Saturday, October 8, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Tabletop Trails pg 1 - Cover
Without further ado, here's my post of webcomics!! (They will update automatically every two days while I enjoy my wedding and honeymoon!)
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Upcoming Stuff
Hello again dear readers!
I know I said I would update more after I got married, but then I had a thought. Why not kill two birds with one stone? Long ago, I had my own web comic. It was a screen cap comic (which means I take screen shots from movies and add my own dialogue) and I had a lot of fun with it! The same fun I had when I was writing chapters of "The Wordsmith"! So I thought I would bring it over here and start posting the comics on my blog!
So starting later this week, I will be reposting my web comic starting with the first page! I will set it to update a couple times a week while I'm on my honeymoon, and when I get back, there will be periodic installments of "The Wordsmith" and my web comic as I continue blogging!
See ya soon!
I know I said I would update more after I got married, but then I had a thought. Why not kill two birds with one stone? Long ago, I had my own web comic. It was a screen cap comic (which means I take screen shots from movies and add my own dialogue) and I had a lot of fun with it! The same fun I had when I was writing chapters of "The Wordsmith"! So I thought I would bring it over here and start posting the comics on my blog!
So starting later this week, I will be reposting my web comic starting with the first page! I will set it to update a couple times a week while I'm on my honeymoon, and when I get back, there will be periodic installments of "The Wordsmith" and my web comic as I continue blogging!
See ya soon!
Monday, August 8, 2011
The Latest
Sorry about the absence since May folks, but I was really busy with life, and all it has to offer.
At the end of May, I shut off my internet, and starting teh process of moving. Now that' I've moved to a temporary location before moving in with my then-to-be-wife, I've been swamped with wedding tasks, geek binges, and the occaisonal nap.
So I do apologize, but updates will come back regularly at the end of September/beginning of October when we are settled into our new life together!
Thanks for understanding!
At the end of May, I shut off my internet, and starting teh process of moving. Now that' I've moved to a temporary location before moving in with my then-to-be-wife, I've been swamped with wedding tasks, geek binges, and the occaisonal nap.
So I do apologize, but updates will come back regularly at the end of September/beginning of October when we are settled into our new life together!
Thanks for understanding!
Friday, May 13, 2011
The Wordsmith - Chapter Three
(Chapter One, Two)
The Wordsmith jumped up from his seat, grabbed Ava's hand and ran over to the booth Fred was sitting at. They both stared for a second at his plate of steak. Then Ava had a thought.
"Why does this matter? I mean, it's not hurting anything, is it?" Ava looked at Fred's plate, half expecting it to sprout eyes and look at her.
"It does matter," the Wordsmith said, "You see, if Fred's jacket doesn't get messy, he won't know the train is speeding up, and therefore, he misses a crucial moment in the story."
"Why don't we just tell him then? Hey, Fred! The train is about to speed up." Ava was perplexed. Fred acted like he didn't hear her. "Fred? Hello? FRED!" Ava's shout should have gotten his attention.
"He can't hear you, Ava. In fact, only I can hear you right now. We're not in the story yet. We're just in the book, watching the story play out. Now, give me a hand in catching this Musing please." The Wordsmith had a pair of salad tongs in his hand now, hovering over the plate. Ava turned away from Fred, and looked intently at the plate of steak.
"Okay," she said, gathering up all her courage. "What do I do?"
"All you have to do is say 'this plate of steak needs to be soup' and say it right at the plate. I'll snag it when it moves and we'll be down one Musing."
Ava stared intently at the plate. She wasn't sure what would happen when she said the words, but her curiosity was too much to resist. She sucked in her breath, and in the loudest voice she could muster, she yelled at the steak.
"THIS PLATE OF STEAK NEEDS TO BE SOUP!" As soon as she yelled it, she regretted it. Taken by surprise at the volume of her yell, the Wordsmith dropped the tongs, right onto the plate! The plate itself suddenly became what looked like a little purple ball of fur with beady black eyes and two hands. It quickly snatched the tongs before the Wordsmith could grab them back, leaped off the table in one tiny hop, and started bouncing across the car toward the door.
"Oh no!" the Wordsmith bolted after it in a state of panic. "We've got to get those tongs back! Come on Ava! AND NO MORE SHOUTING!"
Ava ran after them both, extremely confused about what was so important about those tongs.
The Wordsmith jumped up from his seat, grabbed Ava's hand and ran over to the booth Fred was sitting at. They both stared for a second at his plate of steak. Then Ava had a thought.
"Why does this matter? I mean, it's not hurting anything, is it?" Ava looked at Fred's plate, half expecting it to sprout eyes and look at her.
"It does matter," the Wordsmith said, "You see, if Fred's jacket doesn't get messy, he won't know the train is speeding up, and therefore, he misses a crucial moment in the story."
"Why don't we just tell him then? Hey, Fred! The train is about to speed up." Ava was perplexed. Fred acted like he didn't hear her. "Fred? Hello? FRED!" Ava's shout should have gotten his attention.
"He can't hear you, Ava. In fact, only I can hear you right now. We're not in the story yet. We're just in the book, watching the story play out. Now, give me a hand in catching this Musing please." The Wordsmith had a pair of salad tongs in his hand now, hovering over the plate. Ava turned away from Fred, and looked intently at the plate of steak.
"Okay," she said, gathering up all her courage. "What do I do?"
"All you have to do is say 'this plate of steak needs to be soup' and say it right at the plate. I'll snag it when it moves and we'll be down one Musing."
Ava stared intently at the plate. She wasn't sure what would happen when she said the words, but her curiosity was too much to resist. She sucked in her breath, and in the loudest voice she could muster, she yelled at the steak.
"THIS PLATE OF STEAK NEEDS TO BE SOUP!" As soon as she yelled it, she regretted it. Taken by surprise at the volume of her yell, the Wordsmith dropped the tongs, right onto the plate! The plate itself suddenly became what looked like a little purple ball of fur with beady black eyes and two hands. It quickly snatched the tongs before the Wordsmith could grab them back, leaped off the table in one tiny hop, and started bouncing across the car toward the door.
"Oh no!" the Wordsmith bolted after it in a state of panic. "We've got to get those tongs back! Come on Ava! AND NO MORE SHOUTING!"
Ava ran after them both, extremely confused about what was so important about those tongs.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
The Wordsmith - Chapter Two
(Chapter One is here)
Ava thought the man looked very silly.
He was wearing a big pirate hat with a picture of a kitten on it, a big red shirt with 7 pockets sewn on the front, blue jeans, and on his feet were one sandal and one cowboy boot.
"You look silly" Ava said.
"Nonsense. I look perfectly acceptable. It's you who look silly, you've got no hat!" He reached into on of his shirt pockets, and pulled out a jump rope. He held it out to her.
"No thanks Mr. Wordsmith. I've already worn one of those today. I didn't like it."
"Very well. How about some tea instead?" Ava sat down across the table from him and took the cup of tea she was offered. She took a sip and found it surprisingly sweet.
"Who are you?" Ava was curious how he was in the story with her, even though she'd never read about him before.
"I'm the Wordsmith, protector of literature and hunter of Musings. You know all about Musings, of course."
"Not really" Ava said, sipping more of her tea. "What are they?"
"Ah! Musings are little creatures that get into stories and change them around. Some of them are harmless, others can do horrible things, like turn good guys into bad guys, or even erase characters from the entire story!"
"Wow, they sound bad. How do you find them?"
"Well, if you know the story well enough, you can pick out things that have changed from the original story. For example, I know there's a couple musings in this story, but I don't know the story very well. It was written before I became a Wordsmith. Which is why I pulled you in here with me. You know this story word for word, don't you?"
"It's my favorite book! We're at the part where Fred Finch is thinking about who left the mysterious package in his room, just before the train starts speeding up. He notices it because the soup he's having starts shaking and spills on his jacket."
"Did you say soup?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Soup? You're absolutely sure?"
Ava thought hard. In her mind she went over the words from the chapter again, and she definitely remembered Fred having soup. But now that she thought about it, when she saw him right after she arrived, he was eating steak!
Ava thought the man looked very silly.
He was wearing a big pirate hat with a picture of a kitten on it, a big red shirt with 7 pockets sewn on the front, blue jeans, and on his feet were one sandal and one cowboy boot.
"You look silly" Ava said.
"Nonsense. I look perfectly acceptable. It's you who look silly, you've got no hat!" He reached into on of his shirt pockets, and pulled out a jump rope. He held it out to her.
"No thanks Mr. Wordsmith. I've already worn one of those today. I didn't like it."
"Very well. How about some tea instead?" Ava sat down across the table from him and took the cup of tea she was offered. She took a sip and found it surprisingly sweet.
"Who are you?" Ava was curious how he was in the story with her, even though she'd never read about him before.
"I'm the Wordsmith, protector of literature and hunter of Musings. You know all about Musings, of course."
"Not really" Ava said, sipping more of her tea. "What are they?"
"Ah! Musings are little creatures that get into stories and change them around. Some of them are harmless, others can do horrible things, like turn good guys into bad guys, or even erase characters from the entire story!"
"Wow, they sound bad. How do you find them?"
"Well, if you know the story well enough, you can pick out things that have changed from the original story. For example, I know there's a couple musings in this story, but I don't know the story very well. It was written before I became a Wordsmith. Which is why I pulled you in here with me. You know this story word for word, don't you?"
"It's my favorite book! We're at the part where Fred Finch is thinking about who left the mysterious package in his room, just before the train starts speeding up. He notices it because the soup he's having starts shaking and spills on his jacket."
"Did you say soup?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Soup? You're absolutely sure?"
Ava thought hard. In her mind she went over the words from the chapter again, and she definitely remembered Fred having soup. But now that she thought about it, when she saw him right after she arrived, he was eating steak!
Monday, May 9, 2011
The Wordsmith - Chapter One
Author's Note: This concept was inspired by imagination and many, many dorky TV shows that I've seen. It's a collection of short stories revolving around a young girl named Ava, and her friend, the Wordsmith, a magical being who can alter the stories in books. Hope you enjoy it!
Ava was feeling very frumpy.
Her first day of school was not going as she had planned. On the bus ride, some snot-nosed 3rd grader spilled his apple juice all over the new dress her mom bought her. Thankfully, the school office had some left over clothes from the year before, and now she was dressed in an old, three-sizes-too-big, pea green sweater. Her troubles didn't end there.
To make things worse, at lunch, the lunch lady slopped the extra sloppy sloppy joes all over her new shoes. Now she was wearing one pink snow boot and one orange tennis shoe. In gym, her curly hair got curled around the jump rope, and now, instead of two perfect pigtails, she had one perfect pig tail and a wad of tangled hair.
Frustrated, she decided to hide after recess. It was a new school, and since no one really knew her, she doubt she'd be missed much. The playground next to the school had quite a few inviting shade trees, and so she hid behind one as the whistle blew to go back to class. She sat down against the tree, and pulled open her book bag. She reached deep down inside, and grabbed what she knew would make her day better, her favorite book.
Ever since she was little, Ava loved books. Her father and mother took turns every night reading to her, and every year for her birthday, they'd take her to the local used bookstore, and she was allowed to "adopt" as many used books as she could carry. She was good at carrying now, and last year she carried 28 books out of the store. They all had their own spot on the shelves of her bedroom.
But this book was extra special. It's cover was very worn, the corners peeling back the many layers of paper, and the pages yellow because the book was so old. It was the first book she was ever given, a book that had belonged to her father when he was a boy. Fred Finch and the Flobberty Flagman. Grand adventure on the railroad, where Fred Finch has to contend with a mystery on board a runaway train.
She had read it so many times that she knew every word, on every page. She opened it, sat it between her knees, and began reading. The next hour seemed to just fly by, and before she knew it, she was completely absorbed in the book.
Ava blinked. Something wasn't right. She had just been reading about Fred having dinner in the dining car, the part of the book just before the train started speeding up. She looked around, and found herself actually in the dining car! The sounds of the train car filled her ears. The "chug-chug-chug" of the engine, the clanking of Fred's silverware on his plate, the sound of other people talking and laughing around her. She even noticed that Fred chewed loud enough to be heard over the train.
"Oh my!" Ava was surprised to find herself in the train car. "I must be going insane!"
"Oh not at all my dear, welcome to the story! Would you like some tea?" The man's voice was older, and sounded funny, like he was British. Ava turned around and saw him sitting in a chair at a table, smiling at her.
"Wait a minute, I know this part of the story. There's no British man sitting at one of the tables. There's only the couple leaning in close together, the three old ladies playing cards, and the waiter taking his break. Where'd you come from?"
"You are quite clever my dear, I am not part of this story, not yet, anyways. I am the Wordsmith. Now, I will ask you again, would you like some tea?"
Ava was feeling very frumpy.
Her first day of school was not going as she had planned. On the bus ride, some snot-nosed 3rd grader spilled his apple juice all over the new dress her mom bought her. Thankfully, the school office had some left over clothes from the year before, and now she was dressed in an old, three-sizes-too-big, pea green sweater. Her troubles didn't end there.
To make things worse, at lunch, the lunch lady slopped the extra sloppy sloppy joes all over her new shoes. Now she was wearing one pink snow boot and one orange tennis shoe. In gym, her curly hair got curled around the jump rope, and now, instead of two perfect pigtails, she had one perfect pig tail and a wad of tangled hair.
Frustrated, she decided to hide after recess. It was a new school, and since no one really knew her, she doubt she'd be missed much. The playground next to the school had quite a few inviting shade trees, and so she hid behind one as the whistle blew to go back to class. She sat down against the tree, and pulled open her book bag. She reached deep down inside, and grabbed what she knew would make her day better, her favorite book.
Ever since she was little, Ava loved books. Her father and mother took turns every night reading to her, and every year for her birthday, they'd take her to the local used bookstore, and she was allowed to "adopt" as many used books as she could carry. She was good at carrying now, and last year she carried 28 books out of the store. They all had their own spot on the shelves of her bedroom.
But this book was extra special. It's cover was very worn, the corners peeling back the many layers of paper, and the pages yellow because the book was so old. It was the first book she was ever given, a book that had belonged to her father when he was a boy. Fred Finch and the Flobberty Flagman. Grand adventure on the railroad, where Fred Finch has to contend with a mystery on board a runaway train.
She had read it so many times that she knew every word, on every page. She opened it, sat it between her knees, and began reading. The next hour seemed to just fly by, and before she knew it, she was completely absorbed in the book.
