebration, where I played football on an iceberg, captured a penguin, and watched a few of my friends nearly get eaten by an orca. Yes, an orca nearly ate my friends. So enjoy the pictures and I might have to post some old 1999-2000 pictures.

The resolutions are going strong in some departments and just gearing up in others. No soda or unnecessary sugar thus far and it has not been too extremely difficult but it’s only the fourth, right? I had a massive craving for my mother-in-law’s peanut butter & Hershey kiss cookies yesterday, and was glad because I’m allowed to still eat those when they are around. Only baked sugary goods and soda in mixed drinks, I mean you have realistic about this stuff! The official fitness goals start Sunday but running will probably not start until late January. I did a few pull-ups and push-ups for good measure, as I wanted to see if my spreadsheet was working. It wasn’t so, I fixed it and I’m ready for the big push come Sunday.

Last item of note, today our (cross your fingers) good friends, the democrats take the house and senate. They have big plans that will most likely be fought, vetoed, and diseased by the executive branch and the remaining republican politicians but we can hope and support the changes we all voted for.

welcome to 2007, its going to be a good one

2007-01-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite holidays has come and gone, and with the final cheers and jeers of the past year behind me, I’m very much looking forward to this New Year. I, like most people, hope this year will be a great year, but I have a hunch that it is going to be all I could hope for and more. It has been so far! The resolutions are now in full swing, although I can’t run yet, I'm looking forward to getting all my goals accomplished. Tentative trips include Iceland, New Zealand, "The Bob" Marshall Wilderness, Sycamore Canyon, and Bandelier. As far as the debt goes, I made a real attempt to make that one as difficult as possible over the weekend, by dipping into the checking account about as many times as I dipped E on the dance floor. I’m a dipping and spinning type of dancer if you cared to know. A word of advice, the ladies loved to be spun, or so I’m told. So E and I have our work cut out for us, budgeting two global vacations and paying down all our debt. I’m sure it can be done but you folks better get to clicking so I have some spending cash!

I’ve been reading a lot about other peoples' resolutions and I've come to conclusion that everyone basically has the same resolutions. From what I can see everyone is attempting some form of time management and/or will power in the New Year. Everyone needs to take time to exercise, fight the urge to devour their weight in chocolaty goodness, or say/not say everything that comes to mind. For me it’s the same thing, get up in time to do pull-ups before work, no Dr. Pepper at work, and I really don’t need for that new wiz-bang camping gadget. Will power and time management the New Years resolutions of the world. I hope everyone’s festivities were grand and have a great 2007!

i see, there for i am

2007-01-02T10:17:00.001-07:00

I saw something very concerning today. I saw what appeared to be a blind person's cane in the middle of the road, tattered and beaten. I hope the owner is safe and sound.

simply amazing

2007-01-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

spreadsheet-arific

2006-12-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

OK so the resolutions are up in their entirety, and yes I already know I’m odd. Certainly at some point the tracking mechanism with magically vanish and I’ll pretend like it was never there or started to avoid embarrassment and ridicule of my friends and family. Also because I love the liberal NPR and listen nearly every time I’m in the car I heard about a Professor from the UK that was studying people and their New Year’s resolutions. The study is tracking people all over the world and how effective they are in keeping their resolutions. Like most people who set out to do great things in the New Year, I’ll probably end up in the failing percentage. I hope you all love spreadsheets because that is how I track things and it needs to be easy for me.

On the subject of resolutions I’d loved to hear about yours and how I might help you achieve them. I’m obviously attempting the "inform the public" approach to see if I hold myself to a higher standard when everyone knows. Speaking of all the things we want to do in the New Year, I put new strings on the guitar the other night and now I just need to tune and start jamming, oh yeah! Class starts in a couple weeks and I need to be ready to go Stevie Ray Vaughn on their asses.

i'm dying to know

2006-12-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well its seems death is in the air, sort of sobering I guess, not that I'm drunk or anything. Ok now you think I'm actually drunk and there is nothing I can say to convince you otherwise. Back to the subject, with the passing of former President Gerald Ford, the King of Soul James Brown, and the imminent death of the Wacky Iraqi Saddam Hussein, the media is having a field day with depressing news coverage of death. I try not to think about death I guess, makes me sad and also makes me think irrational thoughts. Things like, I should just quit work and live day-to-day like a bum, see the world. Or, I should quit saving money and spend it all, its there to be enjoyed right? Also, I should do something the will really help/change/take over/save the world. What is it about the thought of death makes life's time line seem so short? Now accidental or homicidal death aside, I would say I have a good amount of living left to do, but for some reason when I think of not being alive it all truncates. I feel as though it have until next month to do and see everything. I know its irrational and makes no sense but sometimes I wonder if I would live a more fulfilling life if I lived everyday like the end was near? People always say "live everyday like its your last" but really that would probably kill you, if you weren't dying already. I guess the best you can do is find the life balance that is comfortable for you, secure but adventurous, safe but not boring. Its a tough balance but one I think is worthy of the attention.

another elvis sighting

2006-12-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

So I was listening to leftist NPR on my morning drag race to work yesterday and caught a story about the Bush family nemesis from the Middle East, Saddam. Turns out that the country in which he decided torture, murder, impoverish, and otherwise make miserable has decided that he should be punished by death. I’m not really in the market for arguing his case, our place in Iraq, capital punishment, or any other items along those lines, but I just wanted to point out something that struck me as odd this morning. During the story on NPR the reporter said that his death sentence would, and could be carried out at anytime in the next 30 days. Also it would happen at an undisclosed location and time, in hopes of preventing violent retaliations from his supporters.

Now we live in a country that claims to see Elvis, Kurt Cobain, and copious other dead celebrities on a regular basis. We are also a country of conspiracy theorists and skeptics. Did we ever actually go to the moon, the trilateral commission, and who killed JR are always fun ones to bring up. So if they carry out Saddam’s punishment in an undisclosed location and at an undisclosed time, do you think the world is ever really going to believe he is dead? I know they can have the government “confirm” his death, or maybe show his dead body, but really does anyone ever believe the government. Even if they do show the body won’t there be violent protests anyways? I’m not sure but whatever happens, when the government is involved it generally gets ugly.

i resolve to kick ass and take names

2006-12-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

New Year’s resolutions, what fun! I'll go with 1024x768, ooohhh...bad geek joke, sorry. All the things you can imagine yourself doing in the new year that you won’t, and come next year you will resolve to do them again but fail miserably because its who you are and you can’t really change that, now can you? I might as well resolve to learn to fly like a bird, win the lotto, speak Chinese, and cure cancer because each are as likely as what I actually plan to do. Like most people, I have tons of things that I would love to resolve to-do but most of them won't happen. One problem with my goals this year is that they are not really all that measurable. Play the guitar, climb, run, hike, backpack, travel, and so and so forth. So I’ve decided to approach it a little different than most years and instead of setting daily, weekly, or monthly goals, I’m going to attempt to set an attainable annual goal. Now this will require two things, persistence and documentation, both of which I suck, but I guess they are now part of the resolutions too. So with no further ado I’m setting my resolutions here in cyber-stone.

-Quit drinking the caffeinated goodness that is soda
-Learn the meaning of moderation when it comes to sugar
-Run a marathon
-Travel to two places that require my passport, excluding Canada and Mexico
-Resolve all of my debt entirely
-Spend 24 nights backpacking

Now onto the weird ones that only make sense to me in my ridiculous and perverse mind.

