Thursday, July 31, 2008
Happy to lack
This post is similar to Grrface's, specifically the last item on her list (not being...). I've spent the last two days thinking about how we always grumble about things we don't have (more $$, a day off, etc.) but we rarely think about how happy we are about some of the things we don't have. (This will be clear when you read the list.)
The list is just about the little things, so I'm excluding "Thankful i don't have cancer/Ebola/other."
Glad not to have...
(1) diarrhea. Yuck, right? Think about the last time you had diarrhea. Wasn't it horrible? And when you didn't any more, you probably thought "yay!" and that was it. But take a moment to say to yourself, "I don't have diarrhea." Isn't that nice?
(2) a coldsore inside your cheek. I'm not even certain that's what they're called. You know those little things, they look clear, maybe hard, and you just have to squeeze it, even though that hurts like hell? That's another thing you only think about when you have one. Again, think for a moment how nice it is not having one.
(3) a headache. Headaches suck. Migraines are worse, and I consider migraines big, so they're not on the list, but headaches in general are lousy. You can't enjoy whatever you're doing when you have a headache. You can't concentrate on anything. So take a second and be glad you don't have a headache right now.
(4) a splinter. You know how you sometimes get a splinter in a finger or in your hand, and it's tiny and under the surface and no matter how much you putz with it, dig at it with a needle or whatever, and it's still there? And the skin around it gets red, like your body is hyper-aware of it being there and it's trying to expunge it? Yeah, splinters suck. Yay for no splinters!
(5)
This is a work in progress, so this is as far as I've gotten. Anything you can think to add? It doesn't have to be body-related. I was just in that zone of thinking.
The list is just about the little things, so I'm excluding "Thankful i don't have cancer/Ebola/other."
Glad not to have...
(1) diarrhea. Yuck, right? Think about the last time you had diarrhea. Wasn't it horrible? And when you didn't any more, you probably thought "yay!" and that was it. But take a moment to say to yourself, "I don't have diarrhea." Isn't that nice?
(2) a coldsore inside your cheek. I'm not even certain that's what they're called. You know those little things, they look clear, maybe hard, and you just have to squeeze it, even though that hurts like hell? That's another thing you only think about when you have one. Again, think for a moment how nice it is not having one.
(3) a headache. Headaches suck. Migraines are worse, and I consider migraines big, so they're not on the list, but headaches in general are lousy. You can't enjoy whatever you're doing when you have a headache. You can't concentrate on anything. So take a second and be glad you don't have a headache right now.
(4) a splinter. You know how you sometimes get a splinter in a finger or in your hand, and it's tiny and under the surface and no matter how much you putz with it, dig at it with a needle or whatever, and it's still there? And the skin around it gets red, like your body is hyper-aware of it being there and it's trying to expunge it? Yeah, splinters suck. Yay for no splinters!
(5)
This is a work in progress, so this is as far as I've gotten. Anything you can think to add? It doesn't have to be body-related. I was just in that zone of thinking.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
BONUS!
This is the most awesome thing you'll see today: A video for French duo Zombie Zombie. The video is John Carpenter's amazing horror movie The Thing, redone using 1980s GI Joe figures!
I LOVE THE INTERNET!
I LOVE THE INTERNET!
Diggin' on...
This post is about a show I recently discovered called The Invaders.
First of all, dig the design of the title. How awesome is that? Here's the opening narration of the show:- The Invaders, alien beings from a dying planet. Their destination: the Earth. Their purpose: to make it their world. David Vincent has seen them. For him, it began one lost night on a lonely country road, looking for a shortcut that he never found. It began with a closed deserted diner, and a man too long without sleep to continue his journey. It began with the landing of a craft from another galaxy. Now David Vincent knows that the Invaders are here, that they have taken human form. Somehow he must convince a disbelieving world that the nightmare has already begun.
On the DVDs, Roy Thinnes (main character) discusses each episode with newly recorded intros. The actor has a nice sci-fi looking website here.
Recommended for fans of the "paranoia" type of sci-fi (shades of the "red" scare and all that).
Monday, July 28, 2008
Weekend words
Friends, margaritas, crabs, shrimp, pool, hot tub, Doctor Who, steak, beer, Wii (boxing, bowling, Indiana Jones), Sunday brunch.