Ava blinked. Something wasn't right. She had just been reading about Fred having dinner in the dining car, the part of the book just before the train started speeding up. She looked around, and found herself actually in the dining car! The sounds of the train car filled her ears. The "chug-chug-chug" of the engine, the clanking of Fred's silverware on his plate, the sound of other people talking and laughing around her. She even noticed that Fred chewed loud enough to be heard over the train.
"Oh my!" Ava was surprised to find herself in the train car. "I must be going insane!"
"Oh not at all my dear, welcome to the story! Would you like some tea?" The man's voice was older, and sounded funny, like he was British. Ava turned around and saw him sitting in a chair at a table, smiling at her.
"Wait a minute, I know this part of the story. There's no British man sitting at one of the tables. There's only the couple leaning in close together, the three old ladies playing cards, and the waiter taking his break. Where'd you come from?"
"You are quite clever my dear, I am not part of this story, not yet, anyways. I am the Wordsmith. Now, I will ask you again, would you like some tea?"
Friday, May 6, 2011
Someone Died
With the recent news of Osama Bin Laden's death, the world has been on fire with comments and opinions about the subject. It seems the majority is celebrating his passing. I can't help but find this wrong.
Understand, I don't think it's right to celebrate the loss of any human life. Yeah, it's okay to celebrate the end of tyranny, or a selfless act, but the loss of life itself is something I will never celebrate.
My religious view on this issue is that we should be happy that a terrorist was stopped before he cost anymore innocent lives. But his death is still a tragic thing. Remember, Jesus died on that cross for everyone, including Osama Bin Laden, and we lost a chance for God to redeem someone.
I can't help but think back to the end scene in Les Miserables, where Javert understands where justice will lead him, and in the end, he chooses to take justice upon himself to show a little mercy and let Jean Valjean go free. He didn't have to. Everything in his life had been centered on the pursuit of justice, and it led him to the logical outcome of justice: death.
I could write ten sermons on that scene. (Speaking of which, I need to find out when my next sermon date is...)
It makes me wonder, what would have happened if someone had shown Bin Laden a little mercy in his life?
Understand, I don't think it's right to celebrate the loss of any human life. Yeah, it's okay to celebrate the end of tyranny, or a selfless act, but the loss of life itself is something I will never celebrate.
My religious view on this issue is that we should be happy that a terrorist was stopped before he cost anymore innocent lives. But his death is still a tragic thing. Remember, Jesus died on that cross for everyone, including Osama Bin Laden, and we lost a chance for God to redeem someone.
I can't help but think back to the end scene in Les Miserables, where Javert understands where justice will lead him, and in the end, he chooses to take justice upon himself to show a little mercy and let Jean Valjean go free. He didn't have to. Everything in his life had been centered on the pursuit of justice, and it led him to the logical outcome of justice: death.
I could write ten sermons on that scene. (Speaking of which, I need to find out when my next sermon date is...)
It makes me wonder, what would have happened if someone had shown Bin Laden a little mercy in his life?
Monday, May 2, 2011
My First Bloomsday
(It's been a bit since I blogged, sorry about that readers, honestly, I've been busy. But let me tell you about my awesome weekend.)
I used to make fun of people who ran Bloomsday. Back when I was a total jerk-nosed teenager, I really didn't understand what was happening, other than we couldn't go downtown that one Sunday, and it ticked me off. A lot of things did back then.
When I met Deanna, I started to realize what it really was. She opened my world up to a lot of things my own hometown had to offer, things I felt too snooty to really bother with before. Now though, I realized just how much I missed out on. Leave it to a woman from Montana to show me what my own city has to offer.
Anyways, Bloomsday is a big event in Spokane (my town). Like, huge. Gigantic. Large, even. We had over 60,000 people there this year.
The year after we first met, I missed Bloomsday due to being in the hospital with pancreatitis. The next year, pretty much the same thing. Deanna came home really sick that year from walking it, thanks to a low blood pressure and general coldness issue that day.
But this year, we both participated. She walked it, and I cheered.
Now, I know what you want to say, "you didn't walk it? How does that count as participating?"
The answer is simple. I volunteered. In a manner of speaking. I have friends who are part of SpoCon (the Spokane Sci-fi Fantasy Convention) and the Spokantina (I'm a member there, and we're the local Star Wars Fan Club). So I dressed up as my Firefly LARP character, Dorres McLaine, and went to cheer on the runners.
Granted, I got to bed at midnight the night before, and up at 6:00 am to get there in time for a good parking spot, so I wasn't in the best of moods to start with.
But after the people started coming by the booth we had set up, it was a total blast! We were energizing them, and they were energizing us!
Right now, I'm sunburned, sore, tire, and need a day off to recover. I'm also planning a more popular costume for next year, when we both participate again...
Have any of you, dear readers, done Bloomsday?
I used to make fun of people who ran Bloomsday. Back when I was a total jerk-nosed teenager, I really didn't understand what was happening, other than we couldn't go downtown that one Sunday, and it ticked me off. A lot of things did back then.
When I met Deanna, I started to realize what it really was. She opened my world up to a lot of things my own hometown had to offer, things I felt too snooty to really bother with before. Now though, I realized just how much I missed out on. Leave it to a woman from Montana to show me what my own city has to offer.
Anyways, Bloomsday is a big event in Spokane (my town). Like, huge. Gigantic. Large, even. We had over 60,000 people there this year.
The year after we first met, I missed Bloomsday due to being in the hospital with pancreatitis. The next year, pretty much the same thing. Deanna came home really sick that year from walking it, thanks to a low blood pressure and general coldness issue that day.
But this year, we both participated. She walked it, and I cheered.
Now, I know what you want to say, "you didn't walk it? How does that count as participating?"
The answer is simple. I volunteered. In a manner of speaking. I have friends who are part of SpoCon (the Spokane Sci-fi Fantasy Convention) and the Spokantina (I'm a member there, and we're the local Star Wars Fan Club). So I dressed up as my Firefly LARP character, Dorres McLaine, and went to cheer on the runners.
Granted, I got to bed at midnight the night before, and up at 6:00 am to get there in time for a good parking spot, so I wasn't in the best of moods to start with.
But after the people started coming by the booth we had set up, it was a total blast! We were energizing them, and they were energizing us!
Right now, I'm sunburned, sore, tire, and need a day off to recover. I'm also planning a more popular costume for next year, when we both participate again...
Have any of you, dear readers, done Bloomsday?
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Thank You and God Bless
Normally, I try to stay away from bandwagonning here on the blog, and in life in general. When I see "thank you's and bumper stickers saying to support the troops, it generally gets on my nerves. Not because I don't support them, but because I tend to lump those people into the "it's trendy so I'll say it" crowd, and they just get on my nerves. (My apologies if you've got something like that and bought it out of genuine concern)
I do pray for the troops during my daily devotionals. I have friends who are currently serving, even though I no longer do so, and I consider myself part of the family of those who were/are/will be in the Armed Forces. I support the troops, and I pray when I hear one of them has been injured. It does hit you sometimes though, right in the heart.
It didn't quite hit me so hard as it did yesterday, when I found out that a friend's husband was injured in the line of duty. He lost both of his legs and several fingers on one hand. If you could keep Josh Elliott and his family in your prayers, I would be most appreciative.
But I also think it's a good time for praying for our troops in general. Every single one. Also the families of those who have been injured or lost their lives in the act of service.
It's not bandwagonning, it's from the depths of my heart, dear readers, won't you pray with me this week?
I do pray for the troops during my daily devotionals. I have friends who are currently serving, even though I no longer do so, and I consider myself part of the family of those who were/are/will be in the Armed Forces. I support the troops, and I pray when I hear one of them has been injured. It does hit you sometimes though, right in the heart.
It didn't quite hit me so hard as it did yesterday, when I found out that a friend's husband was injured in the line of duty. He lost both of his legs and several fingers on one hand. If you could keep Josh Elliott and his family in your prayers, I would be most appreciative.
But I also think it's a good time for praying for our troops in general. Every single one. Also the families of those who have been injured or lost their lives in the act of service.
It's not bandwagonning, it's from the depths of my heart, dear readers, won't you pray with me this week?
Friday, April 15, 2011
Happy Posts Only
When I started this blog, I made myself understand two things. First, I would be okay with the sound of crickets and long periods of time between reader comments. Second, I would only blog about things that were positive or could help people understand me a little better, I would never make this blog about negative or annoying things.
It's because of the second thing that I'm unable to post today. If you've been following the latest on my facebook page, you'll understand.
If not, no biggie. Time for some Q&A anyways. Fire away dear readers!
It's because of the second thing that I'm unable to post today. If you've been following the latest on my facebook page, you'll understand.
If not, no biggie. Time for some Q&A anyways. Fire away dear readers!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Confessions of a Teenage Criminal
I must begin my recounting of these events with letting you know that I did not have clean hands in this matter.
In the spring time of 1995, around the month of February, we began studying Prohibition in our history class in junior high. I admit that the first encounter with this era of our history did intrigue me, as any young man would have been with violence and the concept of fighting authority. The brief chapters of Al Capone and Elliot Ness in the school books did little to satisfy each classes curiosity of the matter. One is left to wonder if it was intentional or perhaps planned by God alone who knew of the events to follow.
In March, one of the candies we absolutely loved as kids became readily accessible to the school populace. Prior to the opening of a candy specific store close to school, kids were forced to bring their own sweets from home. Now though, with a steady supply of sugar only ten blocks away, we found our allowances being spent to supply a never-ending sweet tooth. It was here the trouble begins, and with the candy know as 'Pixie Stix'.
As kids, with little more than a few dollars a week allowance, if any, the amount, rather than the quality, was what was most important when buying candy. Though our parents had talked about it often when remembering their childhoods, our experience of the cheapest candy was never less than 5 cents. Those were typically Jolly Ranchers at the local gas stations, but they were most annoying as a candy, since it took a while to eat them without breaking your teeth. However, the new candy store sold generic plastic tubed individual 'Pixie Stix' candy at 1 cent apiece. Suddenly we realized our parents weren't that crazy after all.
In the next few days, billions (that is an estimate of course) of them swept through the schools. Candy, and generally eating anything at all, was forbidden in the classrooms, and the 'Stix' were a great way to eat sugar in the hall between classes, but usually tempted the user to leave the trash out in the hall. (We did not have frequent hallway trash receptacles back then.) Enter the Principal, and our greatest nemesis through this conflict.
Our Principal, who I had the pleasure of meeting with very often during my time as a student, was very concerned when he would walk down the hallways and see thousands of brightly colored plastic tubes laying on the ground. As he was always in habit of doing, his announcement to cease the consumption of the 'Stix', in an effort to reduce the trash, was quick to come. As we were in the habit of doing, most people listened the first couple days, but the users returned to their old ways quickly. It was at this time that the Principal indefinitely banned the 'Stix' from school property. Any student caught with one, or throwing out their empty tubes, would be given detention.
It was here that the line was drawn, and the factions divided. It was here that, with the help of some of my close friends, my hands would become unclean.
As one of the poorer kids in school, our allowance was typically non-existent, but both of my friends received a steady income from their parents, and it was with that money that we would establish our little empire. We had the usual competitors, as could be expected, but they were of lesser skill.
The business worked like this. One person, typically someone with ties to a workplace downtown, would secure on a once or twice a week run, a significant amount of 'Stix' from the candy store. Then, that person, the supplier, would hand them out in small batches to a couple friends, the distributors, to be sold at an increased price to students who wanted to have some 'Stix'.
Fear of suspensions for possession of 'Stix' actually helped drive the prices up, and by the middle of May, the going price for one in school was no less than 25 cents a 'Stix'. In total, aside from our own little business of contraband, there were only two other major competitors, and the competition was fierce. Fortunately, the town was fairly small, so everyone knew everyone else, and the likelihood of them slipping in an informant or spy to shut down your operation was nearly impossible.
The Principal's first major victims of the crackdown was actually one of the competitors.
The Principal, who had this entire time been biding his time and waiting for the handful of suspensions he had already handed out to take effect, decided that he had waited long enough, and began to fight back against the students he felt were disrespecting his authority. Thus began the random locker searches, posted teacher lookouts both in the hallway and outside of the school, and suspensions for the first ringleader he found.
Now, the particulars of the business he busted were not very clear to any of the rest of us. As rumor would have it, one of the kids had convinced his parents that he was buying supplies for a science project he was working on. Apparently, after 5 weeks of paying and seeing nothing, the parents called the science teacher, who verified that no large project had been assigned, and the parents found out. The student in charge was suspended for one week, and each one of his friends he ratted on got detention for a week.
It was now down to our operation and one larger one within the school.
With the added precautions against obvious selling and supplying that the Principal had invoked, it became increasingly hard to meet the demands of our operation. Our competitor was still able to provide the product at the same rate, but we had to cut back. Looking back, that seemed to be what saved us in the end.
At first, our operation ran fairly standard. The three of us would take orders from our customers for the following day, then I would take money from one friend, and on my walk to meet my mother after school, buy the candy, and drop it off at the other friends house. The next day, the other friend would bring in the product, and we would deliver it in the hallways between classes to our customers.
With the teachers watching outside in the mornings and after school, I began to realize that the teachers had began to figure out I was one of the best candidates for buying the 'Stix'. Within the next week, my locker was searched twice, and I had several encounters with the Principal. I knew I was made, but by not being the one who brought product into the school, I was never given a punishment.
We had to revise our plan, and that involved one of us making runs to and from the candy store during school. It was very risky. If caught, our whole operation would end, and we'd all get busted. Our luck held, and so during lunch, or during one of our classes in the far wing, where the bathrooms took a few extra minutes to reach, we would slip out, run the ten blocks to the candy store, run back, and deliver the 'Stix' during the next break between classes.
This new plan was a bigger risk to each of us as well. In the past, when delivering the 'Stix', we would only use the friend who brought the candy, or myself to make face to face contact. That way, if one of us was caught, only one person was punished. But with the limited amount of time to deliver, and two seperate wings on each of the two floors, and about twenty deliveries in total, all three of us had to run the product about each day. This also meant we could only take on a limited number of customers, and towards the end, we only had about 5 or 6 regular buyers, which was still a fair amount of profit but no where near what our competitor was making.
One particular day, I will never forget this, right after dropping off a pack of five 'Stix' to a customer, I turned around and ran into the Principal. Since I was "suspect" due to my after school walks through downtown, I was dragged into his office, and asked to empty my pockets and bag. Fortunately, I had just delivered the last of my product, and nothing bad happened. Still scared me out of my wits though.