-Run 1100 total miles
-Hike 180 total miles

Weird yes, but I left out a few others that are more awkward until I have them ironed out. Once I get the documenting process in place I’m sure I’ll share it with everyone, I’m like that you know. So that is my plan for next year. I’ll be finishing up my degree in the first half of the year and I’ll be taking a class on how to play guitar as well. Things are looking up for 2007, yoga has peeked my interest in recent history and is suppose to help my climbing so maybe that will make it into the mix too. Last but not least, I plan to blog regularly, you know 5 times a week or so. As it turns out, blogging is much easier when it’s not the holidays and there is no homework due tomorrow. So please bear with me as I get a system figured out to get all this done and still sleep. Generally when thinking about accomplishing things is overwhelming, actually trying to do them is impossible. What the hell I’ll give it a shot. See you 2007, whoopee.

its not over till its over

2006-12-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

So yes, yesterday I did go out and see Rocky Balboa with Curtis and Eve, and it was everything I hoped it would be without going "Over the Top". I think for as generally ignorant as Sylvester Stallone may appear on the telescreen he definitely knows the concept of "audience and purpose", and makes his movies to fit that mold. So right on Sly, good work but please no wheelchair rematches with Apollo.

Now the running update, its official I need to take a couple weeks off, if I don’t want to end up in surgery. The achilles tendon is still sore after my 8 miles yesterday morning and I need to commence ice, ibuprofen, and rest for a couple weeks. In the mean time I'll place insoles in my daily shoes, and buy new running shoes. This puts me out of the running for the Apache Junction marathon but oh well I don’t want to go under the knife for being stubborn. It’s pretty disappointing for me, but I feel its better to be safe than very expensive surgery sorry. I will let you know when I’m back on the trail.

you're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!

2006-12-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

Man I’m a sucker for the inspirational sports film. Yeah sure every loved Rudy, Rocky, or some other underdog character, but for some reason I can’t ever get enough of them. Hell I even defended Mark Walberg’s acting performance in Invincible, and damn that is tough to do. I blame this entire phenomenon on my father. Not that he was a huge movie fan, but it was quite the opposite, he is not a movie guy at all. Television and movies with my dad generally rotated around the news, Sports Center, and The Wonder Years. So when he made a point of me watching a movie, it was a big deal. Coincidentally one of those movies was Hoosiers. Being an aspiring athlete in rural Montana, I loved the game of basketball and played basically year around. Fortunately or unfortunately, which ever it might be, I was a pretty poor basketball player, and our team, well they were the the shits. Not only did our team suck but our school was historically pathetic in most sports except wrestling. Wrestling wasn’t really for me but those country boys could wrestle. Consider that they wrestled cows, hay bails, and irrigation pipe 14 hours a day, year around. Those city boys didn’t have a chance.

Either way, I loved basketball and under the guidance of my father, the coach, I became a loyal fan of Hoosiers. For those of you who have never watched Hoosiers, it’s a lot like my basketball team in high school, not very good to say the least, but I love it. It was the messages that lie within the movie that we watched it for; don’t give into peer pressure, never give up, always give a guy a chance, and my dad’s favorite, “I’ll take 5 guys with work ethic over 5 superstars any day”. Amazingly corny right? Well yes and no, the movie is cheesy and having a few superstars can go a long way, but I think people in this world that try hard, put in the time, and effort still can reap the rewards of their labor. Anyway this all leads to the final note that I’m going to see Rocky Balboa tonight and I can’t wait. I can't wait for the insurmountable underdog story, the pivotal inspirational moment, the awesome training sequence, and the triumphant victory (I hope). Thanks for reading and I'll let you know how it was...

quit crying or I'll give you something to cry about

2006-12-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

So this is going to be short. Someday I will get up earlier, football will not be on the telescreen, and I will be organized so that I can blog more regularly. I'm currently trying to come up with a theme for my blog. Not exactly a template or look-and-feel theme, but more of a loose subject in which to talk about more regularly. Maybe I'll just road trip more and write about that. Anywho, running is going alright. I had to duck out on my 15 miles this weekend due to my left achilles starting to act up. I did 7 miles Wednesday of last week and afterwards it felt a little stressed. I pushed my next run back to Friday and did that while in Winslow, achilles still hurt but my time was satisfactory for me. Out of respect for my body and in attempt not to be stubborn I skipped the most vital run of the week, the long one. I ran my Monday run today (Tuesday) and the achilles was still sore but I'm able to run along at a decent clip.

So my question is; is this the point where you toughen up and keep running, or listen to your body and rest? I'm not really sure. If it was muscle soreness I'd say, "get to running you big pussy", but with joints, ligaments, and tendons I'm not so sure. The run today went well, time wise, and I'm going to try and break off 8 more miles tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for reading

the anti-utah tour part 4, no its not the end either

2006-12-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

So I hope to wrap up the trip and I might actually accomplish the abbreviating today, considering I want to read a little and watch a movie. I still haven’t completed “And Then We Heard the Thunder”, which is good but I just can’t seem to wrap it up. Well the Anti-Utah mini-series left us arriving in Montana to visit my mother and I will pick things up from there. We crashed “big time” that night and got up the next morning to go visit my grandmother on my dad’s side. She lives outside of Great Falls, in a nearly forgotten little town called Augusta. Augusta lies on the eastern front of the Bob Marshall wilderness and is a gorgeous area and I’m semi-planning to backpack there this coming summer. Anyway we spent the afternoon with her, where she always makes a point to tell Eve all the most ridiculous and embarrassing stories from the summers of my youth. You know parents and grandparents are great for these things. After spending lunch with my glorious grandmother we dashed the hour back into Great Falls for a much needed oil change, and some work on the windshield in hopes of stopping a new Montana gravel crack from spreading. It didn’t work. After the errands were complete we picked up my mother and headed down the road to good ol’ Forsyth; home of the Dogies, epic nothingness, and my youth.

The trip down was a sprint in which I got flashed by the highway patrol twice (their lights not their breasts) but was never pulled over. I guess it was something to be thankful for, considering Thanksgiving was the next day. The trip was mostly in the dark so not a lot to see except for the deer that we were actively trying to avoid and the headlights of oncoming traffic. Forsyth sits in a river valley behind a large overpass that hides the town if you are arriving from the west. Its always odd to take that off-ramp and over look that little rural town. You know how things are in small towns, everyone tells you that nothing has changed but the truth is it does. From the new name on grocery store, the now closed pizza place, and the missing trees in the park. Most things in general don’t change, but things do change, you just have to be gone long enough for them to be noticeable I guess. First thing on the agenda in Forsyth was to say hello to my dad, but that wouldn’t be happening till morning. He had to get up before the ass-crack of dawn to work, him and Lt. Dan from Portland. So we crashed in what was supposedly the nicest hotel room in Forsyth. In fact it probably was, but to be honest it was a pretty regular hotel room, it just happen to be gargantuan and had a jacuzzi tub. Regardless it was new and comfortable so I can’t complain, because I could have been at the Howdy Hotel, which is probably the filming location for Saw IV.

