To make matters worse, at 4 AM a heated argument broke out in the parking lot below my window full of curse words, angry accusations and lots of yelling. If I had water balloons, I would have tossed them at them like akin to the effect of spraying fighting dogs with a hose. One of my neighbors yelled at them to shut up, which had the effect of the couple temporarily joining forces to tell aforementioned neighbor to screw himself. Then they graciously moved out of the parking lot and directly under my other window. It was 5 AM before they finally shut up.
This morning I'm not so much grumpy as I am disoriented. My eyes feel like I'm a back-up pilot in the Mon Calamari airforce. And without my fix of bashing undead Greek soldiers, I'm just plain worthless for a few hours. I am writing this blog however, which goes to show that even when my brain is at half-power, I still sentence organize and thoughts down I write them.
Monday, January 28, 2008
If you weren't on my mass emailing list you may have missed my cover story in the Boulder Weekly on Greek Dog Rescue (you can read it here). If you're an animal lover, I hope it can inspire you to help out one way or another. The ASPCA is a great place to start. I have to say it is emotionally draining to write a piece about animal cruelty. In the end, I justify it by hoping it will make a change for the better but it also stirs up a whole mix of emotions for me. It is also why Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" is the most disturbing of his rather macabre collection of literature.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
My poor lil' blog was sad to hear the news of an epic lawn care contract that aims to swallow up my free time like a mulching mower gnawing away at over ripe fields of rye. Basically, I have approximately 1 million reviews on lawn mowers/tractors for a freelance contract that I am planning to accept tomorrow. Personal endeavors? Out the window baby! Here's the pros and cons:
Pros:
-The sheer amount of work should wiggle me completely out of debt by about mid-April so I can start my 32nd year out of money trouble.
-I'll know so much about lawn tractors and mowers, I'll be able to have my initials double for John Deere. I may even be able to chaw tobacky (in my case, Big League Chew) and talk shop with the overall wearing locals in eastern Colorado.
Cons:
-My already-flailing social life will be absorbed in a fury of lawn clippings.
-I may actually take to wearing a puffy green and yellow cap in earnest.
In some ways I can consider this the final phase of my book--the "making the money to pay back the whole project" phase. The timing is decent because as soon as the lawn care work is done I can focus on promoting my book/slideshows/etc. for the spring. I'll admit, my NES time is taking a big hit but this is what being an adult is all about (until May).
Pros:
-The sheer amount of work should wiggle me completely out of debt by about mid-April so I can start my 32nd year out of money trouble.
-I'll know so much about lawn tractors and mowers, I'll be able to have my initials double for John Deere. I may even be able to chaw tobacky (in my case, Big League Chew) and talk shop with the overall wearing locals in eastern Colorado.
Cons:
-My already-flailing social life will be absorbed in a fury of lawn clippings.
-I may actually take to wearing a puffy green and yellow cap in earnest.
In some ways I can consider this the final phase of my book--the "making the money to pay back the whole project" phase. The timing is decent because as soon as the lawn care work is done I can focus on promoting my book/slideshows/etc. for the spring. I'll admit, my NES time is taking a big hit but this is what being an adult is all about (until May).
Monday, January 21, 2008
For all of you who watched the NFL Playoffs this weekend, I offer a bit of solidarity: on Saturday I was snowboarding at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, where the upper mountain temps struggled to get above minus 10 and the winds blew between 30-40 mph. Bundled up properly, it's not a big deal but you may want to think twice before taking your glove off to scratch your nose (which may or may not be there if your face mask has slipped off a little).
As for the football games, they were good watchin'. I was surprised to find myself rooting for the Giants but I do tend to lean towards the underdog. When it comes to sports, I echo Lord Palmerston's belief: "When it comes to sports I have no eternal enemies or perpetual friends, only eternal interests... except for hating the Yankees."
Speaking about my enemies, I can't stand those stupid Apple commercials with the effeminate, slovenly "dude" mocking Bill Gates. Any of you who have read my blog long enough know I hate slanderous and negative advertising campaigns, highlighted by my actual letters and official boycott of Progresso Soups for their stupid, condescending, "I used to eat Chicken and Stars soup... and then I learned to tie my shoes" series of ads. That boycott is still in effect, by the way.