Over the next couple of weeks, the last competitor was picked apart. All of the kids caught either buying or selling kept their mouths shut about the operation though, and even we never knew who was in charge of it. Several of the suppliers were caught, and suspended, and a ton of detentions were handed out to everyone else, but still no one talked about who was in charge. One kid even had his locker searched, where they found over a hundred 'Stix'. Eventually, whether by choice or necessity, the operation folded, and we were left to stand alone. It was a very scary place to be, and we were always concerned about getting caught, or one of our users getting cold feet and ratting on us. With our limited customer base, the prices began to drop as well, since kids were taking the risks of buying their own again sicne there was no readily available supply.
In the end, by the end of the first week of June that is, the Principal lifted the ban on 'Stix' and just banned littering. Within a day, all of our business stopped. He made a big speech at the end of the year assembly about the lessons he had learned during the time, and what we should take from it as well. I don't think there was a better bonding moment between us.
He talked about how he felt he had betrayed our trust as students by acting the way he did with the locker searches and that he was sorry for forcing us to try and act a certain way. I think he actually started crying at one point. He sent a letter home to our parents, also apologizing for his actions. The parents backed him up though, and with a lot of kids, who did not keep their illict activities out of their parents eyes (afterall, what's suspicious about buying a ton of candy?) there were spankings galore. Fortunately for myself, my mother never found out (I bet she is while she's reading this now though, sorry mom) during that time what we were doing.
I never told the Principal what I had done, even though there where many other trips to his office in the months and years folowing. To this day, I don't believe he really knew I was involved. We became friends the year afterwards, and to this day I still consider him on friendly terms. But I'm still afraid of what he might do if I ever told him that I was one of the ringleaders behind the 'Great Pixie Stix Rebellion of 95'.
I hope he would just laugh along with me at what a bunch of crazy kids we were.
In the spring time of 1995, around the month of February, we began studying Prohibition in our history class in junior high. I admit that the first encounter with this era of our history did intrigue me, as any young man would have been with violence and the concept of fighting authority. The brief chapters of Al Capone and Elliot Ness in the school books did little to satisfy each classes curiosity of the matter. One is left to wonder if it was intentional or perhaps planned by God alone who knew of the events to follow.
In March, one of the candies we absolutely loved as kids became readily accessible to the school populace. Prior to the opening of a candy specific store close to school, kids were forced to bring their own sweets from home. Now though, with a steady supply of sugar only ten blocks away, we found our allowances being spent to supply a never-ending sweet tooth. It was here the trouble begins, and with the candy know as 'Pixie Stix'.
As kids, with little more than a few dollars a week allowance, if any, the amount, rather than the quality, was what was most important when buying candy. Though our parents had talked about it often when remembering their childhoods, our experience of the cheapest candy was never less than 5 cents. Those were typically Jolly Ranchers at the local gas stations, but they were most annoying as a candy, since it took a while to eat them without breaking your teeth. However, the new candy store sold generic plastic tubed individual 'Pixie Stix' candy at 1 cent apiece. Suddenly we realized our parents weren't that crazy after all.
In the next few days, billions (that is an estimate of course) of them swept through the schools. Candy, and generally eating anything at all, was forbidden in the classrooms, and the 'Stix' were a great way to eat sugar in the hall between classes, but usually tempted the user to leave the trash out in the hall. (We did not have frequent hallway trash receptacles back then.) Enter the Principal, and our greatest nemesis through this conflict.
Our Principal, who I had the pleasure of meeting with very often during my time as a student, was very concerned when he would walk down the hallways and see thousands of brightly colored plastic tubes laying on the ground. As he was always in habit of doing, his announcement to cease the consumption of the 'Stix', in an effort to reduce the trash, was quick to come. As we were in the habit of doing, most people listened the first couple days, but the users returned to their old ways quickly. It was at this time that the Principal indefinitely banned the 'Stix' from school property. Any student caught with one, or throwing out their empty tubes, would be given detention.
It was here that the line was drawn, and the factions divided. It was here that, with the help of some of my close friends, my hands would become unclean.
As one of the poorer kids in school, our allowance was typically non-existent, but both of my friends received a steady income from their parents, and it was with that money that we would establish our little empire. We had the usual competitors, as could be expected, but they were of lesser skill.
The business worked like this. One person, typically someone with ties to a workplace downtown, would secure on a once or twice a week run, a significant amount of 'Stix' from the candy store. Then, that person, the supplier, would hand them out in small batches to a couple friends, the distributors, to be sold at an increased price to students who wanted to have some 'Stix'.
Fear of suspensions for possession of 'Stix' actually helped drive the prices up, and by the middle of May, the going price for one in school was no less than 25 cents a 'Stix'. In total, aside from our own little business of contraband, there were only two other major competitors, and the competition was fierce. Fortunately, the town was fairly small, so everyone knew everyone else, and the likelihood of them slipping in an informant or spy to shut down your operation was nearly impossible.
The Principal's first major victims of the crackdown was actually one of the competitors.
The Principal, who had this entire time been biding his time and waiting for the handful of suspensions he had already handed out to take effect, decided that he had waited long enough, and began to fight back against the students he felt were disrespecting his authority. Thus began the random locker searches, posted teacher lookouts both in the hallway and outside of the school, and suspensions for the first ringleader he found.
Now, the particulars of the business he busted were not very clear to any of the rest of us. As rumor would have it, one of the kids had convinced his parents that he was buying supplies for a science project he was working on. Apparently, after 5 weeks of paying and seeing nothing, the parents called the science teacher, who verified that no large project had been assigned, and the parents found out. The student in charge was suspended for one week, and each one of his friends he ratted on got detention for a week.
It was now down to our operation and one larger one within the school.
With the added precautions against obvious selling and supplying that the Principal had invoked, it became increasingly hard to meet the demands of our operation. Our competitor was still able to provide the product at the same rate, but we had to cut back. Looking back, that seemed to be what saved us in the end.
At first, our operation ran fairly standard. The three of us would take orders from our customers for the following day, then I would take money from one friend, and on my walk to meet my mother after school, buy the candy, and drop it off at the other friends house. The next day, the other friend would bring in the product, and we would deliver it in the hallways between classes to our customers.
With the teachers watching outside in the mornings and after school, I began to realize that the teachers had began to figure out I was one of the best candidates for buying the 'Stix'. Within the next week, my locker was searched twice, and I had several encounters with the Principal. I knew I was made, but by not being the one who brought product into the school, I was never given a punishment.
We had to revise our plan, and that involved one of us making runs to and from the candy store during school. It was very risky. If caught, our whole operation would end, and we'd all get busted. Our luck held, and so during lunch, or during one of our classes in the far wing, where the bathrooms took a few extra minutes to reach, we would slip out, run the ten blocks to the candy store, run back, and deliver the 'Stix' during the next break between classes.
This new plan was a bigger risk to each of us as well. In the past, when delivering the 'Stix', we would only use the friend who brought the candy, or myself to make face to face contact. That way, if one of us was caught, only one person was punished. But with the limited amount of time to deliver, and two seperate wings on each of the two floors, and about twenty deliveries in total, all three of us had to run the product about each day. This also meant we could only take on a limited number of customers, and towards the end, we only had about 5 or 6 regular buyers, which was still a fair amount of profit but no where near what our competitor was making.
One particular day, I will never forget this, right after dropping off a pack of five 'Stix' to a customer, I turned around and ran into the Principal. Since I was "suspect" due to my after school walks through downtown, I was dragged into his office, and asked to empty my pockets and bag. Fortunately, I had just delivered the last of my product, and nothing bad happened. Still scared me out of my wits though.
Over the next couple of weeks, the last competitor was picked apart. All of the kids caught either buying or selling kept their mouths shut about the operation though, and even we never knew who was in charge of it. Several of the suppliers were caught, and suspended, and a ton of detentions were handed out to everyone else, but still no one talked about who was in charge. One kid even had his locker searched, where they found over a hundred 'Stix'. Eventually, whether by choice or necessity, the operation folded, and we were left to stand alone. It was a very scary place to be, and we were always concerned about getting caught, or one of our users getting cold feet and ratting on us. With our limited customer base, the prices began to drop as well, since kids were taking the risks of buying their own again sicne there was no readily available supply.
In the end, by the end of the first week of June that is, the Principal lifted the ban on 'Stix' and just banned littering. Within a day, all of our business stopped. He made a big speech at the end of the year assembly about the lessons he had learned during the time, and what we should take from it as well. I don't think there was a better bonding moment between us.
He talked about how he felt he had betrayed our trust as students by acting the way he did with the locker searches and that he was sorry for forcing us to try and act a certain way. I think he actually started crying at one point. He sent a letter home to our parents, also apologizing for his actions. The parents backed him up though, and with a lot of kids, who did not keep their illict activities out of their parents eyes (afterall, what's suspicious about buying a ton of candy?) there were spankings galore. Fortunately for myself, my mother never found out (I bet she is while she's reading this now though, sorry mom) during that time what we were doing.
I never told the Principal what I had done, even though there where many other trips to his office in the months and years folowing. To this day, I don't believe he really knew I was involved. We became friends the year afterwards, and to this day I still consider him on friendly terms. But I'm still afraid of what he might do if I ever told him that I was one of the ringleaders behind the 'Great Pixie Stix Rebellion of 95'.
I hope he would just laugh along with me at what a bunch of crazy kids we were.
Monday, April 11, 2011
The Importance of Being Sick
Well, of all the things I wanted to do this weekend, I only got 2 of them done.
First, I went down to Tri-Cities to coach my Quizzers through the District level Quizzing tournament! It was a total blast, and a lot of fun to see my kids succeed. Unlike the other tournament meets, this one is only the top 30% of all the quizzers, and includes questions from the material, rather than ones they've all heard before.
Overall, we got two Golds (who each missed 3 or less questions out of 60) and two Silvers (each silver only missed the gold mark by a couple questions). Not too shabby, and from what I hear, there were no perfect quiz scores. I'm very proud of my quizzers! But alas, the season is now over, and won't pick up until September this year.
Second, I managed to get a ton of sleep this weekend. This was, unfortunately, due to being extremely sick and miserable. Im not sure where it came from, whether it was my lovely sniffling nieces, the chills I got from the 5.5 mile walk we went on last week, or just some random stranger hacking in my direction I was unaware of.
Whatever the cause, Friday was a big adventure, and I ended up going home before the awards ceremony, only to be taken care of by my lovely fiance and her magical soup making skills. I went home after that, and spent most of my day in bed on Sunday, with the occaisional trip to get more water or move around a bit to get the blood flowing.
Also, I had a hot dog just before noon. I love hot dogs. One of life's best foods.
So I apologize for the lack of comic page this week, but it still hurts to look at a computer screen for too long, so perhaps I will post a couple this week once I am feeling better.
First, I went down to Tri-Cities to coach my Quizzers through the District level Quizzing tournament! It was a total blast, and a lot of fun to see my kids succeed. Unlike the other tournament meets, this one is only the top 30% of all the quizzers, and includes questions from the material, rather than ones they've all heard before.
Overall, we got two Golds (who each missed 3 or less questions out of 60) and two Silvers (each silver only missed the gold mark by a couple questions). Not too shabby, and from what I hear, there were no perfect quiz scores. I'm very proud of my quizzers! But alas, the season is now over, and won't pick up until September this year.
Second, I managed to get a ton of sleep this weekend. This was, unfortunately, due to being extremely sick and miserable. Im not sure where it came from, whether it was my lovely sniffling nieces, the chills I got from the 5.5 mile walk we went on last week, or just some random stranger hacking in my direction I was unaware of.
Whatever the cause, Friday was a big adventure, and I ended up going home before the awards ceremony, only to be taken care of by my lovely fiance and her magical soup making skills. I went home after that, and spent most of my day in bed on Sunday, with the occaisional trip to get more water or move around a bit to get the blood flowing.
Also, I had a hot dog just before noon. I love hot dogs. One of life's best foods.
So I apologize for the lack of comic page this week, but it still hurts to look at a computer screen for too long, so perhaps I will post a couple this week once I am feeling better.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Comic Time!
Well, here's the first page of my ScreenCap Comic Project inspired by Wes Molebash and Michael Scattergood. More to come in the Epic fight between Wizard Jesus and Lion Jesus, just stay tuned!
Next page coming Saturday!
Next page coming Saturday!
Monday, April 4, 2011
A Bit of a Surprise
This weekend, Deanna and I walked in the MS Walk in Spokane. We did this last year too, as my company has a team that participates every year. I must say that a lot of the people that go to this event are walking in memory of someone, or have some personal connection to MS research/patients/families. I feel a bit guilty that we use it mostly as an excuse to push ourselves physically.
Last year we did the 2 mile course, but this year we decided to try the 5.5 mile course. It was severely misleading. Having done the 2 mile course, it was virtually flat the entire way. However, the 5.5 mile course was akin to hiking up and down mountains.
I am, of course, exaggerating...a bit.
But it definitely was a surprise that the path could go that far down, and seemingly go up more than it went down. We made it though. What was more surprising to me than the number or amount of ups and downs, but that my body didn't really struggle with it as much as I feared.
For a long time now, I've been walking about 2 miles each morning, and while I thought that the 5.5 miles would kill my muscles, it turned out that my legs were fine, not even burning during the uphills or long stretches of track. It was mostly just my energy level that forced me to stop and rest every now and then. Quite an achievement, and definitely worth it, especially since Deanna pampered my sore feet when we got back.
I'm looking forward to walking the Spokane Indians 8K later this year with her. Something we haven't done in a couple years. :)
On a completely unrelated note, I am working on another Screen Cap Comic project inspired by Wes Molebash and Michael Scattergood. If you want to check out my older, left by the wayside Screen Cap project, just click here.
So, dear readers, when was the last time you were surprised about something?
Last year we did the 2 mile course, but this year we decided to try the 5.5 mile course. It was severely misleading. Having done the 2 mile course, it was virtually flat the entire way. However, the 5.5 mile course was akin to hiking up and down mountains.
I am, of course, exaggerating...a bit.
But it definitely was a surprise that the path could go that far down, and seemingly go up more than it went down. We made it though. What was more surprising to me than the number or amount of ups and downs, but that my body didn't really struggle with it as much as I feared.
For a long time now, I've been walking about 2 miles each morning, and while I thought that the 5.5 miles would kill my muscles, it turned out that my legs were fine, not even burning during the uphills or long stretches of track. It was mostly just my energy level that forced me to stop and rest every now and then. Quite an achievement, and definitely worth it, especially since Deanna pampered my sore feet when we got back.