Could have lasted a few more days, but it was a lot of fun.
Could have lasted a few more days, but it was a lot of fun.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wii!
The end of August is the five-year anniversary of me making Laura an honest woman (by gettin' hitched and no longer livin' in sin).She just surprised me with a Wii and a pile of games!
So, for those who have one, what games are good? The most fun? Details, please!
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As I mentioned in the Twitter update, the doc thinks I have torn microfibers in the muscle in my shoulder blade. From what? Who can say? Yard work, maybe. I got some strong pills to take when I need them (like this morning, for instance).
Speaking of doctors, our dog Kirby is at the vet right now, getting fixed...
I told a friend that if I had to pick, I'd gladly take shoulder pain over having my balls removed (and I don't think I'd like to meet the guy that would choose the other!).
NOTE: The above pic was on the first page of results for the google image search for "monkey wedding." I thought it would be cute to post a pic of chimps in clothes. Why this pic was in the top ten results, I have NO idea. But it's so completely random, I had to use it! Our wedding attire was rather casual, but not that casual!
To offset the blatent sexism in the above pic, here's one of a monkey riding a dog at a rodeo:
And tomorrow I'm off, thanks to the new nine-day pay period! Wheeee (or Wiiiiii, I guess)!Tuesday, July 22, 2008
I am in love
...with this video. Someone took two of my greatest loves, Star Wars and Jackie Chan, and created THIS:
Never touch Lando's radio!
Never touch Lando's radio!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Option #2
Now I'm thinking maybe I pulled a muscle in my left shoulder somehow, because it started aching like hell Sunday morning. I'm making an appointment for a physical this morning. It's been about a decade, so I'm due. As my wife pointed out, two years ago her aunt thought she pulled a muscle, and she ended up having liver cancer (Jesus, thanks for reminding me about that!).
Creepy paranoid body issues aside, we had a really nice weekend. Saturday we went to a nice lunch then came home and finally watched I Am Legend, courtesy of Netflix. We both liked it. Only I had seen the Charlton Heston and Vincent Price versions as well, but Laura still pointed out that she felt they had left some stuff out. (Wonder what the chances are she'd read the Matheson novella? Unlikely. She doesn't like scary stuff, and his book is pretty horror.) There were ZERO extras, which was surprising and cheap of the studio. Is there some deluxe 2-disc set out or coming?
De, I got the email about the Criterion sale as well. I ended up ordering Two-Lane Blacktop and Throne of Blood. James Taylor and Dennis Wilson in a road movie, and a Samurai version of Macbeth? Hot damn! Makes me wish I could order about 10 more, but gotta show restraint.
Beginning week two of the 9-day pay period experiment. The woman who used to get here before me retired last Friday, so from now on, I'll be the first one on this floor and have to turn on all the lights. Hello? Echo-O-O-O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o...
Creepy paranoid body issues aside, we had a really nice weekend. Saturday we went to a nice lunch then came home and finally watched I Am Legend, courtesy of Netflix. We both liked it. Only I had seen the Charlton Heston and Vincent Price versions as well, but Laura still pointed out that she felt they had left some stuff out. (Wonder what the chances are she'd read the Matheson novella? Unlikely. She doesn't like scary stuff, and his book is pretty horror.) There were ZERO extras, which was surprising and cheap of the studio. Is there some deluxe 2-disc set out or coming?
De, I got the email about the Criterion sale as well. I ended up ordering Two-Lane Blacktop and Throne of Blood. James Taylor and Dennis Wilson in a road movie, and a Samurai version of Macbeth? Hot damn! Makes me wish I could order about 10 more, but gotta show restraint.
Beginning week two of the 9-day pay period experiment. The woman who used to get here before me retired last Friday, so from now on, I'll be the first one on this floor and have to turn on all the lights. Hello? Echo-O-O-O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o...
Friday, July 18, 2008
Dodged a bullet
This morning, around 7 o'clock, for almost two minutes, I was almost certain I was having a heart attack. No fucking joke. Sharp, shooting pain in my left side, got worse with each inhalation. I was seriously debating if I could drive myself to the emergency room.
Then, all of a sudden...
I burped.
And the pain went away.
What the fuck? I had gas? What am I, a baby?
It was a surreal way to start the workday, for sure.
Then, all of a sudden...
I burped.