What's killing me about the Apple ads is that they are promoting the lamest features on the shaky new Leopard OS that ranked #2 on PcWorld's greatest failure's of 2007. Even the glitchy Windows Vista, which is no picnic, was only #14 on same list! Anyhow, the prominent ad you probably all saw was bragging about Leopard automatically copying files so you can't accidentally "delete" them. In other words, if you're a complete idiot, Apple is the computer for you. Despite the fact most OSs have a recycle bin/trash where you get a second chance to save any lost files anyhow, Apple is actually boasting how they are becoming the AOL of the home computing set. Stupid commercials. At least my brain doesn't even acknowledge truck and car commercials anymore, which is a good thing.
Anyhow, it's Monday and my brain is tired. It IS snowing here in Boulder, which is awesome! Kinda wish I had the day off but... so it goes.
As for the football games, they were good watchin'. I was surprised to find myself rooting for the Giants but I do tend to lean towards the underdog. When it comes to sports, I echo Lord Palmerston's belief: "When it comes to sports I have no eternal enemies or perpetual friends, only eternal interests... except for hating the Yankees."
Speaking about my enemies, I can't stand those stupid Apple commercials with the effeminate, slovenly "dude" mocking Bill Gates. Any of you who have read my blog long enough know I hate slanderous and negative advertising campaigns, highlighted by my actual letters and official boycott of Progresso Soups for their stupid, condescending, "I used to eat Chicken and Stars soup... and then I learned to tie my shoes" series of ads. That boycott is still in effect, by the way.
What's killing me about the Apple ads is that they are promoting the lamest features on the shaky new Leopard OS that ranked #2 on PcWorld's greatest failure's of 2007. Even the glitchy Windows Vista, which is no picnic, was only #14 on same list! Anyhow, the prominent ad you probably all saw was bragging about Leopard automatically copying files so you can't accidentally "delete" them. In other words, if you're a complete idiot, Apple is the computer for you. Despite the fact most OSs have a recycle bin/trash where you get a second chance to save any lost files anyhow, Apple is actually boasting how they are becoming the AOL of the home computing set. Stupid commercials. At least my brain doesn't even acknowledge truck and car commercials anymore, which is a good thing.
Anyhow, it's Monday and my brain is tired. It IS snowing here in Boulder, which is awesome! Kinda wish I had the day off but... so it goes.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Last night I finally got all the pieces I needed to throw a super-duper, 320GB hard drive in my computer. Along with a new scanner I recently acquired, I'm finally set to begin phase two of my website which was hampered by the fact my previous hard drive had mere kilobytes of open space. It took some nerdy work to find internal SATA cables with our local CompUSA going out of business but I lucked out at, of all places, Radio Shack (where the sales associates toe the line between crazed loner and reality-starved Dungeonmaster).
But that's the boring stuff--what's neat is I'll finally get to go through the box of epic pictures which basically tell the story of my life from 1997-2003 (when I finally went digital). The lion's share of memories are from highpoints trips and outdoors outings, but occasionally there are other moments: my departure party for Colorado, shots from Maine, old friends. There's even a few really old shots in my collection: baby Bruplex, a shiny new SNES, Eric Peterson playing Chrono Trigger at Marist.
Because I'm in archivist mode, I'm not getting terribly nostalgic beyond the normal "wow, that was 10 years ago" sensation. To modify the famous Geddy Lee quote, "Ten years is ten years".
Though admittedly, I get a little teary eyed remember my very first 8 MB (!)hard drive in my old Pack Bell compy I got for high school graduation in 1994. When Iw as a kid, we had one digital picture of a cheetah and we were happy, consarnit!
Clowns Universally Hated
Those of you who remember my old pre-2004 blog may remember my rallying cry for all people who uphold decency and goodness to join the I Hate Clowns website. My cousin Marc seems to distinctly remember the horrifying image of Buffo the Clown tearing a phone book in half. And my Mom and Dad can attest I've been put off by clowns since the day I was born. They've plagued my search for peace and harmony since I first laid eyes on their misshapen shoes and mortifying expressions, as if saying "I'm so sad that I have to kill you!"
The most telling statistic in the article above is that 250 out of 250 people polled hated clowns-- 100%! Even Charles Manson and Donald Trumnp probably couldn't garner a clean sweep in the catagory of loathing. While it's obvious that clowns are agents of evil bent on bringing sorrow and fear into the world, the fact they even exist is a terrifying testament to the depraved souls who continute to carry on this abomindable practice. Heck, in the middle ages clowns were used as dark humor to add a jovial element to that side-slapping, yuck it up phenomenon known as the plague! It makes me wonder why we burned witches at the stake when our firewood could have been put to much better use burning clowns (though the melting visage of dripping red clown hair, bubbling white make up and sizzling oversized bow-ties may provide a lifetime worth of nightmare fuel).