I'm looking forward to walking the Spokane Indians 8K later this year with her. Something we haven't done in a couple years. :)
On a completely unrelated note, I am working on another Screen Cap Comic project inspired by Wes Molebash and Michael Scattergood. If you want to check out my older, left by the wayside Screen Cap project, just click here.
So, dear readers, when was the last time you were surprised about something?
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Another Long Weekend
Well, this weekend is shaping up to be chalk full of wonderful, busy things.
Thursday: The Men's group at church is gathering at 6pm for a potluck and movie, "Kingdom of Heaven".
Friday: The Great Quizzing Challenge Party at my Pastor's house for all my Quizzers, where we will nom on some hotdogs, veggies, chips, soda, and of course, Pastor's handmade milkshakes. Oh, we'll be watching "Tangled" by the way.
Saturday: Time for some down and dirty overtime, plus Deanna's folks are in town, so I'm sure there will be hanging out after work.
Sunday: Spokane MS Walk at Spokane Falls Community College at 9am, followed by more hanging out with parents, and then Geek Moot at 5pm (we're picking up a super challenging campaign, so I need to be mentally alert).
So in light of my super busy weekend (where my downtime will be filled with cuddling or Pokemon) I'm not going to post anything new. However, if you, my dear readers, would like to submit some ideas for me to blog about, or have questions or comments you'd like me to address, I will be more than happy to do so as soon as Monday rolls around.
(I might arrange a guest blogger for the weekend too, if I don't get any submissions)
Thursday: The Men's group at church is gathering at 6pm for a potluck and movie, "Kingdom of Heaven".
Friday: The Great Quizzing Challenge Party at my Pastor's house for all my Quizzers, where we will nom on some hotdogs, veggies, chips, soda, and of course, Pastor's handmade milkshakes. Oh, we'll be watching "Tangled" by the way.
Saturday: Time for some down and dirty overtime, plus Deanna's folks are in town, so I'm sure there will be hanging out after work.
Sunday: Spokane MS Walk at Spokane Falls Community College at 9am, followed by more hanging out with parents, and then Geek Moot at 5pm (we're picking up a super challenging campaign, so I need to be mentally alert).
So in light of my super busy weekend (where my downtime will be filled with cuddling or Pokemon) I'm not going to post anything new. However, if you, my dear readers, would like to submit some ideas for me to blog about, or have questions or comments you'd like me to address, I will be more than happy to do so as soon as Monday rolls around.
(I might arrange a guest blogger for the weekend too, if I don't get any submissions)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The Rules
One of the things I like best about Deanna is her ability to get me to talk about the strangest stuff. Okay, it's not so much an ability to get me to talk, as it is more an ability to withstand the amount of dorky stuff that pours out of my mouth.
Last night's conversation was about little things that annoyed us, and I launched into my soap box speech about how guys should not talk to each other in a public restroom.
I'm really not sure when or where this practice began, but I can guess it had something to do with the monks who took vows of silence, and realized the blessing of silence in a public restroom.
So, dear readers, here are the Men's Restroom Rules for you consideration.
1. Do not talk to each other, ever. Did you know that the Romans had large public restrooms in their empire? Their empire fell to pieces. This is why we enjoy silence, because every time you talk, you risk having America collapse.
2. When the stall door is shut, I am invisible. It is for the best if you do not attempt to identify the person who just made that "manly" sound/smell by their shoes. Treat them with dignity and anonymity.
3. The Mark of Shame. It is a well known fact that some men sit down to pee, like little sissy girls. Remember that all men in the room can hear what you are doing, and if you use a sitting stall to just pee, you best be standing up with the door open, or you will be held down and branded as a little sissy girl for the rest of your life. That, or poop.
4. Do not pleasure yourself, EVER. Remember, we can hear everything you do in that stall. Approved "manly" sounds are all we want to hear. What we don't want to hear is someone struggling and grunting to...ya know what, forget explaining this. If you get caught "pleasuring yourself" in a public restroom, you will be branded a freak for life. Wait until you're at home for cryin' out loud!
5. No women allowed. They have cooties, need you any other reason?
Last night's conversation was about little things that annoyed us, and I launched into my soap box speech about how guys should not talk to each other in a public restroom.
I'm really not sure when or where this practice began, but I can guess it had something to do with the monks who took vows of silence, and realized the blessing of silence in a public restroom.
So, dear readers, here are the Men's Restroom Rules for you consideration.
1. Do not talk to each other, ever. Did you know that the Romans had large public restrooms in their empire? Their empire fell to pieces. This is why we enjoy silence, because every time you talk, you risk having America collapse.
2. When the stall door is shut, I am invisible. It is for the best if you do not attempt to identify the person who just made that "manly" sound/smell by their shoes. Treat them with dignity and anonymity.
3. The Mark of Shame. It is a well known fact that some men sit down to pee, like little sissy girls. Remember that all men in the room can hear what you are doing, and if you use a sitting stall to just pee, you best be standing up with the door open, or you will be held down and branded as a little sissy girl for the rest of your life. That, or poop.
4. Do not pleasure yourself, EVER. Remember, we can hear everything you do in that stall. Approved "manly" sounds are all we want to hear. What we don't want to hear is someone struggling and grunting to...ya know what, forget explaining this. If you get caught "pleasuring yourself" in a public restroom, you will be branded a freak for life. Wait until you're at home for cryin' out loud!
5. No women allowed. They have cooties, need you any other reason?
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Descent Into Geekdom
Over the past ten years or so, I have noticed a slow, downward spiral towards ultimate geekdom in my life.
It started with MMORPGs, then moved to buying my own custom built computer (thanks Chad), then it moved to purchasing high speed internet, followed by what I consider the most recent milestones in this tragic tale of normal boy transformed into a geek.
First, even though I do play table top RPGs every week, I had never EVER been to a convention. That experience happened last year at GameCon, where I not only attended my first convention, I actually ran a game for them!!!
Follow that up several months later where I ran not one, but two games at SpoCon.
That's when I first noted the descent. I had crossed a line into a world of geekiness that I believe escape from is impossible at this point.
Technically, impossible from the point of last night at 9:30pm.
You see, there's one aspect of geekdom that I had yet to participate fully in until last night, and that was a fullblown LARP (Live Action Role Play for those who don't know).
Side Note: I technically spent 5 years in Amtgard role playing there, but there were few cahnces, and it was mostly combat oriented with padded weapons, rather than actual role playing. Back to the Blog.
At first, I was prepared to jump in with both feet and no clue as to how to play, which is my favorite approach to all games, but then I was informed of Deanna's parents coming into town and wanting to go out with dinner, so I just went along to observe until dinner time. But after dinner, I went back to the LARP, and jumped right in.
The scariest thing was how much I enjoyed it. Let me put it into perspective for you. Friday night was going to be pretty short. I had to be at work today at 5:30am, so my bedtime was 8:00pm last night, just so I could get some decent sleep. People showed up, and starting gathering at the LARP at a little after 6:00pm. The plan for dinner was to meet up with Deanna and her folks around 7:00pm, eat, and then go home and go to bed.
I didn't even play before dinner, I just hung around and chewed the fat with a couple friends before leaving. Yet, all through dinner, it was an epic battle between my normal self and my geek self as to whether I should go home, be responsible and sleep, or go back to the game and play a little, despite the lateness and having to work early. I ended up going back to the game. Which caused me to get to bed around midnight, and up at 4:30am to get ready for work.
I'm a little tired right now, but my inner geek is sustaining me, since it is so pleased at winning the fight last night and getting to come out and take control.
So, my name is Dave. I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess...I'm also a geek. And proud of it.
I have arrived at my destination, Geek City, population: me.
How close are you to total Geekdom, dear readers? And does blogging really count as a geek activity these days??
It started with MMORPGs, then moved to buying my own custom built computer (thanks Chad), then it moved to purchasing high speed internet, followed by what I consider the most recent milestones in this tragic tale of normal boy transformed into a geek.
First, even though I do play table top RPGs every week, I had never EVER been to a convention. That experience happened last year at GameCon, where I not only attended my first convention, I actually ran a game for them!!!
Follow that up several months later where I ran not one, but two games at SpoCon.
That's when I first noted the descent. I had crossed a line into a world of geekiness that I believe escape from is impossible at this point.
Technically, impossible from the point of last night at 9:30pm.
You see, there's one aspect of geekdom that I had yet to participate fully in until last night, and that was a fullblown LARP (Live Action Role Play for those who don't know).
Side Note: I technically spent 5 years in Amtgard role playing there, but there were few cahnces, and it was mostly combat oriented with padded weapons, rather than actual role playing. Back to the Blog.
At first, I was prepared to jump in with both feet and no clue as to how to play, which is my favorite approach to all games, but then I was informed of Deanna's parents coming into town and wanting to go out with dinner, so I just went along to observe until dinner time. But after dinner, I went back to the LARP, and jumped right in.
The scariest thing was how much I enjoyed it. Let me put it into perspective for you. Friday night was going to be pretty short. I had to be at work today at 5:30am, so my bedtime was 8:00pm last night, just so I could get some decent sleep. People showed up, and starting gathering at the LARP at a little after 6:00pm. The plan for dinner was to meet up with Deanna and her folks around 7:00pm, eat, and then go home and go to bed.
I didn't even play before dinner, I just hung around and chewed the fat with a couple friends before leaving. Yet, all through dinner, it was an epic battle between my normal self and my geek self as to whether I should go home, be responsible and sleep, or go back to the game and play a little, despite the lateness and having to work early. I ended up going back to the game. Which caused me to get to bed around midnight, and up at 4:30am to get ready for work.
I'm a little tired right now, but my inner geek is sustaining me, since it is so pleased at winning the fight last night and getting to come out and take control.
So, my name is Dave. I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess...I'm also a geek. And proud of it.
I have arrived at my destination, Geek City, population: me.
How close are you to total Geekdom, dear readers? And does blogging really count as a geek activity these days??
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Surprises
Yesterday was my day off (I work this Saturday), and my chance to do something nice for Deanna. But I had to surprise her. More to the point, I have to actually work at surprising her.
I'm not good at keeping secrets when it involves surprises. For some genetic reason, I just have to tell someone. It's not a desire so much as a driving need to let it out. Because of that, I have to work extremely hard to do something she doesn't expect.
And that usually involves telling someone else who won't tell her.
Moving on though, I also had to hide the fact I wasn't at work, or else she'd totally know I was up to something. So I got up early to call her, as is our usual morning routine.
Side Note: There are a lot of people, some friends included, that automatically assume that we live together. This is not the case. She lives on the north side of the city, and I live on the east side, close to the Idaho border. It's about 35 minutes one way to her house. And it's kinda fun to watch people boggle and reel when they find out we aren't living together, or even sleeping together. It's also sad that even people who know us as Christians still just assume we're living and sleeping together prior to being married. Oh well. Back to the blog.
After I called her, I wanted to go over to her place right away to get everything ready, but I knew she sometimes goes home for lunch, and I didn't want to get caught in the act.
Side Note: Yes, I have a key to her place, mostly for emergencies, or surprises, like this one. It's not an open door policy. Back to the blog.
So I did whatever I could to bide my time. I played some Pokemon, watched a movie, even did my laundry! Eventually, I was in the safe zone and went over.
I did her dishes, cleaned off the dining room table, and planned our evening. Frisbee at the park until sunset, then a candle-lit dinner, followed by "Dirty Dancing". The only problem I had with keeping it all a surprise was were to park my car. Of course, my awesome "ninja skillz" took over and I hid it in plain sight. She even walked right past it and didn't think to look twice.
Side Note: I really do have "ninja skillz", but I'm saving that for another post. Back to the blog.
In fact, genuine surprise covered her face when I opened the door and welcomed her home. She was quite delighted.
The rest of our evening went well, and I was super proud of myself for being able to keep it all a secret.
Also, "Dirty Dancing" was a pretty good movie, although Deanna kept having to cover my eyes during a couple scenes.
So, dear readers, what have you done for your sweetheart lately?
I'm not good at keeping secrets when it involves surprises. For some genetic reason, I just have to tell someone. It's not a desire so much as a driving need to let it out. Because of that, I have to work extremely hard to do something she doesn't expect.
And that usually involves telling someone else who won't tell her.
Moving on though, I also had to hide the fact I wasn't at work, or else she'd totally know I was up to something. So I got up early to call her, as is our usual morning routine.
Side Note: There are a lot of people, some friends included, that automatically assume that we live together. This is not the case. She lives on the north side of the city, and I live on the east side, close to the Idaho border. It's about 35 minutes one way to her house. And it's kinda fun to watch people boggle and reel when they find out we aren't living together, or even sleeping together. It's also sad that even people who know us as Christians still just assume we're living and sleeping together prior to being married. Oh well. Back to the blog.
After I called her, I wanted to go over to her place right away to get everything ready, but I knew she sometimes goes home for lunch, and I didn't want to get caught in the act.
Side Note: Yes, I have a key to her place, mostly for emergencies, or surprises, like this one. It's not an open door policy. Back to the blog.
So I did whatever I could to bide my time. I played some Pokemon, watched a movie, even did my laundry! Eventually, I was in the safe zone and went over.
I did her dishes, cleaned off the dining room table, and planned our evening. Frisbee at the park until sunset, then a candle-lit dinner, followed by "Dirty Dancing". The only problem I had with keeping it all a surprise was were to park my car. Of course, my awesome "ninja skillz" took over and I hid it in plain sight. She even walked right past it and didn't think to look twice.
Side Note: I really do have "ninja skillz", but I'm saving that for another post. Back to the blog.
In fact, genuine surprise covered her face when I opened the door and welcomed her home. She was quite delighted.
The rest of our evening went well, and I was super proud of myself for being able to keep it all a secret.
Also, "Dirty Dancing" was a pretty good movie, although Deanna kept having to cover my eyes during a couple scenes.
So, dear readers, what have you done for your sweetheart lately?
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Q&A Once More
Okay dear readers, time for some Q&A.
My question to you is, what would you like to be when/if/even if you don't grow up?
Personally, I'd want to be my own narrator for my life, kinda like in "The Christmas Story". I think that'd be fun.
Also, don't forget to order one of Star LaSky's books here! Congrats again on becoming published Star!
(I'm ordering mine tonight and having it shipped to her house so I can get an autographed copy, hehe!)
My question to you is, what would you like to be when/if/even if you don't grow up?
Personally, I'd want to be my own narrator for my life, kinda like in "The Christmas Story". I think that'd be fun.
Also, don't forget to order one of Star LaSky's books here! Congrats again on becoming published Star!