And the pain went away.
What the fuck? I had gas? What am I, a baby?
It was a surreal way to start the workday, for sure.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
President Bush Meets with President Compaore of Burkina Faso
[I know that this is probably boring, but I lived there for 27 months and I find it very exciting that the little country is getting face time with our president, however brief, to discuss Darfur, AIDS, and girls' education, which the country is really promoting for the first time ever. Girls are attending school in greater numbers than ever, though it's still so low. Here's the transcript of their public comments.]
President Bush Meets with President Compaore of Burkina Faso
President Bush Meets with President Compaore of Burkina Faso
Oval Office
7-16-2008
11:18 A.M. EDT
PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. President, thank you for coming. I first started my conversation with the President by complimenting him on his leadership in the United Nations and in the region. You've been a constructive force for peace and stability.
And we talked about Zimbabwe. I made my position abundantly clear that, one, we are disappointed with the veto of the U.N. Security Council resolution, for which both our nations worked in concert. Secondly, we deeply care about the plight of the citizens of Zimbabwe. And we hope there's a peaceful resolution soon. I told the President, in the meantime our government is looking at, you know, sanctions beyond that which would have been levied out of the U.N. Security Council.
I congratulated the President on the fact that his good nation is a recipient of a Millennium Challenge Account program. It's a program aimed to help farmers, entrepreneurs, and girls and women. It's the right thing to do, Mr. President. This grant would not have been awarded without your commitment to fighting corruption, your willingness to invest in the health and education of your people, and your adherence to marketplace principles. So I congratulate you, sir, on that.
Finally, I talked to him about issues that are dear to my heart, and that are the issues of HIV/AIDS. I congratulated his country for being effective at preventing the spread of AIDS. And we talked about malaria.
It's been my honor to have you here, sir. And I thank you for your leadership, and I thank you for your friendship.
PRESIDENT COMPAORE: (As translated.) First of all, the President and I seized this opportunity to meet, and the first thing I did was to show gratitude to President Bush for the engagement of the United States in favor of our country, Burkina Faso, and especially in terms of poverty reduction and economic development and all the help.
But I said to the President, other than Burkina Faso, all the continent of Africa is very grateful to the initiatives taken by the United States administration in terms of debt reduction, public aid to development, fight against HIV/AIDS, and building schools in our country.
And we talked about the situation on the whole continent, the need for democracy and stability in Africa, and the urgent need for a true rule of law in Zimbabwe. We also talked about the need for a political solution to the crisis in Darfur, which is weighing very heavily in all Africa.
And again, I congratulate President Bush, Congress, and the American people for their commitment for Africa.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, sir.
END 11:23 A.M. EDT
(No idea how long their private meeting was, but the press-op lasted 5 minutes, 8 seconds.)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
A little nation gets a moment in the spotlight
In the end, I decided my French if far too rusty to embarrass myself in front of a world leader, no matter how small the nation, so I skipped the reception for the President of Burkina Faso. The president of Burkina Faso is meeting with our president today at the white house (probably a 5-minute meet-n-greet photo-op. I can't imagine Bush even knows where Burkina Faso is on the map). I was reading a story about it, and it's interesting to see the comments from Africans about the story, calling him a sellout for taking American aid. (C'mon, it's $480 million!). Then I thought about it, and it's interesting (and possibly important) to recall exactly house the current president of Burkina Faso got his job. He became president after a military coup in 1987... a coup in which the then-president Thomas Sankara (a man who remains today a hero to Bukinabe citizens) and the 12 members of his cabinet were killed and buried on the outskirts of the capital. Since then, the president has held elections every five years, which he has easily won each time. He recently had the constitution changed to allow him to serve an additional five-year term. To his credit, he's done this with little violence or unrest since. You just have to overlook the whole bloody coup that got him there.
In the end, as leaders go, there are far worse ones out there. Heck, our president started two wars, threatened at least two more, and has been chipping away at our constitution for nearly a decade. We can't really throw stones, can we? And the citizens of Burkina Faso are really some of the nicest people on the planet. Honestly. The country is very tolerant of religions. There are large beautiful mosques on the same street as big Catholic churches. It's inspiring to see. You see a mosque in America and people start rumors that they're training terrorists inside. And Muslim leaders in Burkina announced recently that they're going to "tour Burkina Faso's 45 provinces and 13 regions in a vast awareness-raising campaign" to promote family planning. How progressive is that??? There are Christian groups in America that would remove their children from school if you tried to explain family planning to them!