The next day brought us Thanksgiving and my mom’s amazing fruit salad. I think she stole the recipe from my grandmother. Either way I could eat my weight in it and never be totally fruit salad satisfied. Mom did the early morning cooking thing again, like every other year, someday I’m going to convince her to pick up one of those whole chickens from the grocery store deli or KFC and call it good. I mean really after all these years could we really complain if she didn't cook for one damn holiday. Someday we will have corn dogs and ICEE’s for Thanksgiving and it will be grand. I know know what you're thing, if I don’t like it, I should cook. Really unless you want turkey burgers, spaghetti, or breakfast in some capacity I don’t really cook. I will defend myself in that I’m a good kitchen helper…. I think…. well maybe… ok maybe not, but I try……. sometimes. After packing up the turkey-day meal we drove out to the hunting camp to share with the hunters, imagine that huh? Now talk about an excruciating drive, home cooked Thanksgiving dinner in the back seat tempting you for a 30-minute drive. I would have given anything to just tear off one of those drumsticks and eat it like a caveman on the trip.

Man all this food talk is making me hungry, and I’m not abbreviating again, damn it. Oh well I guess this was never destined to be abbreviated. I’ll try to abbreviate the portion were I dance in CO, that is definitely worth abbreviating.

I digress, we arrived at the hunting camp where I saw my dad for the briefest of moments before he tore ass off after some trespassers. This is basically a family pastime and can be very exciting, especially back in the day when I was a lot younger. I felt like a cop in the movies chasing down the bad guys. We finally got around to eating, I had a bit of turkey, mashed potatos and a mountain of fruit salad, mmmmMMMM good. Unfortunately the satillete didn't get the football game and we watched an Adam Sandler-a-thon instead. That night we hung out and chatted with my folks and a few of their friends before retiring for the evening.

The next day it was off to the races through Wyoming, where we drove as fast as possible, in hopes that no Wyomingians detected us liberals in their state. I think we can leave off here, now that I have managed to stretch this out into a short novel. Oh well, it gives me something to write about other than running (the training log is on the right now) and general debauchery. Well thanks for reading….

amazingly unnoteworthy

2006-12-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

Well its been a few days since I actually wrote something. Busy is the classic excuse right? So if I was busy I should have tons to write about right? Wrong. I just wrapped up a half ass attempt at doing my homework. Technically its done but if I get anything better than a "try again moron" I'd be surprised. Things that did happen in recent history, running with Ryan, a trip to Casa Grande to look at some multi-story apartments (ancient dwellings), and a night of debauchery with the gang.

So running with Ryan was everything I hoped it would be. We got lots of time to chat, catch up, and get to know a few things we have probably been wanting to ask each other since this whole thing got started. It was a great time, and I got my ten mile run in to boot. Two birds with one stone, not bad for a Saturday, eh?

Friday E and I went down to Casa Grande to look at the ruins. I have to say the roof over the top sort of takes away from it a bit, but it was interesting all the same. Got some fun pictures and got out of town for a spell so that was nice.

I hate to make this a journal entry but I haven't posted as of late and didn't want to let anyone down. I need to get to my Christmas shopping done and that is not so difficult, its coming up with decent gift ideas for everyone. I think this year everyone will get a gift card to walmart, a 6-pack of Corona, and a phone call if they are lucky. Sorry folks just don't have the patience for gift giving. Now receiving that is a different story!!!

what did you do this weekend?

2006-12-10T20:12:00.000-07:00

Training update, Ryan is in way better shape than me. No suprises there but I did cover over 10 miles and have yet to keel over dead. I had a blast hanging out with him and I'll probably talk about it again tomorrow or Tuesday. Until then please go Digg his article, he is getting so close to Hollywood.

Plan 9 from Syracuse

2006-12-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

Ryan Dacko's "Plan 9 from Syracuse" is an amazing attempt to follow his life long dream to make movies. After completing several scripts during his time as an enlisted sailor in the US Coast Guard, Ryan made the industry acclaimed “And I Lived.” Now he has set out to generate the funding to make several future major motion pictures in the upstate New York area.

The plan: To run 2,950 miles from the Eastwood Palace Theatre in Syracuse, NY to Clint Eastwood's hands on Hollywood Blvd for a chance at thirty minutes with a major Hollywood producer.

Ryan set out toward the west coast with no guarantees of ever getting a meeting with his to-be-announced producer. Hoping to create Internet media attention by utilizing Web 2.0 mediums such as weblogs, video, photos, and any other user maintained content, Ryan tracks his progress via GPS readings and updates his website and blog on a nearly daily basis. Running enthusiasts, movie fans, and inspired supporters follow Ryan's progress and interact with him on MySpace.

When Ryan reached Denver he announced Mark Cuban as his mystery producer who’s thirty minutes of time is worth 2,950 miles of running. In his blog, he explains why:

“…He [Cuban] is not afraid to try new ideas and take chances. From his working class background, to his entrepreneurship into the internet universe which has since become legendary—he has never lost that vision of making great things happen with hard work, maximum effort, and original thinking.”

Ryan's dedication to his project has him fast approaching Flagstaff, AZ with plans on traveling through Las Vegas, NV on his way to Hollywood, CA. He is pressing forward with the Rocky Mountains behind him, the Hollywood lights ahead and the hope that Hollywood and the world will see in him what he sees himself--A movie director dedicated to his dream.

Please help Ryan out! Digg this article by clicking the link below. If you don't have a Digg account then set one up, its quick and a hell of a lot easier than running 2,950+ miles. Its the least we can do.

bring on the mini-update

2006-12-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

Alright a few things that are not note worthy. I'm sort of digging the not note worthy, slogan. Maybe it will migrate into something more in the future.

First item of unnoteworthyness: Today's inspiration. Last night while talking about running and the typical american folk with Curtis and Eve, Eve told Curits that I'm not average. Though I didn't say anything at the time, this comment made me feel great. Though she did not really mean it a general overall sense and I am taking it out of context, it still made feel good. Anywho, my inspiration for today was to not be average, thanks Evie. And I know I'm horrible at conveying sarcasm in my writing, and within that paragraph (if you want to call it that) there is none!

Second item of unnoteworthyness: Training, so the planned milage for today was slated for 7 miles. Now don't take this the wrong way but I was certain I was going to make the full distance before I even left. Not because I'm overly confident or arrogant but because I'm stubborned and my training lacks planning. I run an out and back route, you know basically running out half the distance I need to run, and then running back home. So Monday I ran 3 miles and was alright upon completion, so I was pretty certain I could run 3.5 miles out. The trick would be the other 3.5 getting back. So really it was more a matter of how long it would take, than if I was going to be capable. So the offical tally is 7 miles planned, 7 miles completed, 71 minutes. I think I could do much better time wise with a few things going in my favor. One, light, running an unmaintained trail by moonlight slows me down a bit. Two, not taking a wrong turn in the dark and starting up the North Mountain trail, basically straight up, at the 3 mile mark. This took some wind out of me but once I came back down and leveled out I felt fine. There will be more updates on my physical discomfort tomorrow I'm sure. So if you can call two days of running training, training is going swell. I plan on doing 10 miles with Ryan on Sunday, hopefully he is cool with that, I should call him. This will also give me a chance to test my theory on light and trail quality, but I will also get to enjoy joint-jolty asphault and a higher elevations but enough with the excuses, its 10 miles or bust.

Third item of unnoteworthyness: Adsense update, looks like you folks are clicking your little hearts out, thanks and keep it up. I'm up to roughly $15, at this rate you guys are going to drive me to the poor house, just kidding. If I ever get the $100 check we are all going out, drinks on me up to $100. Had to throw the disclaimer in just in case my blog blows up and I make millions, I don't want to make my friends alcoholics. While on the Adsense kick, I finally got my blog on the Google Index and it was pretty easy, just took some time, so hopefully that helps readership.