(I'm ordering mine tonight and having it shipped to her house so I can get an autographed copy, hehe!)
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Exciting News!
In my life, I've had a few friends that I've exclusively know via internet. One of them, who goes by the pen name Star LaSky, just became a published author!
I'm so excited for her! Go buy her book!
Click Here to check it out!
Way to go Star!!!
(Let the record show we were friends BEFORE she became famous.)
I'm so excited for her! Go buy her book!
Click Here to check it out!
Way to go Star!!!
(Let the record show we were friends BEFORE she became famous.)
Friday, March 18, 2011
Funny Little Thing Called 'Love'
This morning's drive to work was one of deep thought as I spent the time thinking about 'love' and how much we actually know about it. What follows is a semi-chronological history of my dealings with the subject.
The exact date of the first time I thought of love is lost to me, but it was when I was 10 years old. For some reason beyond my knowing, I was deeply ingrained with the belief that I was going to get married, and stay married for the rest of my life. I was also completely sure that there was only one woman out there for me.
Several years later, as the hormones began racing through my body, I began to ponder who this on person was, what she would look like, and how wonderful our life together would be. I also began to become awkward around the girls at school, and that lead to many, MANY, socially dumb moves.
I actually began composing a list of items my future spouse was required to have. She would have to be ticklish, have curly hair, straight teeth, wear those "modest-but-tight-in-the-right-places" dresses all the girls at church wore, etc, etc, and so on and son into a complete mess of items that I was sure only one girl in the world would ever fit into.
I tried to hit on a couple girls, but in the 5th grade, that appears to be nothing but chasing the girls and teasing them and pulling their hair. I'm not sure who came up with this tradition, but I think it's to help relieve the embarrassment following devastating breakups further on. Why else would we really have a notion for making the girls cry?
My particular experience with this lasted all of two days. On the first day, I teased the girl, on the second, I wouldn't leave her alone at recess, so she slapped me. When I woke, surrounded by the playground lady and many classmates who had been at least 800 ft away when the slap occurred, I decided to ice my face (at the request of the nurse) and try a different tactic. Something that involved the girls being more than arms length away before flirting with them.
I moved to Spokane the next year, and tried one more time. This time, I asked her at arms reach to the school dance. We went, and it turned out she lived only a block away. She was a cute little red-head who gave me my first real Valentine's Day gift, a stuffed rabbit which I named Shakespeare. I gave her a poster of a chocolate heart that I got on my last visit to the dentist. We got along pretty well, until I moved again in the 8th grade, and we stopped speaking to each other. Mostly because I was too lazy to write letters. Last I heard, she was engaged to a chainsaw artist who sculpts wooden statues.
Moving back to the other town just increased my desire to date, but severely handicapped my status due to the fact I was a total dork, and a jerk to the girls in grade school. I tried the "friend first" approach.
Side Note: For those who don't know (I'm assuming mostly just women) the "friends first" approach is a tried and failed manly approach at getting into a dating scenario. Unfortunately, no guy between the ages of 14-25 realizes that it won't work, and even if it does, it's totally divine intervention. The approach calls for the guy to insert himself close to a gal as her "friend" with the intention of waiting days, weeks, months, even years for her to realize what a stupendous guy he is, and how much better he is than any guys she's ever dated, and begin dating him. Back to the blog.
That approach, as always, failed miserably. Or at least I thought so. On the last day of 9th grade, after being best friends with the young lady who laid me out in the 5th grade, I broke the news I was moving again, and she lunged at me.
Now, to be honest, I'm a lover, not a fighter. Her moved was more akin to a vicious bear attack than anything I had ever seen before, and so, in anticipation of having my face ripped off, I screamed. Like a little girl. She just simply kissed me on the cheek, and skipped away to her mother's car. I was devestated at that point. I mean, here I was moving again, and I missed out on the one opportunity to pull off a successful "friends first" approach.
The rest of high school did not go well, as I got stuck in the "let's just be friends" loop from several young women.
Side Note: Let's just lay this one on the table now, so that every female out there can understand. NO GUY WANTS TO BE JUST FRIENDS. Seriously, it' just telling us "I don't like you enough to date you, but I also don't like you enough to tell you the truth and let you pursue another female because I want you to spend years at a distance while I torture you dating horrible guys that are worse than you all the time making it clear I don't want to date you and want you to die alone and suffering." That might be an overstatement, but it's also true. Either we want to sleep with you, or we ignore you. Granted, years of experience down the road will give us broader shades of gray and we can be friends in a totally casual with-the-spouse-present way, but that's not until at least 30. Til then, we're totally hoping that a miracle happens and we can get into your pants. Back to the blog.
College was the last of my socially dumb moves, and ended any chance of dating for about two years. My biggest mistake was to volunteer to be the group leader for the Adam vs Eve project in my Biblical Literature class. Following my standing-on-the-cafeteria-table-bellowing-how-Eve-was-at-fault-for-bringing-all-sin-into-the-world phase, I was unanimously banned from all female contact.
I actually moved to from Idaho to Kentucky the next year just to out run the growing awareness of my college outburst. Kentucky was definitely a worthwhile trip, as I got a job in the cafeteria of Northern Kentucky University, and hooked into the Baptist Student Union, which harbored no less than ten eligible and marriage oriented females who liked me.
However, I was completely down the path of Eric and Leslie Ludy, and waiting to date just that one person God had chosen for me. In hindsight, it was probably a good thing, but there's still a part of me that wonders which one of those women would have said "yes" if I had dated and proposed to her. All of them, save two, are now married to other guys.
I eventually moved back to Washington, still unable to move beyond a 1st date. I decided not to risk my heart anymore, and pulled it off the table for dating. I did everything I could to be happy with who I was as a person and pursued other interests.
About 3 years ago, I began to ponder on love again, and trying to find a way to date without being hurt. Despite all the experience of rejection (that's sarcasm right there) and the hundreds of hours spent learning about relationships through books, classes, even listening to old ladies give me advice, nothing seemed to work.
I had to face the facts. If I wanted to find someone to date, I had to get my heart hurt. Dating would be a time of loneliness, dashed hopes, and awful memories. But I knew that if I just went through it, I would find that person I would want to marry.
I hadn't had that old list for at least a decade. I didn't really need it anymore because I wanted that person to be a surprise to me. I stopped following the Ludy's books and ways, not that they weren't Biblical, just that I didn't want to wait anymore. I even stopped following the advice of the little old ladies, because I figured out that every relationship is unique. I had only one option now. Get in the trenches, get hurt, get a little bloody, and I'd come out with the best person for me.
Surprisingly, it worked! In less than six months from now, we'll be husband and wife.
It just goes to show you, love can be such a funny little thing.
The exact date of the first time I thought of love is lost to me, but it was when I was 10 years old. For some reason beyond my knowing, I was deeply ingrained with the belief that I was going to get married, and stay married for the rest of my life. I was also completely sure that there was only one woman out there for me.
Several years later, as the hormones began racing through my body, I began to ponder who this on person was, what she would look like, and how wonderful our life together would be. I also began to become awkward around the girls at school, and that lead to many, MANY, socially dumb moves.
I actually began composing a list of items my future spouse was required to have. She would have to be ticklish, have curly hair, straight teeth, wear those "modest-but-tight-in-the-right-places" dresses all the girls at church wore, etc, etc, and so on and son into a complete mess of items that I was sure only one girl in the world would ever fit into.
I tried to hit on a couple girls, but in the 5th grade, that appears to be nothing but chasing the girls and teasing them and pulling their hair. I'm not sure who came up with this tradition, but I think it's to help relieve the embarrassment following devastating breakups further on. Why else would we really have a notion for making the girls cry?
My particular experience with this lasted all of two days. On the first day, I teased the girl, on the second, I wouldn't leave her alone at recess, so she slapped me. When I woke, surrounded by the playground lady and many classmates who had been at least 800 ft away when the slap occurred, I decided to ice my face (at the request of the nurse) and try a different tactic. Something that involved the girls being more than arms length away before flirting with them.
I moved to Spokane the next year, and tried one more time. This time, I asked her at arms reach to the school dance. We went, and it turned out she lived only a block away. She was a cute little red-head who gave me my first real Valentine's Day gift, a stuffed rabbit which I named Shakespeare. I gave her a poster of a chocolate heart that I got on my last visit to the dentist. We got along pretty well, until I moved again in the 8th grade, and we stopped speaking to each other. Mostly because I was too lazy to write letters. Last I heard, she was engaged to a chainsaw artist who sculpts wooden statues.
Moving back to the other town just increased my desire to date, but severely handicapped my status due to the fact I was a total dork, and a jerk to the girls in grade school. I tried the "friend first" approach.
Side Note: For those who don't know (I'm assuming mostly just women) the "friends first" approach is a tried and failed manly approach at getting into a dating scenario. Unfortunately, no guy between the ages of 14-25 realizes that it won't work, and even if it does, it's totally divine intervention. The approach calls for the guy to insert himself close to a gal as her "friend" with the intention of waiting days, weeks, months, even years for her to realize what a stupendous guy he is, and how much better he is than any guys she's ever dated, and begin dating him. Back to the blog.
That approach, as always, failed miserably. Or at least I thought so. On the last day of 9th grade, after being best friends with the young lady who laid me out in the 5th grade, I broke the news I was moving again, and she lunged at me.
Now, to be honest, I'm a lover, not a fighter. Her moved was more akin to a vicious bear attack than anything I had ever seen before, and so, in anticipation of having my face ripped off, I screamed. Like a little girl. She just simply kissed me on the cheek, and skipped away to her mother's car. I was devestated at that point. I mean, here I was moving again, and I missed out on the one opportunity to pull off a successful "friends first" approach.
The rest of high school did not go well, as I got stuck in the "let's just be friends" loop from several young women.
Side Note: Let's just lay this one on the table now, so that every female out there can understand. NO GUY WANTS TO BE JUST FRIENDS. Seriously, it' just telling us "I don't like you enough to date you, but I also don't like you enough to tell you the truth and let you pursue another female because I want you to spend years at a distance while I torture you dating horrible guys that are worse than you all the time making it clear I don't want to date you and want you to die alone and suffering." That might be an overstatement, but it's also true. Either we want to sleep with you, or we ignore you. Granted, years of experience down the road will give us broader shades of gray and we can be friends in a totally casual with-the-spouse-present way, but that's not until at least 30. Til then, we're totally hoping that a miracle happens and we can get into your pants. Back to the blog.
College was the last of my socially dumb moves, and ended any chance of dating for about two years. My biggest mistake was to volunteer to be the group leader for the Adam vs Eve project in my Biblical Literature class. Following my standing-on-the-cafeteria-table-bellowing-how-Eve-was-at-fault-for-bringing-all-sin-into-the-world phase, I was unanimously banned from all female contact.
I actually moved to from Idaho to Kentucky the next year just to out run the growing awareness of my college outburst. Kentucky was definitely a worthwhile trip, as I got a job in the cafeteria of Northern Kentucky University, and hooked into the Baptist Student Union, which harbored no less than ten eligible and marriage oriented females who liked me.
However, I was completely down the path of Eric and Leslie Ludy, and waiting to date just that one person God had chosen for me. In hindsight, it was probably a good thing, but there's still a part of me that wonders which one of those women would have said "yes" if I had dated and proposed to her. All of them, save two, are now married to other guys.
I eventually moved back to Washington, still unable to move beyond a 1st date. I decided not to risk my heart anymore, and pulled it off the table for dating. I did everything I could to be happy with who I was as a person and pursued other interests.
About 3 years ago, I began to ponder on love again, and trying to find a way to date without being hurt. Despite all the experience of rejection (that's sarcasm right there) and the hundreds of hours spent learning about relationships through books, classes, even listening to old ladies give me advice, nothing seemed to work.
I had to face the facts. If I wanted to find someone to date, I had to get my heart hurt. Dating would be a time of loneliness, dashed hopes, and awful memories. But I knew that if I just went through it, I would find that person I would want to marry.
I hadn't had that old list for at least a decade. I didn't really need it anymore because I wanted that person to be a surprise to me. I stopped following the Ludy's books and ways, not that they weren't Biblical, just that I didn't want to wait anymore. I even stopped following the advice of the little old ladies, because I figured out that every relationship is unique. I had only one option now. Get in the trenches, get hurt, get a little bloody, and I'd come out with the best person for me.
Surprisingly, it worked! In less than six months from now, we'll be husband and wife.
It just goes to show you, love can be such a funny little thing.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
My Friend The Cupcake
I have to admit that I have a weakness for all things sugary. Well most things. I had seaweed candy once from Singapore. I do not have a weakness for that except the retching in my stomach after eating it.
Moving on.
One of our church members, who is also a friend, has a business making such wonderful sugary treats known as cupcakes . Mr. Magic's Cupcake Factory to be exact. This past Sunday, they brought some cupcakes for everyone in their Sunday School class, and since I just happened to be waiting in the foyer for him to arrive, I went ahead and helped myself to one before going to my own Sunday School activities.
The first problem was which one to choose from. There were several yummy varieties to choose from. Like these:
Which I forget what kind they were. But something yummy. No doubt about that. There were also these:
Which are Mexican Chocolate. They are a mix of caramel and chocolate. It was hard not to just grab the box and run at that point. I controlled myself though, and ended up with this one:
This one is the Washington Carmel Apple cupcake. Honestly, I really enjoy it when companies make stuff related to their states.
Side Note: Last night, Deanna and I went out for sushi with her friend Scout, who's spending some time over here on vacation. As we were browsing the menu, I noticed several state specific sushi. Washington Roll, Idaho Roll, Montana Roll, etc. I suggested coming back one day and having all the state rolls just for kicks. We did end up ordering the Montana Rolls, which were awesome! But this blog is about cupcakes, so lets get back.
The above picture was taken prior to my actual taste test. The intention was to split this with Deanna, and only eat half. However, shortly after taking the first bite, I was thrown into a blissful state of ravenous munching and when I snapped out of it, I only had half of the wrapper and a deep bite mark on my finger.
It's her fault for not coming to church with me that day anyway, right?
The cupcake itself was just amazing. It had real apple chunks and a mouth-watering carmel filled center! I'm adding these guys to our list of possible suppliers for the wedding, since we need to feed about 300 people some sort of desert. Though I'm not sure 300 people crazed on yummy goodness would be safe for the decorations, or the DJ.
If you want to learn more, check them out on facebook!
Moving on.