So yay for Burkina, getting this money!
In the end, as leaders go, there are far worse ones out there. Heck, our president started two wars, threatened at least two more, and has been chipping away at our constitution for nearly a decade. We can't really throw stones, can we? And the citizens of Burkina Faso are really some of the nicest people on the planet. Honestly. The country is very tolerant of religions. There are large beautiful mosques on the same street as big Catholic churches. It's inspiring to see. You see a mosque in America and people start rumors that they're training terrorists inside. And Muslim leaders in Burkina announced recently that they're going to "tour Burkina Faso's 45 provinces and 13 regions in a vast awareness-raising campaign" to promote family planning. How progressive is that??? There are Christian groups in America that would remove their children from school if you tried to explain family planning to them!
So yay for Burkina, getting this money!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Lesson for the Day
Some days you're the sand person. Some days you're the Skywalker. Saturday, July 12, 2008
River, dogs, and another dog
Above pic is to show you what I mean when I say "we're going to the river." Our dogs are enjoying the view. (Click on pic for HUGE image.)BONUS PIC:
We stayed in town this weekend, actually. All the dogs got bones this Sunday morning. The German shepherd we're taking care of got the "fancy bone" and she pranced around with it hanging from her mouth like she was Hugh Hefner with a cigar at the Bunny Ranch. She is cute, for being such a pain in the ass, I grudgingly admit.
Labels: dogs
Friday, July 11, 2008
When I got home from work last night I had a fever and chills. Slept from 4pm to 6am this morning (14 hours). Fever's lower, but I still feel rather crappy. Came to work because I'm a good little trooper.
Meanwhile, Laura has a huge presentation this morning and stayed up until 3am getting ready. Fingers crossed, because when she lands big accounts, she lets us get the brand-name cereal!
(Kidding, but this is a huge account, so fingers crossed, okay?)
Meanwhile, Laura has a huge presentation this morning and stayed up until 3am getting ready. Fingers crossed, because when she lands big accounts, she lets us get the brand-name cereal!
(Kidding, but this is a huge account, so fingers crossed, okay?)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Sigh
That tin of Star Wars mints? Yeah, the German shepherd of my mother-in-law ate it. Chewed into the metal with powerful teeth. I can't wait for that dog to get out of our house. Sheds everywhere, tries to eat everyone's food, farts... honestly, if I wanted to live in a frat house I would have been in a fraternity in college!
If you've never seen an old German shepherd with bad hips try to chase a cat, you've never seen the most pathetic thing in this time zone.
If you've never seen an old German shepherd with bad hips try to chase a cat, you've never seen the most pathetic thing in this time zone.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Sometimes you find art in the strangest places...
(Updating just because I'm tired of seeing blurry cellphone pics of Star Wars candy...)
Gil Thorp is a daily comic strip that has been running in newspapers since the invention of the printing press and explores the thrilling world of high school sports. The subplots off the playing fields are what make the strip readable (and freaking insane). The current storyline concerns a baseball player getting deported because his father came to America illegally. I don't think that's exactly how the system works, but since 9/11, who knows? Maybe we deport entire families and sort it out later??
I'm describing this simply because I want to highlight a single panel of the strip, from yesterday specifically. The art is usually just okay, nothing special, but yesterday... someone created art:
See it? Just a sec, let's take a closer look...
Holy crap, what beautiful use of black and white. And the caption! Elmer is a high school student, not the king of Zimbabwe. Flies into exile???
Seriously, the artwork rivals one of my favorite b&w comic artists Adrian Tomine.
This single comic strip panel has made my day. I'm thinking of making this my avatar in a few places:
Gil Thorp is a daily comic strip that has been running in newspapers since the invention of the printing press and explores the thrilling world of high school sports. The subplots off the playing fields are what make the strip readable (and freaking insane). The current storyline concerns a baseball player getting deported because his father came to America illegally. I don't think that's exactly how the system works, but since 9/11, who knows? Maybe we deport entire families and sort it out later??
I'm describing this simply because I want to highlight a single panel of the strip, from yesterday specifically. The art is usually just okay, nothing special, but yesterday... someone created art:
See it? Just a sec, let's take a closer look...