Like a lot of people, I don't find the clown Pennywise from Stephen King's It to be that scary--it's a clown acting like a natural clown, not pulling any punches with a thin ruse of juggling or tumbling out of undersized Speck-sized cars. Murdering and torturing people is what I expect clowns to do.
If anyone can add to the list of activities where your duty is to beat-up clowns, by all means let it be known. You can make the world a better place. Here's a few places to start:
*Sock 'em inflatable clown punch toy/training unit
*Mad Clown (Super Punch-Out!! on the SNES)
*Clown ball toss game (assorted county fairs)
*Gear Clown (Mega Man 2 on the NES)
*Paste a clown picture on a dart board; throw darts
*Clown Stomping Day (observed worldwide)
Good luck and remember, the only good clown is a dead clown--wait, zombie clowns? ArgghhhhHH!!!!
Inspired by Stephanie's post a while back, I decided to do the classic Horoscope accuracy test. Because I am not a very Aries-like personality, I've rarely put any stock in the stars and I generally write-off the vague fortunes presented by horoscopes, since with the right interpretation just about any of them will apply. But, just to be sure I'll take two readings into consideration and see how they do.
Today's first reading take from horoscope.com is as follows:
Your ruling planet Mars moves into a very powerful position today and you will begin to feel the benefit of the numerous positive planetary aspects. This is a great day for moving forward in any project that is close to your hear. This evening will bring romantic excitement galore!
Love: 4 stars of 5
Mood: 4 stars of 5
Money:4 stars of 5
Style: 4 stars of 5
The first disturbing thing I notice is that my future has a typo. Not a good start. Assuming the aforementioned projects are close to my heart and not my auditory canals, I'm not sure I have many in the works right now. I'd like to play more of God of War 2 and perhaps get around to building the awesome Lego Castle I got for Christmas. So perhaps I'll move forward in those pursuits. Romantic excitement galore sounds freakin' sweet but I don't think that's on the agenda either, especially if go ahead and spend the night playing video games.
Perhaps the most innacurate parts of this reading are the "money" and "style" sections. First off, in my whole life I've never gotten above a 2 for style and even that is a generous rating. The same pretty much goes for money, unless they are literally referring to 4 dollars, that I might have.
Ah, but reading the stars is an art so let's try Yahoo's local astrological whiz:
Commerce is not an ideal thing to be involved in right now, especially if you are interested in selling some of your possessions. Your personal goods will not move as quickly as you think, so you might want to either consider giving them away to charity or holding onto them for a little bit longer. On the other side of the equation, as a buyer you are vulnerable to misleading statements. Do not assume that something is included in the purchase price unless you see it in writing!
Now this one seems more accurate: I suck at finance and I shouldn't sell anything on Ebay. This is advice I can easily follow, since selling my old odor eater insoles or my prized copy of Chubby Cherub may not be a wise move. As for buying things, I may get lunch and that's about it. But Yahoo loses points for only telling me what NOT to do.
By the way, here are typical Aries traits:
The Ram
March 21 to April 20
Traditional
Aries Traits
Adventurous and energetic
Pioneering and courageous
Enthusiastic and confident
Dynamic and quick-witted
On the dark side...
Selfish and quick-tempered
Impulsive and impatient
Foolhardy and daredevil
LIKES
Action
Coming in first
Challenges
Championing Causes
Spontaneity
DISLIKES
Waiting Around
Admitting Failure
No opposition
Tyranny
Other peoples advice ;)
You know, as someone who prefers coming in last and loves tyranny and waiting around, these stats are all off! And I love admitting failure, it's the best! I suck, now do what I say!
After generally avoiding the hassle of making myself smarter, I finally decided to figure out torrents this weekend. I've half-heartedly downloaded clients in the past, only to completely ignore the fact that you need to actually find torrents for the clients to work. However, actually reading a bit did wonders and I soon and discovered the wonderful Mininova search engine and coupled it with Bit Tyrant. Voila! Within minutes I was listening to Velvet Elvis.
Why Velvet Elvis you ask?