One of our church members, who is also a friend, has a business making such wonderful sugary treats known as cupcakes . Mr. Magic's Cupcake Factory to be exact. This past Sunday, they brought some cupcakes for everyone in their Sunday School class, and since I just happened to be waiting in the foyer for him to arrive, I went ahead and helped myself to one before going to my own Sunday School activities.
The first problem was which one to choose from. There were several yummy varieties to choose from. Like these:
Which I forget what kind they were. But something yummy. No doubt about that. There were also these:
This one is the Washington Carmel Apple cupcake. Honestly, I really enjoy it when companies make stuff related to their states.
Side Note: Last night, Deanna and I went out for sushi with her friend Scout, who's spending some time over here on vacation. As we were browsing the menu, I noticed several state specific sushi. Washington Roll, Idaho Roll, Montana Roll, etc. I suggested coming back one day and having all the state rolls just for kicks. We did end up ordering the Montana Rolls, which were awesome! But this blog is about cupcakes, so lets get back.
The above picture was taken prior to my actual taste test. The intention was to split this with Deanna, and only eat half. However, shortly after taking the first bite, I was thrown into a blissful state of ravenous munching and when I snapped out of it, I only had half of the wrapper and a deep bite mark on my finger.
It's her fault for not coming to church with me that day anyway, right?
The cupcake itself was just amazing. It had real apple chunks and a mouth-watering carmel filled center! I'm adding these guys to our list of possible suppliers for the wedding, since we need to feed about 300 people some sort of desert. Though I'm not sure 300 people crazed on yummy goodness would be safe for the decorations, or the DJ.
If you want to learn more, check them out on facebook!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Just A Thought
Last night I read an article on the Japanese disaster, and a quote from one of the locals really stood out to me. He said that he once had a good life, but now he had nothing.
That really struck me.
I have a lot to be thankful to God for. I can't imagine coming home to find half of the city a pile of ruin. It sends chills down my spine just thinking of it. Even more so, I practically go crazy with a panic attack just thinking of not being able to find Deanna in all of that.
It really makes me pray all that harder for those people in distress these days. Not just the Japanese, but everyone. I'm making that my prayer focus this month.
Care to join me dear readers?
That really struck me.
I have a lot to be thankful to God for. I can't imagine coming home to find half of the city a pile of ruin. It sends chills down my spine just thinking of it. Even more so, I practically go crazy with a panic attack just thinking of not being able to find Deanna in all of that.
It really makes me pray all that harder for those people in distress these days. Not just the Japanese, but everyone. I'm making that my prayer focus this month.
Care to join me dear readers?
Monday, March 14, 2011
A Funny Thing Happened To Me At Church...
This last weekend, in between sessions of Children's Church, a couple of my Quizzers came up and asked about the Great Quizzing Challenge I was planning for them.
Side Note: The Great Quizzing Challenge is something I created to challenge my quizzers throughout the Quizzing season. The top ten quizzers would get dinner, a movie, and our Pastor's homemade milkshakes. It was originally designed to test their ability to adhere to my rules and guidelines, but eventually I felt guilty enough to get rid of that concept, and basically, it's going to be a surprise for ALL of the quizzers, not just the top ten I originally intended. Parents, please don't tell the kids yet! Back to the Blog.
We were discussing the movie choices for the Challenge party, and I mentioned that I had decided to show Despicable Me. The children wanted to watch How To Train Your Dragon instead. I declined to show that movie because some scenes are pretty scary for the littler kids. Both of the children agreed, and we began talking about Toothless and how awesome the fight was between him and the huge dragon in the movie.
At this point, my geekiness broke through, and I mentioned that I would really like to see Toothless take on Batman.
The youngest girl (about 7) looked at me, stated with all measure of disappointment "You're acting like a little boy again", and stomped off.
She was right, of course. Still, you have to admit that would be a fun fight to watch.
Anything like this every happen to you?
Side Note: The Great Quizzing Challenge is something I created to challenge my quizzers throughout the Quizzing season. The top ten quizzers would get dinner, a movie, and our Pastor's homemade milkshakes. It was originally designed to test their ability to adhere to my rules and guidelines, but eventually I felt guilty enough to get rid of that concept, and basically, it's going to be a surprise for ALL of the quizzers, not just the top ten I originally intended. Parents, please don't tell the kids yet! Back to the Blog.
We were discussing the movie choices for the Challenge party, and I mentioned that I had decided to show Despicable Me. The children wanted to watch How To Train Your Dragon instead. I declined to show that movie because some scenes are pretty scary for the littler kids. Both of the children agreed, and we began talking about Toothless and how awesome the fight was between him and the huge dragon in the movie.
At this point, my geekiness broke through, and I mentioned that I would really like to see Toothless take on Batman.
The youngest girl (about 7) looked at me, stated with all measure of disappointment "You're acting like a little boy again", and stomped off.
She was right, of course. Still, you have to admit that would be a fun fight to watch.
Anything like this every happen to you?
Friday, March 11, 2011
Because...Well, Why Not?
Deanna is one of the few people I actually know that observe Lent. I'm not against it, nor do I observe it. But it is interesting to hear people talk about giving things up, especially when it comes to the days of the week.
Fat Tuesday
Ash Wednesday
Must See TV Thursday
I have to admit that in the way of traditions that involve naming days of the week meaningful things, my favorite would have to be one I learned early on as a teen.
Fat Saturday
This was originally, as far as I knew, invented by Bill Cosby as a joke during the Season 8 episode "With This Ring?" (I know, I know, it's really the end of the Mardi Gras celebration, but I don't really observe that either.) I like his version best anyways. You can eat whatever you want, all day long.
It'd be cool if we did that every year. Except of course for the people who gave up chocolate, because no matter how much sugar you eat, you just can't satisfy a chocolate craving.
As many people who know me will tell you, I'm a firm believer in holidays. As a country, we have a good amount of holidays. Let me just run down the list with you.
January - New Years, Martin Luther King Day
February - Valentines Day, Presidents Day
March - St Patrick's Day
April - Earth Day, Easter
May - Mother's Day, Memorial Day
June - Flag Day, Father's Day
July - Independence Day
September - Labor Day
October - Columbus Day, Halloween
November - Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving
December - Christmas Eve, Christmas
You'll notice that there's a month missing. August. Poor, sad, unobserved August. 31 days of nothing. For years, I have been writing my government representatives petitioning them to use my birthday as an excuse for a holiday. (It's in August ya know.)
That's not self serving at all. In fact, I'm giving up quite a lot to create a holiday on my birthday. For instance, on Stark Day, you don't give presents. So I wouldn't even get my birthday presents. See? That's a big sacrifice.
I've put a lot of thought and effort into it, and despite the best efforts of those government representatives' interns blocking me at every turn, I still hope one day to create Stark Day as an observed holiday.
I'm certain you want it too. It'll be fun. Think of the blank slate of traditions we have. Other than the presents thing. I don't want my holiday to turn into a marketing fiasco.
Want to spend the day sewing fish themed clothing? I could be hip to that.
Or spreading mayonnaise on the lawn? A bit cliche, but that's cool.
I'd like to see people gathered all over the country singing this. (Oh come on, you know you want to sing along!)
Okay, maybe we could make it okay to give others half-pony half-monkey monsters to other people.
So...
What about you readers? What fun tradition would you like to see on Stark Day?
Fat Tuesday
Ash Wednesday
Must See TV Thursday
I have to admit that in the way of traditions that involve naming days of the week meaningful things, my favorite would have to be one I learned early on as a teen.
Fat Saturday
This was originally, as far as I knew, invented by Bill Cosby as a joke during the Season 8 episode "With This Ring?" (I know, I know, it's really the end of the Mardi Gras celebration, but I don't really observe that either.) I like his version best anyways. You can eat whatever you want, all day long.
It'd be cool if we did that every year. Except of course for the people who gave up chocolate, because no matter how much sugar you eat, you just can't satisfy a chocolate craving.
As many people who know me will tell you, I'm a firm believer in holidays. As a country, we have a good amount of holidays. Let me just run down the list with you.
January - New Years, Martin Luther King Day
February - Valentines Day, Presidents Day
March - St Patrick's Day
April - Earth Day, Easter
May - Mother's Day, Memorial Day
June - Flag Day, Father's Day
July - Independence Day
September - Labor Day
October - Columbus Day, Halloween
November - Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving
December - Christmas Eve, Christmas
You'll notice that there's a month missing. August. Poor, sad, unobserved August. 31 days of nothing. For years, I have been writing my government representatives petitioning them to use my birthday as an excuse for a holiday. (It's in August ya know.)
That's not self serving at all. In fact, I'm giving up quite a lot to create a holiday on my birthday. For instance, on Stark Day, you don't give presents. So I wouldn't even get my birthday presents. See? That's a big sacrifice.
I've put a lot of thought and effort into it, and despite the best efforts of those government representatives' interns blocking me at every turn, I still hope one day to create Stark Day as an observed holiday.
I'm certain you want it too. It'll be fun. Think of the blank slate of traditions we have. Other than the presents thing. I don't want my holiday to turn into a marketing fiasco.
Want to spend the day sewing fish themed clothing? I could be hip to that.
Or spreading mayonnaise on the lawn? A bit cliche, but that's cool.
I'd like to see people gathered all over the country singing this. (Oh come on, you know you want to sing along!)
Okay, maybe we could make it okay to give others half-pony half-monkey monsters to other people.
So...
What about you readers? What fun tradition would you like to see on Stark Day?
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Another Important Date in History
Last night, as we were cuddling and catching up on The Big Bang Theory, I asked Deanna a most important question.
"Do you know what day tomorrow is?"
She knew I was asking in reference to something important about us, and so she wrinkled her nose in that cute little way only she can do, and gave me a puzzling look.
"This time tomorrow," I said, "And six month from now, we'll be Husband and Wife."
I've always been big on dates, as she can attest, more so than any other guy in a relationship that I know. I was told early on to remember stuff like that because it's important. She does try though, and can remember her family's birthdays while mine always elude me. My mom was born somewhere around Valentines Day, my older brother has a birthday early in March sometime, and my step mom has one in April that has a 2 in it, and has two digits.
But when it comes to remembering our first date, or the first time we said "I love you" she's not so good.
Still, I love it when she wrinkles her nose! It's so hot!
So dear readers, what dates are important in your relationship?
"Do you know what day tomorrow is?"
She knew I was asking in reference to something important about us, and so she wrinkled her nose in that cute little way only she can do, and gave me a puzzling look.
"This time tomorrow," I said, "And six month from now, we'll be Husband and Wife."
I've always been big on dates, as she can attest, more so than any other guy in a relationship that I know. I was told early on to remember stuff like that because it's important. She does try though, and can remember her family's birthdays while mine always elude me. My mom was born somewhere around Valentines Day, my older brother has a birthday early in March sometime, and my step mom has one in April that has a 2 in it, and has two digits.
But when it comes to remembering our first date, or the first time we said "I love you" she's not so good.
Still, I love it when she wrinkles her nose! It's so hot!
So dear readers, what dates are important in your relationship?
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Dave 438, Gnats 3
This morning I woke up to what I, at first, thought was a real nightmare.
In my shower (I have a see through plastic shower curtain) were a bazillion tiny winged bugs, hanging on everything. I was freaked! With no idea as to what was going on, but nearly every scene from the B Movies I had seen as a child coursing through my head, I threw on my clothes, and left the house.
A quick google search or two later (from the safety of my work) I figured out that these were common gnats, and that they must have hatched from egg sacks in my bathtub drain. I immediately struck out to find a way to kill them, armed with the knowledge only google could provide.
After work, I had a meeting with Deanna and our trusted local jeweler to discuss wedding rings. Deanna is designing mine, since I designed her engagement ring (it's one of a kind ya know). We also found out that one of the stones from her ring had fallen out in the cleaning machine, so she had to leave her ring there so they could find the stone and remount it. As our jeweler walked out to tend to another customer, I got a chance to see her ring next to the base for mine. Instantly, I thought of the crowns from a King and Queen. Her design for my ring is perfect!
After that, we parted ways, and I headed to Home Depot to grab my weapons and prepare to combat the problem of the gnats. I grabbed a couple cans of spray gnat killer (organic of course) and one giant fogger (which is used to coat the entire house in non-organic chemicals designed to kill everything) and headed home.
12 minutes after entering the door, only 3 really fast, super intelligent gnats remain, my bathroom is filled with little winged dead bodies, and my house smells like the inside of a Pepto Bismol bottle. I'm hoping that they remain dead long enough for me to get my house back.
I would like to shower today after all.
In my shower (I have a see through plastic shower curtain) were a bazillion tiny winged bugs, hanging on everything. I was freaked! With no idea as to what was going on, but nearly every scene from the B Movies I had seen as a child coursing through my head, I threw on my clothes, and left the house.
A quick google search or two later (from the safety of my work) I figured out that these were common gnats, and that they must have hatched from egg sacks in my bathtub drain. I immediately struck out to find a way to kill them, armed with the knowledge only google could provide.
After work, I had a meeting with Deanna and our trusted local jeweler to discuss wedding rings. Deanna is designing mine, since I designed her engagement ring (it's one of a kind ya know). We also found out that one of the stones from her ring had fallen out in the cleaning machine, so she had to leave her ring there so they could find the stone and remount it. As our jeweler walked out to tend to another customer, I got a chance to see her ring next to the base for mine. Instantly, I thought of the crowns from a King and Queen. Her design for my ring is perfect!
After that, we parted ways, and I headed to Home Depot to grab my weapons and prepare to combat the problem of the gnats. I grabbed a couple cans of spray gnat killer (organic of course) and one giant fogger (which is used to coat the entire house in non-organic chemicals designed to kill everything) and headed home.
12 minutes after entering the door, only 3 really fast, super intelligent gnats remain, my bathroom is filled with little winged dead bodies, and my house smells like the inside of a Pepto Bismol bottle. I'm hoping that they remain dead long enough for me to get my house back.
I would like to shower today after all.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Can I Have a Day of Rest Please?
This weekend, unfortunately, was extremely busy.
Saturday I was up at 4:30 to get to work at 5:30, worked until 2:00pm, then met up with Deanna for some quality alone time and a movie. I got to bed at about 11:30pm. Needless to say, I was tired.
Sunday I was up at 6:30 to do much needed laundry, and to complete the sermon I had been preparing. Then, 8:30am, Children's Church round one. I'm covering two services because our Family Pastor is in Hawaii for two weeks. 9:45am and I'm up the street for a cup of coffee and more sermon writing. 11:00am is the start of our second service, and my round 2 of Children's Church.