So I believe that is all my items of unnoteworthyness for today, I still need to write about my sweet, sweet, Judy Garland socks (thanks K) but that will have to wait. Thanks for reading...

anti-utah tour part 3, the saga continutes

2006-12-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

I’ll start this off by saying that all my pictures are now up and if you haven’t seen enough of Eve and I’s road trip you can check it out. Really if the pictures are that intriguing you should get out on the road yourself and expend a couple rolls of film. I’m sure it’s much more satisfying than looking at our pictures but I do like to share.

So the third and hopefully final part of the Anti-Utah Tour (saga) is upon us but something tells me that we will see a number four, due to my inability to abbreviate. Thankfully T is more than happy to remind me of ineptness.

I left off with us saying our good-byes in Oregon and heading east towards the Big Sky state. The trip out of town proved to be a little more than I bargained for. First off we needed gas, no big deal right? Well in Oregon getting gas in the early morning is a big deal because their damn gas stations are closed. Its one of those “you’re too ignorant to pump your own gas” states or maybe its a “this is the only way to battle our growing unemployment problem” state. Regardless we had to search around for a gas station that was actually open. Once we found one that was open, the only person this gas establishment could find to work the crack-of-dawn shift was a sketchy looking Vietnam Vet that nearly tackled my skinny ass as I meandered over to the pump to insert my credit card. I had no intention of pumping, I knew better than to pump, but apparently the state of Oregon also believes that credit card transactions with a gas pump are too dangerous for persons wielding a 2 ton killing machine at 90 miles per hour down five lanes of traffic, at night, in the rain. Yes pumping gas is too dangerous for drivers in Oregon. Anyway after I let Lieutenant Dan man-handle my credit card, pump my gas, and call me Charlie under his breath for not tipping, we got on the road. This portion of the trip was definitely the most challenging weather wise. Unfortunately for Eve there was standing water on the road and more pouring down in buckets. As trucks passed she was literally blinded for a moment or two and the small lakes on the left side of the road were inviting Booger in for a tasty bite of the cement divider. Eve navigated the road for a couple hours quite impressively and I say navigate because I’m pretty sure over half of the time she was hydroplaning instead of driving. We really didn’t expect any of the bad driving weather till the mountains but this was the worst portion of the whole trip.

We drove east on I-84 past some gorgeous hills and waterfalls, but it was mostly pretty foggy. I’m sure it would have been glorious views if we could have seen more than 100 yards. Either way the roadside scenery was pretty nice while I stayed awake. As we approached the turn to go north towards Kennewick we passed a poplar tree farm that was very eerie, especially in the early AM with the sun coming up, barely glowing through the fog of all these trees in perfect rows. I’m pretty sure one of these new wave horror films will be using it as a back drop in the near future.

Imagine that abbreviating isn’t working

So we continued on through Kennewick, up to Spokane, into Idaho across the continental divide, and into Montana. At this point we expected lots of snow and bad driving condition but were surprised by the lack of snow and clear roads. I’m sure once that storm we just drove through hit the mountains, it would have been a different story but for the time being we were able haul ass. We passed through Idaho without much fanfare, lots of Idaho, Udaho jokes were had and we entered what I consider my home state in good time, in the rain. As a youth I really took the “wide open spaces” of Montana for granted and told myself the city was for me and I would never want to live there again. Well like most I was ignorant in my youth (still am, young and ignorant that is), not only should I have enjoyed more of what Montana had to offer I don’t think it would be far fetched to think I could end up there some day. We drove top speeds across the Clark Fork river 8,000 times and into Missoula. From there we took a good old Montana two lane into Great Falls were we shared my mother's great home cooking with my aunt and uncle. While my uncle and I argued politics and social issues with made up on-the-spot facts and figures just for the sake of argument After the argument subsided we crashed. 12 hours of driving will take it out of you, ya know?

Wow I suck at abbreviating, its official

I will end this segment here, I hope you stick around to hear the about the life in the VIP and the one thing you need to know in order to not look ridiculous while dancing. Even if you’re white, yes even works if you’re Montana white, so I’m told. Thanks for reading……

a couple things not worth noting

2006-12-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

So I officially started training for a marathon today, depending on how things go I will either run one in February in Apache Junction, AZ and if things go as I would expect them to, I will be running the marathon in Big Sur, CA in April. I think I might put my run times on my blog for accountability reasons, but I’m not sure yet. Today was 3 miles planned, 3 miles completed, 26 minutes 17 seconds, Wednesday is scheduled for 7 miles, that will be a test and if by some miracle of an ancient running deity I finish that I will attempt to run 10 with Ryan this coming weekend. Imagining running ten miles is rough, I can’t really imagine doing right now, so it sort of puts Ryan’s running in perspective, well as "in perspective" as you can be outside looking in. I was amazingly ill prepared this morning, its much darker and colder in the morning since last time I took to the trail, although running this morning by moonlight was inspiring in some odd way for a first run, tomorrow I'll be wearing a hat and a headlamp.

Another item not worth noting, I bought some new shoes to be my daily kicks for work and etcetera, they are black on black Van’s style slip-ons and they catch me off guard every time I stand up from my desk. New shoes always do this to me, they look odd for a while till I get used to seeing them. I guess it’s much like haircuts (which I obviously don’t get) and new eye glasses, they are just odd until you get accustomed to them. I think adding to the issue is that they look sort of like slippers to me.

Last item not worth noting, I’ve never really been a reggae fan except for Bob Marley singles and the occasional reggae-a-thon that is working with my brother-in-law Dusty, but I have found that I’m enjoying Michael Franti and Spearhead. I know weird name, but they had a great protest song “Light Up Ya Lighter” on a compilation I received for free. It’s my MySpace profile song and you should check them out if you get the chance. The next segment of the Anti-Utah saga is coming but I won’t say soon because I don’t know when I’ll get to it. I should be doing homework now, or work considering that is where I’m at.

part 2 of the anti-utah tour

2006-11-30T11:02:00.000-07:00

Well I realized due to the busy schedule as of the past few days I'm not completing my segments. The lack of time is really a figment of my imagination because I have plenty of time if I would just get my ass out of bed or not go to bed so early. Unfortunately sleep is such a beautiful thing and I’m attracted to it, like a moth to the light. Anyway in order to finish the Anti-Utah tour, I’m going to be doing it in an abbreviated fashion. So hold on, here we go…

Left off with arriving the Monterey, CA area and we will pick up leaving the same geographical location. Amazingly we were able to leave to the hotel at a very reasonable hour, by 6:15 or so. I say amazing considering that were basically exhausted and drank beer and wine right up until the time we went to bed. Damn Marriot is serving alcohol in the lobby now. They are after our livers, I know it. Any I digress, we were up and to Starfucks again, if they are one thing, they are reliable, I’ll give them that, they are everywhere. Anyway, were waiting for our coffee and some little tikes were in the Starfucks using the bathroom. We had noticed a line outside Best Buy across the way and asked what he was waiting in line for. Of course the Wii, those little guys are dedicated, I know its California but it was cold and they were little troopers just biding their time until they could caress the Nintendo controller goodness. I can remember the day, good old Super C, I can’t blame them one bit. I can’t imagine the bad-ass little guys in Montana, Alaska, and the Yukon (Canada plug eh?) waiting outside in the cold, snow, and wind for their Wii. They all could probably kick my ass, ages 3 and up.