Holy crap, what beautiful use of black and white. And the caption! Elmer is a high school student, not the king of Zimbabwe. Flies into exile???Seriously, the artwork rivals one of my favorite b&w comic artists Adrian Tomine.
This single comic strip panel has made my day. I'm thinking of making this my avatar in a few places:
Sunday, July 06, 2008
What's neat? What's cool? What's awesome?
(...Yep, still on vacation!)
Impulse purchase: A tin of mints with Darth Vader on it for a dollar. Kind of neat.
Impulse purchase: A tin of mints with Darth Vader on it for a dollar. Kind of neat.
The inside of the tin shows all the other tins available. Kind of cool.
Whoa... They could have easily just filed the tin with regular mints, but check it out: They took the effort to create a mold of Darth Vader's head. Darth Vader-shaped mints. AWESOME.
Whoa... They could have easily just filed the tin with regular mints, but check it out: They took the effort to create a mold of Darth Vader's head. Darth Vader-shaped mints. AWESOME.Thursday, July 03, 2008
The lazy vacation update
After an hour in the pool at our neighbor's empty house (it's Laura's folks' place; we're allowed!), a pomegranate martini on the back deck, with the sailboats passing by in the bay.
...I could get used to this.
...I could get used to this.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All right, not really, but it is for me! Taking the rest of the week off, as I mentioned in the last post, when I called you "bitches" (sorry 'bout that!).
Got some DVDs and books in my future, and a few naps, and hopefully getting out in the bay in the boat, and probably need to climb on the tractor and mow the field, having been gone for so long and not being sure how much father-in-law got done. Also looking at time in the pool, and grilling things for dinner (chicken, beef, corn, vegetables, etc.).
We're being all social and crap, inviting people down there to partake in the fun, and the summer weekends are filling up.
My job isn't exactly stressful (knock on wood), but I realize we really need this vacation. I'm bringing the laptop, but only for fun things, no work emails will be read. So I'll update blog now and then with pics to make you jealous as you work ;-).
I close today with two pictures:
Is this a double dose of bad luck: Open umbrella in the house plus a black cat under it? Or do the two cancel each other out and it becomes just a cute pic I took yesterday?
Is this the coolest comic of the 1970s? Peter Parker takes Mary Jane to the Saturday Night Live show (Neat in-jokes: Stan Lee is the host and Rick Jones is the musical guest!). The Silver Samurai shows up and fights John Belushi, who is in full costume as a samurai!
Interesting to note that this is from the second season of the show, since Chevy Chase had already left to "chase" movie stardom, and Bill Murray had replaced him (Murray is the bland white guy to the left of Belushi on the cover, and the one SNL member the comic artist did not get down accurately. He never looks like Bill Murray in the comic. Dan Aykroyd, on the other hand, was captured exactly by the artist.
Got some DVDs and books in my future, and a few naps, and hopefully getting out in the bay in the boat, and probably need to climb on the tractor and mow the field, having been gone for so long and not being sure how much father-in-law got done. Also looking at time in the pool, and grilling things for dinner (chicken, beef, corn, vegetables, etc.).
We're being all social and crap, inviting people down there to partake in the fun, and the summer weekends are filling up.
My job isn't exactly stressful (knock on wood), but I realize we really need this vacation. I'm bringing the laptop, but only for fun things, no work emails will be read. So I'll update blog now and then with pics to make you jealous as you work ;-).
I close today with two pictures:
Is this a double dose of bad luck: Open umbrella in the house plus a black cat under it? Or do the two cancel each other out and it becomes just a cute pic I took yesterday?
Is this the coolest comic of the 1970s? Peter Parker takes Mary Jane to the Saturday Night Live show (Neat in-jokes: Stan Lee is the host and Rick Jones is the musical guest!). The Silver Samurai shows up and fights John Belushi, who is in full costume as a samurai!
Interesting to note that this is from the second season of the show, since Chevy Chase had already left to "chase" movie stardom, and Bill Murray had replaced him (Murray is the bland white guy to the left of Belushi on the cover, and the one SNL member the comic artist did not get down accurately. He never looks like Bill Murray in the comic. Dan Aykroyd, on the other hand, was captured exactly by the artist.