About 15 minutes until the end of class, and I have to call it quits, take a seat, and let the kids descend into chaos. At this point, I'm exhausted. After class, Deanna comes and gets me, and we head to lunch. And God tells me He wants me to rewrite the sermon I had planned. This is now 1:00pm. I preach at 2:00pm, and we just ordered lunch.
1:37pm rolls around, I have 2 pages of sermon notes, a belly full of General's Chicken, fried prawns, and BBQ pork. This doesn't help my physical state, and on top of that, I haven't gone to the bathroom since 6:30 that morning. I was kind of in agony.
3:00pm. Service is done. Instead of the 10-12 minute message I was asked to preach, I ended up preaching about 20 minutes. I managed to find the bathroom before the service so that I didn't explode. I felt even more exhausted, kind of like falling asleep standing (which I've done once before in a blizzard while holding a cup of coffee).
You would think this would be an appropriate time to relax and take a long nap, but I didn't. I have a standing Sunday Night obligation to play RPGs with a bunch of friends. I wanted to cancel, but I really didn't have the time to do so without being uber-rude, so I went.
Skipping over the fun, geeky details of running around in Tolkien's Second Age Middle Earth, I went to bed at around 10:30pm.
I'm still tired. Exhausted. In need of a weekend I can sleep in and relax.
Fortunately, this week only has a couple days planned after work. The rest I intend to go to bed early.
Saturday I was up at 4:30 to get to work at 5:30, worked until 2:00pm, then met up with Deanna for some quality alone time and a movie. I got to bed at about 11:30pm. Needless to say, I was tired.
Sunday I was up at 6:30 to do much needed laundry, and to complete the sermon I had been preparing. Then, 8:30am, Children's Church round one. I'm covering two services because our Family Pastor is in Hawaii for two weeks. 9:45am and I'm up the street for a cup of coffee and more sermon writing. 11:00am is the start of our second service, and my round 2 of Children's Church.
About 15 minutes until the end of class, and I have to call it quits, take a seat, and let the kids descend into chaos. At this point, I'm exhausted. After class, Deanna comes and gets me, and we head to lunch. And God tells me He wants me to rewrite the sermon I had planned. This is now 1:00pm. I preach at 2:00pm, and we just ordered lunch.
1:37pm rolls around, I have 2 pages of sermon notes, a belly full of General's Chicken, fried prawns, and BBQ pork. This doesn't help my physical state, and on top of that, I haven't gone to the bathroom since 6:30 that morning. I was kind of in agony.
3:00pm. Service is done. Instead of the 10-12 minute message I was asked to preach, I ended up preaching about 20 minutes. I managed to find the bathroom before the service so that I didn't explode. I felt even more exhausted, kind of like falling asleep standing (which I've done once before in a blizzard while holding a cup of coffee).
You would think this would be an appropriate time to relax and take a long nap, but I didn't. I have a standing Sunday Night obligation to play RPGs with a bunch of friends. I wanted to cancel, but I really didn't have the time to do so without being uber-rude, so I went.
Skipping over the fun, geeky details of running around in Tolkien's Second Age Middle Earth, I went to bed at around 10:30pm.
I'm still tired. Exhausted. In need of a weekend I can sleep in and relax.
Fortunately, this week only has a couple days planned after work. The rest I intend to go to bed early.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Q&A
Sorry about no post yesterday, my day was busy, and I had to be in bed by 8pm to get up at 4am this morning.
So now it's back to Q&A.
Fire away dear readers!
So now it's back to Q&A.
Fire away dear readers!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
A ton of Wings
Last night our men's small group went out for wings at Wingers. We had 3 Entertainment Book cards with us, so we ended up ordering 6 colossal orders of wings. I think there were almost 100 when all was said and done. Plus two buckets of fries. For 7 guys to split.
Needless to say, my digestive system is all haywire today.
But it was fun! We all came in with our Bibles, and had our small group session between rounds of stuffing our faces with juicy sugary chicken wings. It's been a long time since I've been to any public eatery with the guys, let alone toting my Bible.
So, dear readers, whens the last time you were in public with your Bible?
Needless to say, my digestive system is all haywire today.
But it was fun! We all came in with our Bibles, and had our small group session between rounds of stuffing our faces with juicy sugary chicken wings. It's been a long time since I've been to any public eatery with the guys, let alone toting my Bible.
So, dear readers, whens the last time you were in public with your Bible?
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
My Day Off
Today is my day off since I work this Saturday. Usually I take days like these to relax and hang out, run errands, etc. Today I ended up reading comics. I'd like to share with you one that I really enjoyed!
Fallen Justice written by Cary Kelley and Steven Forbes, Art by Harold Edge
It's one of my favorites now, and I'm lucky enough to own a signed copy. I came across it last year when I was looking for inspiration for a superhero campaign for my regular gaming group. I read the synopsis, and then saved up to buy it as soon as possible! I'd advise everyone who likes superheroes to buy it as well.
One of the best things about the artwork is that it's not as unrealistic as some of the mainstream comic artwork. The women aren't completely absurdly drawn as with other comics, and look more akin to real life than other works of art that I've read.
It's also worked as the perfect inspiration for my campaign. Since I play pen and paper role-playing games, on a regular basis, one of the many things I love doing is creating exciting new worlds and settings for my friends to experience.
Side Note: For those not familiar with "pen and paper role-playing games" click here. Back to the blog.
I've come up with some interesting and wacky settings in my time, very few of which actually reach the table. But this Fallen Justice campaign idea was too good to pass up. It also gave me a chance to bring back my very first role-playing character!!!
His name was Brink, and he was a member of the Justice League of America in the game. I played him for almost two years, fighting crime, building a relationship (as only a twelve year old entering puberty can imagine) with the super heroine Fire. Eventually though, as with every geeky kid with an allowance will do, the comic Death of Superman wound up in our midst, and our Game Master decided since our characters were in the Justice League, we should have to play out that scenario as our heroes.
At the end of our two day gaming spree, Doomsday killed Fire, who was at the time in our game Brink's wife, and Brink lost it. He went completely insane, and attacked Doomsday all out, which resulted in his death.
All of our characters died that day. We stopped playing Champions and moved onto D&D. That was the summer of 1993.
So, for this campaign set on Fallen Justice, I've decided to merge it with the Justice League, and the group will be fresh recruits being trained by Justice League veteran member Brink. I'm hoping the group will totally enjoy it.
I know, I'm a total geek, but this is what you get for a blog post on a day off with comic books.
So, dear readers, what do you do on your days off?
Fallen Justice written by Cary Kelley and Steven Forbes, Art by Harold Edge
It's one of my favorites now, and I'm lucky enough to own a signed copy. I came across it last year when I was looking for inspiration for a superhero campaign for my regular gaming group. I read the synopsis, and then saved up to buy it as soon as possible! I'd advise everyone who likes superheroes to buy it as well.
One of the best things about the artwork is that it's not as unrealistic as some of the mainstream comic artwork. The women aren't completely absurdly drawn as with other comics, and look more akin to real life than other works of art that I've read.
It's also worked as the perfect inspiration for my campaign. Since I play pen and paper role-playing games, on a regular basis, one of the many things I love doing is creating exciting new worlds and settings for my friends to experience.
Side Note: For those not familiar with "pen and paper role-playing games" click here. Back to the blog.
I've come up with some interesting and wacky settings in my time, very few of which actually reach the table. But this Fallen Justice campaign idea was too good to pass up. It also gave me a chance to bring back my very first role-playing character!!!
His name was Brink, and he was a member of the Justice League of America in the game. I played him for almost two years, fighting crime, building a relationship (as only a twelve year old entering puberty can imagine) with the super heroine Fire. Eventually though, as with every geeky kid with an allowance will do, the comic Death of Superman wound up in our midst, and our Game Master decided since our characters were in the Justice League, we should have to play out that scenario as our heroes.
At the end of our two day gaming spree, Doomsday killed Fire, who was at the time in our game Brink's wife, and Brink lost it. He went completely insane, and attacked Doomsday all out, which resulted in his death.
All of our characters died that day. We stopped playing Champions and moved onto D&D. That was the summer of 1993.
So, for this campaign set on Fallen Justice, I've decided to merge it with the Justice League, and the group will be fresh recruits being trained by Justice League veteran member Brink. I'm hoping the group will totally enjoy it.
I know, I'm a total geek, but this is what you get for a blog post on a day off with comic books.
So, dear readers, what do you do on your days off?
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
So Shines A Good Deed In A Weary World
As any one of my friends or family can tell you, I'm extremely opinionated when it comes to movies, often times before I even watch them.
Typically, when a new movie comes out, I do a little research if it looks interesting. I'll go online and check out wikipedia to see if the story is something I want to watch, or check the movie watcher forums to see what buzz is being created about the movie. I'll also check YouTube for every available trailer out there.
But if it's not something I would want to check out, I just dismiss it to the "not gonna watch it" file and let it be.
I get a lot of guff about the films I let fall by the wayside. For example, the movie Avatar. I saw the previews, I read the wiki entry, and the forums, and it just seemed like a dumb movie to me. So into the NGWI file it went. When I tried to explain this to a group of my close friends, I got yelled at a lot for judging the movie before I watched it.
That reaction made me go watch it. It was a dumb movie.
When I came back and said the same thing, and told them I had watched it, they were fine, and a few even agreed with me that the plot was akin to Smurfs or Ferngully The Last Rainforest. It was a dumb movie. So does that make it right that I judged the movie prior to seeing it?
I think so.
There are a lot of movies out there that I will never watch based on just previews, or the general content. I think it's good to have a little prejudgement. For example, I don't need to sit through all 6 Saw movies to know that they aren't something I would watch.
While it's not surprising that some movies are completely devoid of talent, substance, and anything I would consider entertaining, there are the occasional movies that real me in with trailers, wiki, and YouTube only to slap me in the face with obvious regret that I watched it.
Most recently, it was the Death Race movies that did this. The 2008 remake with Jason Statham looked good enough to rent and that lead me to rent Death Race 2 (which is actually the prequel to the 2008 one) and that lead to Death Race 2000 (which is supposed to be the sequel to the 2008 film, I know, it's confusing). I was subsequently slapped in the face.
But it's not always action movies, or even sequels that do it me. Almost everyone has seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and I wager at least some of my readers will agree with me that the movie was poorly done. Specifically, the obscure scene with the tunnel and all that weirdness. ( Which is explained here ) Regardless of my personal feelings on the movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is better because it lacks that tunnel scene.
So in the interest of avoiding such slaps, and allowing people to prejudge movies as they see fit, let me ask you, dear readers, what movies have you got something to say about, whether you've seen them or not.?
Typically, when a new movie comes out, I do a little research if it looks interesting. I'll go online and check out wikipedia to see if the story is something I want to watch, or check the movie watcher forums to see what buzz is being created about the movie. I'll also check YouTube for every available trailer out there.
But if it's not something I would want to check out, I just dismiss it to the "not gonna watch it" file and let it be.
I get a lot of guff about the films I let fall by the wayside. For example, the movie Avatar. I saw the previews, I read the wiki entry, and the forums, and it just seemed like a dumb movie to me. So into the NGWI file it went. When I tried to explain this to a group of my close friends, I got yelled at a lot for judging the movie before I watched it.
That reaction made me go watch it. It was a dumb movie.
When I came back and said the same thing, and told them I had watched it, they were fine, and a few even agreed with me that the plot was akin to Smurfs or Ferngully The Last Rainforest. It was a dumb movie. So does that make it right that I judged the movie prior to seeing it?
I think so.
There are a lot of movies out there that I will never watch based on just previews, or the general content. I think it's good to have a little prejudgement. For example, I don't need to sit through all 6 Saw movies to know that they aren't something I would watch.
While it's not surprising that some movies are completely devoid of talent, substance, and anything I would consider entertaining, there are the occasional movies that real me in with trailers, wiki, and YouTube only to slap me in the face with obvious regret that I watched it.
Most recently, it was the Death Race movies that did this. The 2008 remake with Jason Statham looked good enough to rent and that lead me to rent Death Race 2 (which is actually the prequel to the 2008 one) and that lead to Death Race 2000 (which is supposed to be the sequel to the 2008 film, I know, it's confusing). I was subsequently slapped in the face.
But it's not always action movies, or even sequels that do it me. Almost everyone has seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and I wager at least some of my readers will agree with me that the movie was poorly done. Specifically, the obscure scene with the tunnel and all that weirdness. ( Which is explained here ) Regardless of my personal feelings on the movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is better because it lacks that tunnel scene.
So in the interest of avoiding such slaps, and allowing people to prejudge movies as they see fit, let me ask you, dear readers, what movies have you got something to say about, whether you've seen them or not.?
Monday, February 28, 2011
Fun With A Gun
This weekend Deanna and I worked on some more wedding stuff.
To be specific, I begged her to take me to Target, just so I could play with the little item gun they give you to add store items to your registry. She was kind enough to oblige, and so off we went. The gun was fun to play with, though I'm sure most of the time Deanna was annoyed because I kept shooting her with the gun (she's priceless ya know, get it? priceless? haha, I'm so funny!) and making silly sounds. (Insert this clip into your head for the full effect.)
We also tried some more cake, which was really good, and spent some time snuggling and watching Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. It does my heart good to see Deanna laugh so hard at such a dorky film. If you haven't seen it, go rent it, though it's not for the kids.
Sunday was busy but fun, as I got to present a Quizzing presentation after our church's Children's Talent Show, and my quizzers went up against the staff of the church. Of course, I did pull out a surprise challenge, and tested my quizzers memory verses, which they said perfectly. The staff, trying to be funny, inserted some of their own words, but the best part was when our Senior Pastor messed up (unintentionally) the last part of the memory verse. The kids, as always, rocked the house!
So, a question for my readers, what do you think will be (or was, for the married ones) your favorite part of planning your wedding?
To be specific, I begged her to take me to Target, just so I could play with the little item gun they give you to add store items to your registry. She was kind enough to oblige, and so off we went. The gun was fun to play with, though I'm sure most of the time Deanna was annoyed because I kept shooting her with the gun (she's priceless ya know, get it? priceless? haha, I'm so funny!) and making silly sounds. (Insert this clip into your head for the full effect.)
We also tried some more cake, which was really good, and spent some time snuggling and watching Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. It does my heart good to see Deanna laugh so hard at such a dorky film. If you haven't seen it, go rent it, though it's not for the kids.