Wow abbreviated is not working.

So we got on the road traveled up toward Sacramento and passed through one of the valleys and the traffic was awesome. Everyone traveling at 95+, with no regard for any authority, that section of highway shaved some time off the old itinerary. It rained all the way into Porkland and we arrived at my sister's house in the early evening where we were warmly greeted by her and her boyfriend, Zeke. No wait a minute they weren’t there, we headed to Bucatti’s for some food and awaited a call from Kinna. Turns out I told her we would be there the next day but either way they were hosts of a very fine fashion and after catching up a little bit we headed to a local place called BOG (Burger of the Gods, I believe). At this point a self proclaimed crackhead tried to take my wife home with him, fortunately for me he went home empty handed. Also meet one of K&Z’s friends and I’ve now forgotten his name but he was amazingly hilarious, even his bad jokes were funny. Good jokes are all about confidence and delivery and he had them both down to a “T”. After BOG we went over to a great pool hall with vinyl records used as art canvases all over the walls. Great hangouts, I wish Phoenix had some places like these, old cities just seem to have more character.

Wow abbreviated is really not working

Next day we slept in (woo-hoo) and I had to do a bit of homework, which always sucks on vacation. Then my sister got off work early (nice isn’t she) and took us downtown. Downtown was pretty typical of a northwestern city but was nice none-the-less. We had lunch and Zeke gave us the extended tour of the waterfront before he headed back for a short stint at the office. After that we hit up the hookah bar, which was really a seven-eleven that rented/leased/shared (not sure what the term is) hookahs. This hookah thing is new to me, but it was fun. I’m pretty sure it has no effect on you except maybe to make you feel lighted headed from breathing so much and it tastes pretty good, especially the double apple. We returned back to their pad for spaghetti, hair extensions, the hookah, the ever reoccurring discussion of immigration, and the cutest little crossbreed dog I’ve every met, Roxy. The next morning we said our good byes to K&Z in their pajamas because we actually got our butts out of bed on time again. Thanks Kinna and Zeke I had a blast and will definitely be coming back to visit again.

Well that takes through us Oregon and I guess we will have to wait for part 3 to hear about the Big Sky state, the Clark Fork, Udaho, and my ability to make up things just for the sake of arguing with my uncle. Thanks for reading, and yes I know I need to work on my abbreviating.

conference calls abound

2006-11-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry you won't be getting an update to the Anti-Utah tour today. I didn't have time to type one up. Damn work and its conference calls, always getting in the way of the important things like blogging. Anyway, as an update to a previous post, my adsense advertising has now raked in about $4. Yep after 100 hours of work I've made 4 bones. Ok 100 hours is a bit over exaggerated but I have done a lot of things to get this cheezy blog noticed. I'll let you know when I hit pay dirt. Maybe I should just make list about the trip, that is always easy. Until then keep on keeping on.

good enough for government work

2006-11-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

I know you are axiously awaiting the next segment of the Anti-Utah tour but I just wanted to let everyone know that Germany finally called me back today and said I should be good to go on Friday, so start packing. So Friday will be the day I tell them to piss off for letting me ponder what was going on for 3 damn months. I won't be leaving, really I don't know what I'll be doing just yet but I might take a introduction to guitar class. That sounds like it could be fun. I'll post the next segment tonight I think and some new pictures are up but I have to wait until December to upload the rest, damn Flickr. Until then you can see some more here.

part 1 of the anti-utah tour

2006-11-28T12:57:00.000-07:00

It’s amazing how much more you have to write about when you A. have not written anything for a week or so, B. were on an adventure of the western continental United States. I think I’ll have to do this in segments in order to do the trip justice. Overall the trip was a gas, and yes we burned through some gas as well. I believe all told the trip was nearly 4100 miles of highways, byways, two-lanes, hydro-plains, and deer ridden suicide missions. For starters I have to say Booger is a pretty great car for the road trip, a bit more comfortable and spacious then the previous tour-mobile, the Civic. I think we will be definitely adding the car top carrier in the near future for longer, winter, or accompanied trips, just for a bit more space. So if you looked over here you would have seen an approximation of our flight path for the whole trip and it was fairly accurate, except a reroute near Missoula, MT, in order to shorten the drive into Great Falls, MT.

I began the trip by taking copious notes about things that we had planned and people that we encountered but I’m never really all that great at keeping up with that stuff. Well except the pictures, we took pictures in the car, rain, traffic, at night, outside, and while asleep (at least one of us). So I’ll try to weave a few of the notes in but mostly this is a miserable attempt at total recall.

We left Saturday morning at almost 6 am and hit up Starfucks for some caffeine and got on the road for the Monterey, CA area. Our sign said Big Sur but that was just because it sounded more exciting then Salinas were our hotel was. The first couple days of driving are always the easiest and most fun. Pictures, stories, jokes, and plenty of energy but obviously as time goes on that energy wanes. For us I don’t think it ever fully went away but the when the 11th hour is upon you after 3800 miles, you’re just ready to stop and not move, anyway I digress and I have 4100 miles to cover and I haven’t even left yet. The drive out of Phoenix was pretty eventles and really did not provide anything too exciting until we headed into the Indio, CA area. Driving through there reminded me of our trip to Coachella several months back and the new radio station that had just come on air that had no commercials or commentary the entire time. No such luck this time. No worries we have the iPod and were rocking the Ki, Violent Femmes, Fountains of Wayne, and finally the Sublime as we rolled into smog consumed Los Angles. Well I have never been to LA and I would have to say that in passing all the stereotypes about the city were true, I guess that is why they are stereotypes right? Prior to getting LA we came across a huge wind power generation area. The big fans are always cool but I can't decide if I like them. They are really pretty ugly especially in large doses like in California. I guess it’s the lesser of two evils so I won’t get too bent out of shape.

The drive through California was pretty interesting especially along some the two lane as it alternated between vineyards and oil fields. The oil pumps scare E for some reason but they always strike me as Orwellian and just generally creepy, so I guess they scare both of us but for different reasons. They were not however as creepy as the tree farms in Oregon, but I’ll get to that later. We got into Monterey as the sun was setting, checked into the hotel and headed down to the fishing wharf for some food and sight seeing. I can assume that what was once was a very blue collar working fishing dock has now been converted into shops and restaurants for our capitalist commerce pleasure. I'll admit it, I like it. The sea lions and sea otters were out in full force around the docks, swimming and making all sorts of noise. E was ecstatic to see them as was I, but all I could remember is when the boat I was on in the old USCG would run over the slow ones in Alaska. I think that is why they painted the boat red, not white like the rest of the fleet. Monterey provided us with great seafood, beer, and wine, not much more you could ask for in the first day of our multi-day adventure.