Sunday was busy but fun, as I got to present a Quizzing presentation after our church's Children's Talent Show, and my quizzers went up against the staff of the church. Of course, I did pull out a surprise challenge, and tested my quizzers memory verses, which they said perfectly. The staff, trying to be funny, inserted some of their own words, but the best part was when our Senior Pastor messed up (unintentionally) the last part of the memory verse. The kids, as always, rocked the house!
So, a question for my readers, what do you think will be (or was, for the married ones) your favorite part of planning your wedding?
Saturday, February 26, 2011
The Issue at Hand
My apologies for the lack of post yesterday, Deanna and I had the day off work, and we spent most of it together enjoying each others company and shoe shopping. I didn't get home until around midnight, and I was tired, so I didn't post anything.
What I want to talk about today is a hot topic around the nation currently, even more so with the announcement of the Obama administration deciding not to defend DOMA. (clicky) On Thursday, I commented on a blog about the move, and was subsequently called names and attacked after I posted my opinion.
I won't go into specifics, but it was pretty ugly.
This left me with a bad taste in my mouth, and threw me off my game, causing me to be unfocused for volleyball practice (I played the worst game ever) and has been a real thorn in my side when I'm distracted by life or Deanna. So I want to give my opinion on this topic here, where I can control the comments better, and avoid all the ugliness that comes with other people's uncensored blogs.
Side Note: My intent for this blog in it's entirety is to be open and fair with all opinions, but I will not tolerate harassment, name calling, or character assassination in any form, of myself or any commenter. We should all play nice, and get along, or at least in the case of arguments, be civil in our disagreements. Back to the blog.
Now, here is my official religious position.
1) The act of homosexuality is a sin. (Referencing the passages of 1 Cor. 6:9-10 and 1 Tim 1: 10 and the meaning of the word used in both)
2) All sin is equal, if we sin against God in one aspect, it's as if we've sinned against Him in all aspects. (Referencing James 2:10)
3) We are all sinners. (Referencing Romans 3:23)
4) Only through Jesus Christ can we be absolved of our sins. (Referencing John 3:16-17)
5) We should display the proper love and concern for everyone who still lives in sin, and seek to lead them to Christ. (Referencing the passages of 1 John 3:23, John 13:34-35, and Mat 28:18-20)
6) We are going to suffer for sticking with our beliefs. (Referencing 2 Tim 3:12)
7) Despite all that happens, we have the strength to face it. (Referencing 1 Sam 14:6 and Phil 4:13)
That being said, I do feel that my religious views and beliefs are in no way against the government giving legal equality (that is to say, benefits, rights, privileges) to domestic partners or same-sex couples, for the purpose of maintaining an equality of rights among equal people, as long as it doesn't infringe upon my right to worship and observe a religion of my choosing.
So dear readers, keeping a civil and peaceful mind, what are your views on the issue, or my opinion?
What I want to talk about today is a hot topic around the nation currently, even more so with the announcement of the Obama administration deciding not to defend DOMA. (clicky) On Thursday, I commented on a blog about the move, and was subsequently called names and attacked after I posted my opinion.
I won't go into specifics, but it was pretty ugly.
This left me with a bad taste in my mouth, and threw me off my game, causing me to be unfocused for volleyball practice (I played the worst game ever) and has been a real thorn in my side when I'm distracted by life or Deanna. So I want to give my opinion on this topic here, where I can control the comments better, and avoid all the ugliness that comes with other people's uncensored blogs.
Side Note: My intent for this blog in it's entirety is to be open and fair with all opinions, but I will not tolerate harassment, name calling, or character assassination in any form, of myself or any commenter. We should all play nice, and get along, or at least in the case of arguments, be civil in our disagreements. Back to the blog.
Now, here is my official religious position.
1) The act of homosexuality is a sin. (Referencing the passages of 1 Cor. 6:9-10 and 1 Tim 1: 10 and the meaning of the word used in both)
2) All sin is equal, if we sin against God in one aspect, it's as if we've sinned against Him in all aspects. (Referencing James 2:10)
3) We are all sinners. (Referencing Romans 3:23)
4) Only through Jesus Christ can we be absolved of our sins. (Referencing John 3:16-17)
5) We should display the proper love and concern for everyone who still lives in sin, and seek to lead them to Christ. (Referencing the passages of 1 John 3:23, John 13:34-35, and Mat 28:18-20)
6) We are going to suffer for sticking with our beliefs. (Referencing 2 Tim 3:12)
7) Despite all that happens, we have the strength to face it. (Referencing 1 Sam 14:6 and Phil 4:13)
That being said, I do feel that my religious views and beliefs are in no way against the government giving legal equality (that is to say, benefits, rights, privileges) to domestic partners or same-sex couples, for the purpose of maintaining an equality of rights among equal people, as long as it doesn't infringe upon my right to worship and observe a religion of my choosing.
So dear readers, keeping a civil and peaceful mind, what are your views on the issue, or my opinion?
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Q&A...again
Sorry, I'm out of topics on which to speak today. Let's dive back into some Q&A. Only this time, I have a question for you to answer.
What is your favorite winter memory?
What is your favorite winter memory?
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
My Movie List
One of the lists I have in my life are movies that I want to see. Typically, I just make it a mental list, and refer to it when I am just browsing. I often find movies on my list a pawn shops, or second hand stores. I feel like I'm rescuing a friend when I buy them.
Movies, to me, are usually treated like a collectors item. They are, by nature, a celebration of artistic talent and great labor. They should be savored, left to linger on your mind, and enjoyed for years to come. Those are the movies I like.
And at the cost of $200 a ticket at the theatres, they should be waited for until they hit the rental stores. While I'm waiting though, I tend to go and browse the shelves to see what movies I have on my list that I could watch now, and not have to wait.
Wikipedia has been most kind to me in this regard.
I often browse the top ten movies of each year in film to determine what movies I have seen, haven't seen, want to see, and wish I hadn't seen. Plus, I can read up on the plots of questionable movies to see if they make the list.
Just going by the lists of the past two decades of top ten films, I find my list of movies yet to watch incredibly short, but lacking essential movie cornerstones. The following is the list of movies I have not seen, but want to see from 1990 on.
Pretty Woman (1990)
Basic Instinct (1992)
The Firm (1993)
Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Philadelphia (1993)
The Pelican Brief (1993)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Jerry Maguire (1996)
Shakespeare In Love (1998)
Die Another Day (2002)
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
WALL-E (2008)
Now, I know what you're thinking. "How can he have not watched <insert movie you have watched> ??"
Truth is, a lot of these movies I just have never gotten around to, or never came across while browsing the movies available. Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood.
One particular movie, "The Passion of the Christ" has kept me away with the audience make up, rather than anything else. I want to see this movie with a bunch of other Christians and discuss it afterwards over a cup of coffee. However, usually when a local church plays this film, I go stand in line, and I'm shocked to see parents bring their children with them. And I'm not talking about mid-life-transformation-teenagers either. I'm talking 6 year olds. Frankly, it puts me off watching this movie.
Side Note: I have asked to be given for a gift giving occasion a large red 'F' stamp with permanent ink, so that I can mark the foreheads of parents that are failing to raise their kids properly. I'm afraid to see who I will turn into once someone gives me this. Yet, it still remains on my list. Back to the blog.
The others on the list are mostly drama movies, and I have a small appetite for those films. To me, they are like going to P.F. Chang's. I go there, about once or twice a year, just to remind myself why I don't eat there. They both (the movies and Chang's) look good, and entice me into them, but the substance leaves me wishing I had gone elsewhere for something lighter.
So dear readers, what about you? Do you have a list of movies you want to watch? Does something in particular turn you off to certain movies? Please, share!
Movies, to me, are usually treated like a collectors item. They are, by nature, a celebration of artistic talent and great labor. They should be savored, left to linger on your mind, and enjoyed for years to come. Those are the movies I like.
And at the cost of $200 a ticket at the theatres, they should be waited for until they hit the rental stores. While I'm waiting though, I tend to go and browse the shelves to see what movies I have on my list that I could watch now, and not have to wait.
Wikipedia has been most kind to me in this regard.
I often browse the top ten movies of each year in film to determine what movies I have seen, haven't seen, want to see, and wish I hadn't seen. Plus, I can read up on the plots of questionable movies to see if they make the list.
Just going by the lists of the past two decades of top ten films, I find my list of movies yet to watch incredibly short, but lacking essential movie cornerstones. The following is the list of movies I have not seen, but want to see from 1990 on.
Pretty Woman (1990)
Basic Instinct (1992)
The Firm (1993)
Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Philadelphia (1993)
The Pelican Brief (1993)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Jerry Maguire (1996)
Shakespeare In Love (1998)
Die Another Day (2002)
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
WALL-E (2008)
Now, I know what you're thinking. "How can he have not watched <insert movie you have watched> ??"
Truth is, a lot of these movies I just have never gotten around to, or never came across while browsing the movies available. Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood.
One particular movie, "The Passion of the Christ" has kept me away with the audience make up, rather than anything else. I want to see this movie with a bunch of other Christians and discuss it afterwards over a cup of coffee. However, usually when a local church plays this film, I go stand in line, and I'm shocked to see parents bring their children with them. And I'm not talking about mid-life-transformation-teenagers either. I'm talking 6 year olds. Frankly, it puts me off watching this movie.
Side Note: I have asked to be given for a gift giving occasion a large red 'F' stamp with permanent ink, so that I can mark the foreheads of parents that are failing to raise their kids properly. I'm afraid to see who I will turn into once someone gives me this. Yet, it still remains on my list. Back to the blog.
The others on the list are mostly drama movies, and I have a small appetite for those films. To me, they are like going to P.F. Chang's. I go there, about once or twice a year, just to remind myself why I don't eat there. They both (the movies and Chang's) look good, and entice me into them, but the substance leaves me wishing I had gone elsewhere for something lighter.
So dear readers, what about you? Do you have a list of movies you want to watch? Does something in particular turn you off to certain movies? Please, share!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Cool Stuff on the Horizon
Well, today starts my official countdown. 200 days until we say "I do"! I'm excited, if you can't tell yet...
I also am really excited about today because I received my first two assignments as a preacher outside of my local church! About once a month, our church's Pastors go and preach at a couple local retirement homes, and bring messages of hope and love to those wonderful folks. Now I'm one of the ones who gets to go and bring the message.
I've always felt called to a position of preaching, and I've been pursuing that course through classes from my denomination, but aside from the one class on telling the story of God, and one message in our local church, I've never really had any experience doing it. I'm active in my church, right now helping in the children's department as Quizzing Coach (I just got asked if I wanted to do it again next year, to which I said yes), but this is something different than just Children's Church.
Am I nervous? Oh, yes of course. I will never forget what my junior high band teacher once said to me. "You're nervous because you care." And I absolutely care. Not about what they think of me, or how I might come across, but I really care about these people, and leading them in the Spirit as God directs. I really hope that I get to see the results of the Lord's work.
I'm looking forward to this opportunity, and bringing the message to those wonderful folks!
Plus, I really like talking.
I also am really excited about today because I received my first two assignments as a preacher outside of my local church! About once a month, our church's Pastors go and preach at a couple local retirement homes, and bring messages of hope and love to those wonderful folks. Now I'm one of the ones who gets to go and bring the message.
I've always felt called to a position of preaching, and I've been pursuing that course through classes from my denomination, but aside from the one class on telling the story of God, and one message in our local church, I've never really had any experience doing it. I'm active in my church, right now helping in the children's department as Quizzing Coach (I just got asked if I wanted to do it again next year, to which I said yes), but this is something different than just Children's Church.
Am I nervous? Oh, yes of course. I will never forget what my junior high band teacher once said to me. "You're nervous because you care." And I absolutely care. Not about what they think of me, or how I might come across, but I really care about these people, and leading them in the Spirit as God directs. I really hope that I get to see the results of the Lord's work.
I'm looking forward to this opportunity, and bringing the message to those wonderful folks!
Plus, I really like talking.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Strange Memories
I've had this issue for a while, where for one reason or another, I can remember part of a movie I watched as a kid, but I can never remember the name. It bothers me to no end, because, generally, I can remember the name of every movie I've ever watched (and liked).
For example, I remember a scene of a movie where the camera is following a bug or beetle of some sort crawling on the ground. A cup or glass is put over the beetle, and it eats its way through. this repeats a couple of times, until...that's all I remember. But I know it's a movie I've seen, I know a kid did the thing with the beetle and the glass, and I know he gets on a spaceship, and the crew starts dying off, until the kid has to fly the ship through some asteroids while the captain sits there dying.
See? It's weird.
And yet, I can't remember the name of the movie. As for my recollection of movie titles/content, a good example is when last night, while hanging out with friends, one of the said something along the lines of "what's the name of that movie by Cronenberg with the organic guns?" to which I replied, less than two seconds later, "eXistenZ". Freaky, considering a) I've only seen the previews, never the movie and b) the last time the movie preview played in view of my eyes was the year I graduated high school, 1999.
I would add that under my Super Powers list, but I'm not 100% accurate if I've never seen anything about the movie, or didn't really like it.
I've discovered quite a few movies that now reside in my collection that way. A scene or an image that I remember, and suddenly I see it on TV, and I'm scrambling for the guide to see what movie it was.
So far, I've remembered:
Ice Pirates
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Destroyer
Krull
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
The Golden Child
However, the one with the bug, kid and spaceship still elude me. Any help dear readers?
For example, I remember a scene of a movie where the camera is following a bug or beetle of some sort crawling on the ground. A cup or glass is put over the beetle, and it eats its way through. this repeats a couple of times, until...that's all I remember. But I know it's a movie I've seen, I know a kid did the thing with the beetle and the glass, and I know he gets on a spaceship, and the crew starts dying off, until the kid has to fly the ship through some asteroids while the captain sits there dying.
See? It's weird.
And yet, I can't remember the name of the movie. As for my recollection of movie titles/content, a good example is when last night, while hanging out with friends, one of the said something along the lines of "what's the name of that movie by Cronenberg with the organic guns?" to which I replied, less than two seconds later, "eXistenZ". Freaky, considering a) I've only seen the previews, never the movie and b) the last time the movie preview played in view of my eyes was the year I graduated high school, 1999.
I would add that under my Super Powers list, but I'm not 100% accurate if I've never seen anything about the movie, or didn't really like it.
I've discovered quite a few movies that now reside in my collection that way. A scene or an image that I remember, and suddenly I see it on TV, and I'm scrambling for the guide to see what movie it was.
So far, I've remembered:
Ice Pirates
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Destroyer
Krull
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
The Golden Child
However, the one with the bug, kid and spaceship still elude me. Any help dear readers?
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