Well I guess I’ll cut it off for today. Tomorrow we will be adventuring through Northern, CA and Oregon. Oh if you are wondering why it was called the Anti-Utah tour, it was just coincidence that were went around Utah, never through it. Technically it could of been the Anti-Utah/Nevada Tour but it just doesn't have the same ring to it.

plan 9 from syracuse

2006-11-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't even technically made it back to Phoenix, I'm in Winslow right now, but wanted to post this basically because I was so excited about it. An old shipmate (Coast Guard friend) of mine is running across the country in order to continue his lifelong dream to make movies. He is running from Syracuse, NY to Hollywood, CA and his current progress has him outside of Grants, NM headed toward the Grand Canyon State. I had the chance to stop and talk to Ryan along I-40 in New Mexico and he seemed to be doing great, it was so very nice to see him in the flesh again. I'm extremely impressed by his upbeat mood and that he is able to keep running day after day. Anyway I just wanted to post a picture and give everyone a link to his blog, his description of events are much more inspiring than anything I could write. I'm planning on heading up to run with him this coming weekend which should be some where in the Flagstaff area if any of you folks would like to go along that would be fantastic. I'll post tons of photos and such of the Anti-Utah tour in the near future. Until then enjoy the interweb.

must be nice

2006-11-17T12:46:00.000-07:00

So there I was at lunch today, just minding my own business while sharing lunch with some of my colleagues and a few common but awkwardly coincidental topics came up, money and weight management (aka being fat or not). So over the course of our discussion everyone was discussing their Thanksgiving holiday plans, probably just like every other table in the cafeteria. Most everyone was just taking the day of Thanksgiving off and would be working every other day next week including Friday. I didn't say anything but must have been silently shaking my head. So of course I get, "alright smart ass what are you doing?" At what seemed like an very innocent moment I told them that I was leaving by car Saturday for Portland, OR via Big Sur, CA to visit my sister, then over to Montana to visit my folks, and then back home through Denver to hopefully visit friends. To me this sounds reasonable and pretty inexpensive (were driving and staying with family). At this point I get a barrage of, "wow someone is made of money", "wish I could afford to take another week off(in reference to the trip to Canada)" and last but not least "must be nice". Now if dealing with some of my friends I could be sympathetic to this for known reasons but these people are grown men making way more money than I. Yes some have kids, families, etc, but I have a house, a wife, two cars, pay for health insurance, and have to save money just like the next guy. So why is it when you decide to buy a used Honda from your mother-in-law and a house that not in some swanky neighborhood so you can have a life, people make you out to be a high roller. So my priorities are different, shoot me, I prefer 5 weeks of vacation a year as oppose to driving a Lexus, or living in Scottsdale, if you don't agree, fine but keep it to yourself already.

Onto the next subject, I haven't exactly been on stringent diet lately but Fridays I have a tendency to let go a little more than any other time, except for maybe vacation. So today I was enjoying a turkey and cheese sandwich (shocker), ice tea, Sun Chips, and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Yeah I know not healthy but delicious. Anyway everyone else is pounding down a cheeseburger, soda, and fries and I made a comment, "That looks good, I should of got that instead, but this is probably best." (in reference to the turkey sandwich) Oh here comes the barrage again, "like you need to worry", "you can eat whatever you want", oh yes and "must be nice." Well you know what? It is nice not to morbidly obese, I'll admit that but its not because I'm gifted or lucky. Hell I ballooned up 40 pounds after landing my first desk job, that wasn't nice at all. The truth is its nice that E keeps me in nutritional check (salmon and broccoli last night) and I have a somewhat active lifestyle unlike most of my peers. I guess what makes me bitter is that just because I'm not overweight doesn't mean I don't have to work at it or its easy for me or thin people in general. Honestly its not, I love junk food probably as much, if not more than 90% of the people on this planet and was raised to eat it in Montana size portions (that is large for those of you who don't know). So I'm fighting 18 years of training and all the same temptations the rest of the world is too. So next time you think it must be nice, get up and run for 5 miles before work, go on a 17 mile hike on the weekend, hit the climbing gym for 3 hours, or enjoy a turkey burger on 12 grain, with broccoli and strawberries for dinner instead of just assuming some people have it easy and for you its impossible.

revenue stream

2006-11-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

So as you can see above I've added the Google Ad-Sense advertisements. I'm more curious about the process than making any money so I thought I would give it a go. Unfortunately I won't be able to see the full cycle till I get $100 worth of clicks and I'm not suppose to attempt to persuade you into clicking, so ten years from now I still will never have completed the process, oh well. I would put up some nude photos of myself but A. no one wants to see that B. the Ad-Sense agreement says no porn. I should do them tastefully then they are art, not porn, right? Anyway that is the mini-update for today, my up coming posts will include my aspirations to travel the world.

things that I have grown to love this year

2006-11-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

Tea
Reading
Soy Milk
Not working

Simplicity
Pearl Jam
Pitas

Dried fruit

Car stickers

Blogging
Gmail

Owning 1 computer

My cat

Digital cameras

Phoenix winters
Online college, as appose to regular college
Running, even though I don't do it enough

Logging my thoughts in a notebook

Changing seasons, more a miss than a love
Add to the above, rain

My own poetry, as bad as it is
Trusting my gut
Apple computers and OS X
My relationship with my best friend
All wheel drive station wagons

Football and admittedly the Steelers
Coffee of the not too bitter type
Vancouver, British Columbia
Not having a plan for everything
Sticking it to Tuesdays

Hawaii, The Big Island
Jack Johnson, James Blunt, Janis Joplin
Not doing yard work

Beer of the not too bitter type
Not travelling for work

Eve, more than last year

v1 here I come

2006-11-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

So here I am sitting on 7 draft posts which are all "basically depressing" and I can't help but notice that is what my blog has been lately, depressing. So in order to change the mood if just for today I'm going talk about something I enjoy. Climbing, I know its a strange hobby but a few of you have be tricked into going in days past and I think we had a generally good time. Specifically I enjoy bouldering. Its a ball and its not as scary as climbing due its proximity to the ground. Just as a note I'm horrible, which I think is sort of why it appeals to me.

Obviously its a physical hobby which is nice considering the copious amounts of time I spend on my ass all day but also its mentally challenging. Some people, including myself consider it sort of like a short physical chess match. Most bouldering problems (problems being routes or paths to the end) usually require a certain technique or body contortion to make happen. You can sit there and force, pull, and strain you body through these moves or you can find the right way to hold, position, or twist you body and in that moment it seems effort less. Now this isn't always the case, sometimes you just have to be f'ing strong and those ones are hard but you slowly build that strength and it becomes measurable. Its sort of like running, what was once unimaginable becomes a sort of joke.

Also unlike what I've experienced with climbing and other sports, bouldering is much more social, its like hanging out with your friends at the gym but not procrastinating about the workout, but actually enjoying it, talking about, and encouraging other to excel or get over their personal hurdles. Also there is very few elitist attitudes, the best boulderers are willing to assist, spot, and encourage the guy that is climbing for the first time or just sucks (i.e. me). Either way its a ball and if anyone wants to go sometime let me know and we can get out. Honestly I enjoy the gym the most, but they say that is because I just haven't become good enough yet and when I do I will like going outside more. Until then who wants to hit the gym?

i wish traveling on a freeway, beneath this graveyard western sky

2006-11-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

One of many interesting conversations I had with Curtis this weekend was about clarity. When have we felt clarity, where do think most clearly, and what helps that thought process. I have the my most difficult thoughts behind the wheel of a car. Not safe right? When I'm driving with a slight tune in the background my mind quickly finds the things that I'm struggling with. It doesn't take long to find this mindset and its not easy to break. Normally as I drive by myself its the most profound but even if I'm accompanied I slip into this thought process.

Lately my mind has been in overdrive, no pun intended, I have a lot on my mind and I thought that being behind the wheel would help, I would be able to tackle the hurdles of my mind. Unfortunately this is not happening, I'm having the internal struggles but I don't like my solutions. I feel that I'm not talking to myself, everything that I believe is being shoved aside to make a huge square peg fit a round pin hole. Basically the car is failing me, it brings the conflict but not the answers, or maybe its just not the answers I want.

musical mood ring

2006-11-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

Someone once told me the imaginary little girl in their mind would dance if the song they were listening to was good. I thought this very interesting at the time and meant to say something about it but never did. For me a good song comes to me in one of two ways. One, I know the song is great instantly. The hair on my neck stands on end, I get goose bumps, and I feel a wave of emotion or energy. At that moment I know a song is great. Two, I hear the song once and I'm not sure if I like it or not, but the more I listen, the more I savor the song, the more familiar I become with the track, the more I love it and I start to have the same physical symptoms of description number one. These are my favorite songs, they are one of my favorite things in the whole world.

Fact is, music has been on my mind a lot lately, its something I turn to in nearly ever situation. It inspires me, makes me punch the steering wheel, takes me places that I can't be, takes me places I don't want to be. There are albums and artists I love and deeply admire that I will never listen to again because of where it takes me. I have a tendency to attach songs or even albums to certain things in my life, and many albums are associated with people or places, as well as spans of time in my life. Maybe this is not odd, T2 talked about it just recently so I know its not only me that feels this way but its not something people really talk about.

Most people will claim that music is one of their favorite or most important things in their life but never really share why or how its so important. In reality I guess I haven't shared yet either. So I guess I'll share why music is important to me. While some might use music to get away or change their mood, I turn to music to extend the mood that I'm in. If I'm feeling great I'll listen to music that makes me feel even better and same if I'm upset or angry. I'll seek out the music that takes me to that bitter place I feel I need to be. At times it would seem counter productive to some I guess, but for me its how I cope. In a way, music keeps me from running away from where I really need to be, holds me accountable for what I'm feeling, and ensures that I stay there and figure things out, before I move on to that other tune.

So if you ever want to know how I'm really doing and you want to know the truth. Don't ask me how I'm doing, ask me what I'm listening to. Yes now and again you won't understand the significance of the song or album but chances are you will know where I'm at. As for what I'm listening to right now.... Janis Joplin 18 Essential Songs

pimp my blog

2006-11-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

After getting my blog pimped (advertised) in a couple of locations I thought I would explain my links so you know why I have them on my page, in effect advertise theirs. So without further a due;

Death by Blog - As you can see by the button this Canadian at heart, more commonly known as E, she is a blogger extraordinaire. I think it was her life calling, but blogging just didn't exist early enough her to major in it, so now she wants be Indian Jones. She will most likely blog all about it. I personally like this blog for its attractive editor and awkwardly provocative pictures.

Semi-Journal – the writer, aka T, of this blog is really the pioneer of the blogging bunch, he has been blogging since before I even knew what blogging was. I enjoy the Semi-Journal's "Beer Flavored" posts, extremely witty commentary about the most arbitrary topics, and his ability to relate everything to the Sci-Fi channel or the daily show.

lowtalk - Yeah no caps here, lowtalk has been doing the blog thing for quite awhile as well, before lowtalk she was over at Knitting Oranges where she was shut down for phishing and money laundering. Just kidding folks, she was the victim of a poor domain host and had to wrangle the FBI into the mix to get the case solved. Regardless, lowtalk has interesting news commentary, copious amounts of running stories, and an over all inspirational approach to blogging. It can be very uplifting if that is what you're looking for.

Blissfull Ignorance - This "little blog that could" is a new entry into the blogsphere and I believe technically is not alive yet. Regardless this will be filled with all the math, gaming, sci-fi, computing and ridiculously obscure YouTube videos you can handle. Known on the interweb as C2, he will bring balance to the force and probably a few physics problems with him.

If you feel that you or your blog has been misrepresented please email me here, but it won’t do you much good.

beware the department of disinformation

2006-11-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

What in the world is going on. Democrats own the House, possibly the Senate too, and now the cyborg Satan Jr. (Rumsfield) is stepping down. This is big hoax right? It can't be true, when do they start rounding up the hippies and independents and sending them to gas chamber. I really hope this is true, its the best we will probably get but I'll keep to myself what I really think should happen to that jerk.

Anyway thanks America for voting blue, and by the way Arizona hates immigrants. They passed all the immigration legislation yesterday but I really hope they realize that they are infringing on civil rights. Yeah, yeah, I know they are not citizens they don't have civil rights, but most of those are just moral or human rights but I won't stir that shit pot now. For now I rejoice in the fact the House is blue, the Senate might be, and one of the instigators of death is resigning.

quit bitching you could have his job

2006-11-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm still on vacation......in my mind and that is what matters right? So I stuck it to Tuesday in traditional fashion yesterday and didn't go into work. They don't even ask why anymore, my coworkers just tell me its nice to see me back. Ok side note the lady that just walked by said "my back hurts because I've been sleeping in too many different beds". Now that shit is hilarious. On the topic of side notes I put a bunch of new pictures up from the trip so check the photo section here, or use the link up top there. I placed one of the pictures into my blog header and I'm stoked on how it turned out. I actually took the picture with that and mind and it work. Who would of guessed, not me.

Back to the topic at hand. Work, I hate it. I have a good job, good pay, and they basically let me do what I want. Hell I'm writing this at work and usually do homework, but I still hate it. I hate being a slave, getting up and dragging ass in here and wasting my day away. I really can't wait till its over. I've been slowly abolishing my debts and will retire when they all have gone and I have some cash to spare. Then its on to the good life of working until I have enough for my next adventure. I'm not sure why I think this life is going to be so much better. I'm still going to have to pay bills, pay rent, and have a job. I will just get paid less and work harder, but for some reason it seems right. If you haven't notice I've lost all hope of going to Germany but supposedly its still coming, but who knows.

Oh the guy in the picture is washing windows on the 31st floor of a hotel in a Vancouver downpour, just so you know. Also go blue, we have won the congress and might get senate until W decides to work his Luciferesque magic and we lose both. I not celebrating early, I'm just celebrating while I can.

Until next time kids, which might be today because I'm feel like sharing lots lately, have a great day.

a trip to canada

2006-11-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

Well I have to say this vacation goes down in history books as one of the most memorable for many reasons. I’ve had some fun trips, Oahu, road-tripping US-Canada, Big Island, and so on and so forth but this one was a blast. Except for maybe a few hours the entire six days we were there, it rained, but we did not let the rain get us down. Matter a fact the last stroll through the streets I really came to embrace that northwestern rain, it poured down like it never wanted me to leave, as if it was trying to trap me and keep me there forever. To be honest it was difficult to resist, it held me so strong.

So to recap some of the happenings I will give it to you in somewhat of an itinerary style. Monday we got our asses out of bed to headed off to the airport.

It’s always easier to get up for vacation that it is to get up for almost anything else. We had to fly United unfortunately but the flights were timely and mostly uneventful, minus some great Rocky Mountain views on the way over.

Landing in Vancouver was odd, it felt homey in some weird way, although I’ve only been there a few times before, once with Eve and a couple times with shipmates when I lived in Seattle. It felt like I was returning to a familiar place, someplace I felt awkwardly comfortable. The first thing we did is get out and kick around the streets of Vancouver (ok we got the luggage, rental car, and checked-in to the hotel but that is in material). After getting our bearings straight around the local area we went in search of food. Canada loves its A&W but we opted for something a little less franchise and went to a Lebanese pita place. If I believed in a god, I would have thank him/her/it for that decision, the food was fantastic, sorry Pita Pit I love you dearly but you are no Lebanese Pita Wrap.

Most of the rest of the day and into the night was spent milling about streets, indulging in Canadian McDonalds, and then watching “Talladega Nights”. Normally we would steer clear of Mickey D’s and movies but they serve up their burgers with mayonnaise and we had to experience it first hand again, also we got up damn early and were a wee bit spent. For those of you have questioned watching legend of Ricky Bobby, I encourage you see but make sure you indulge in a spot of wine or beer before hand, takes the edge off and makes it immensely funny.

The next day we indulged in coffee, local sites, local food, and Chinatown until the Museum of Anthropology opened at the University of British Columbia. The museum was grand with tons and tons to look at. Masks, totems, sculptures, tools, you name it, and it was there. The artifacts on display sparked and interesting conversation between E and I about totems, masks, and other items on display being art or a required function of First Nation (Canadian for Native American) society. As you can imagine me arguing with E at an anthropology museum did not bode well for me.

The next day we left Vancouver boarded the BC Ferries and headed to Victoria, regarded as being very British portion of Canada. This was sort of odd after all the pro-French stuff we were getting used to. Victoria was pretty but defiantly touristy, but they did have the Royal Museum which was pretty cool. The museum displayed lots of nature exhibits this time of year, and some great WWII propaganda posters which I love. We also visited the Royal Wax Museum which was bazzar and fun all at once. Its hard to really describe, its just a bunch of replicas of famous folk and an exhibit on tourture and dungeons. That last part was sort of creepy.

After another day of touring Victoria on foot and window-shopping at the most organic and hemp product stores you could possibly fit in 6 block radius, we once again loaded up our stuff and headed back to Vancouver. Vancouver again felt like home to me and after checking into our hotel went out to a French fast-food place that had an amazing ham & cheese panini which they offered a bowl of mayonnaise for dipping, I think E nearly wept in joy. That evening we attended a James Blunt concert, which was fantastic. I’m becoming quite the fan I think. I’m looking forward to a new album so that is a good sign right? He has an uncanny ability to convey emotion in his music and in performance, I will defiantly be giving him more of my money.

The next morning we had to leave, it was a sad, sad morning and we walked away the sorrow in a downpour only Vancouver could have provided. I was glad it was raining, I think it masked a few of my tears. Well that was Canada in not so much of a nutshell. Hope I didn’t bore you to death. For those of you who don’t read and I know who you are, I included pictures for you.

home again, home again, jigitty-jig

2006-11-06T22:43:00.000-07:00

So we * made it back to the motherland. I almost placed a "finally" back there where the asterisk is, but really I felt like I was only gone a wink. I have tons and tons to say but it will have to wait till tomorrow when I'm rested and after I've stuck it to the Republican party by breaking my own rule and voting totally partisian. (wow quite the run on) Make sure and vote tomorrow, if you vote for who you think is the right person your vote is not a waste. I know that comes off very John Madden but just remember we need to turn the tide a bit so please keep that in mind. (fragment consider revising)

canada is glorious

2006-11-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

There is no way to sum up all that is Canada in a quick post. Hopefully pictures are worth a million words on this post. Catch you back in Canada-wannabe.

america junior...

2006-10-31T16:30:00.000-07:00

So E beat me to the punch on the "Not Anniversary" post so I will save you, and keep all the sappy stuff for her and her alone. She even managed to say nice things about me in public, she usually waits till no one is around to say that stuff. She has a reputation to uphold you know, regardless I think she is grand and I love her to death.

So I am slacking on the this post 5 times a week thing so I had to make sure and get this posted before I head to America Junior. Yep, I'm the moron who booked a trip for two, to our neighbors to the north in November. Regardless, we love it and all its idiosyncrasies; mayonnaise, waving, and driving 8 million kilometers an hour. So anyway I'm headed to Vancouver and Victoria, you know Seattle's sister to the north, and hopefully the weather doesn't kill the me due to my new acclimation to the 7th Ring of Hades know as Phoenix.

So hopefully I get tons of great pictures of the great white north and can share them upon my return. Happy Halloween, its my favorite holiday because pagans rule.

real estate responsiblities

2006-10-26T14:18:00.000-07:00

So from what I hear from others is that the key to this writing shtick is content. Not flashy designs or cool gizmos but what is available to read. So I’m going to make a valiant effort to update this bad boy at least 5 days a week. Only five you say, well if you are wondering why that is check out the profile and you will see among my interests “maximizing free time”. Now my current work situation is a great instigator of that interest which I truly appreciate. Matter a fact today I had the opportunity to share lunch with E and get my face rearranged by the orthodontist, all on someone else’s nickel. Anyway I digress.

So to the topic at hand. Responsibility, I wanted to go to Vegas this weekend but I have crap that needs to get done. Really this shouldn’t stop me, it never has in the past but I’ve never really tried to sell a house before and I would like to be prepared as best I can for the first weekend of random strangers milling through my house at their convenience. Secondly its costly to go to Vegas this weekend, a big car show is in town and all the cheap rooms are booked up, aka government rate.

Back to the house, it’s weird to think about someone else going through your stuff. Should I clean my pots and pans cupboard, or sweep the patio. The real estate agent says it’s fine so I’ll just try to get the things done she recommended but still seems weird. Still I remember walking through other people’s houses while they still lived there and that was odd, I can’t imagine having someone walk through mine while I am there. I guess it’s the nature of the beast but still seems awkward. I hope it sells fast and if you curious to see the listing check it out here. Wait that is an invitation to serial killers, and robbers. I'll show the listing when it sells, wish us luck. Just so you know it’s an equal opportunity listing, that includes cyborgs.

prepare for the cyborg revolution

2006-10-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

So I've been sitting on this blog space for some time now, waiting for my departure over the pond that seems to be fading off into eternity. Although I still intend on going, things are becoming somewhat bleak and frustrating to the point I've decided to develop a contingency plan. For all of you that know me, planning is generally my thing, planning and lists that is. So part of my plan was to start using this blog, I've wanted to write for some time now but had been postponing it for my arrival in Deutschland. I had to make a few edits to make it relevant to my geographic location but things seem to be in good order now.

So for an opening blog I was hoping to have a wonderful topic full of hope and future promise, but for some reason I can't seem to stir one up write now. You have to have a pun, it’s required. I've been writing to myself a lot lately, which is an odd thing to do especially for me. Not really a journal of sorts but more thoughts, feelings, and all that other stuff people don't really want to be bored with, so I don't share. Well except for E and B, they get the brunt of my thoughts, feelings, and emotions, which obvious to some and less to others is a lot to deal with. E also believes due to my new found interest in books, writing, and not wanting to work that I'm a cyborg.

Just so you are all aware, Dick Cheney is a cyborg also and it seems to be a trend. Its best you devise a list of questions only the people very, very close to you would know answers to. These questions will provide you with the ammunition you need identify an impostor. Also for all you cyborgs that are reading this don't worry we already know who you are.

Cyborg questions for some of you, you know who you are.

1. If a chef, 2 geeks, a crocheter, and Indiana Jones were to paint squares what color would they be?

2. I was on a road trip and I got a flat tire and that was why I couldn’t make it to work. Which tire was it?

3. If I play rummy, who’s wouldn’t I want to be on my team?

4. I have a tendency to use acronyms, but what in god’s name is TOAO.