The OTHER thing I did this weekend was organize my gear room, which was home to dozens of cassette tapes (remember those?) I haven't touched in years--amongst them Even Worse. I needed some good cleanin' music and was thus inspired to torrent my heart out. Good stuff. Note I didn't pirate anything, not a single RIAA protected song, especially no old Metallica. Nope, none you hear that Lars Ulrich?!
One of my future projects (also semi-inspired by the gear room) is to go through all my old photos and get them on my PC. To do so I need a bigger hard drive (40 GB ain't cutting it) and a scanner. Scanners are getting harder and harder to find due to the fact most people are using digital cameras these days but I should be able to find a decent one for under 100 bucks online. I have a box of pictures from around 1994-2003 I need to sift through and admittedly, it's going to be an interesting journey. A majority of shots are from highpoints trips (including a good 23 photos + doubles of the summit of Kentucky's highpoint, where I thought my camera remote wasn't working--and it was).
It seems like since the digital camera era, I've aged quite a bit. I can't differentiate myself from about 1995-2003, as I essentially look the same. And what the heck too, there I am smiling all young and happy, fit and tan etc. and I couldn't get a date for like 5 years in that era! Not that I'm bitter. Oh well, at least I have photoshop for the modern age.
Perhaps my favorite part of going home for the holidays is sitting in Marc and David's (my cousins of course) living room and playing assorted video games until my eyes throb from sleep deprivation. Over the years we've whiled away countless hours playing such games as Mario Kart: Double Dash, PGA Tour Golf and more recently Super Mario Strikers. Well sort of recently. David got Strikers in 2005 as records and scores from the game indicate so I guess we've been going it for a few years--but generally only once a year!
Strikers is oddly a soccer game (in name) but plays more like an unabated bash-fest, which makes it a blast. As a single player game it leaves much to be desired but as a multi-player game, it's too much fun. The computer AI is really tough on the highest settings too, which makes for challenging gameplay. Over the years we've refined our roles: Marc is the defensive specialist who can also score when called upon, David is the offensive super star who demands the ball more often ala T.O. and I'm kind of the guy in between, sort of like a reliable fullback (the fact I'm relating the game more to football than soccer is a good sign!) Throw a few sugary sodas and pizza bites into the mix and you have a great way to spend a cold winter night.
While I was in Connecticut I also finally got to see John and assorted members of his family for the first time in many moons, including his little baby Hazel. As a bonus, the venerable Paul Lenhart joined the fray and heck, it was darn good to see the guy. We met at John's parents' house, one of those warm places that puts the sweet in Home, Sweet Home. I only had a short time there, as is often the case on holiday visits, but it was great to catch up.
And then all too quickly I was zoomed back to Colorado on a couple of jet planes. I connected out of Newark from Hartford which was actually kind of cool because I flew directly over my college (Marist) and then got a remarkable view of the NYC skyline as we descended to land. It's always good to return to the mountains though and I'm hoping 2008 rocks.
But that's the boring stuff--what's neat is I'll finally get to go through the box of epic pictures which basically tell the story of my life from 1997-2003 (when I finally went digital). The lion's share of memories are from highpoints trips and outdoors outings, but occasionally there are other moments: my departure party for Colorado, shots from Maine, old friends. There's even a few really old shots in my collection: baby Bruplex, a shiny new SNES, Eric Peterson playing Chrono Trigger at Marist.
Because I'm in archivist mode, I'm not getting terribly nostalgic beyond the normal "wow, that was 10 years ago" sensation. To modify the famous Geddy Lee quote, "Ten years is ten years".
Though admittedly, I get a little teary eyed remember my very first 8 MB (!)hard drive in my old Pack Bell compy I got for high school graduation in 1994. When Iw as a kid, we had one digital picture of a cheetah and we were happy, consarnit!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Clowns Universally HatedThose of you who remember my old pre-2004 blog may remember my rallying cry for all people who uphold decency and goodness to join the I Hate Clowns website. My cousin Marc seems to distinctly remember the horrifying image of Buffo the Clown tearing a phone book in half. And my Mom and Dad can attest I've been put off by clowns since the day I was born. They've plagued my search for peace and harmony since I first laid eyes on their misshapen shoes and mortifying expressions, as if saying "I'm so sad that I have to kill you!"
The most telling statistic in the article above is that 250 out of 250 people polled hated clowns-- 100%! Even Charles Manson and Donald Trumnp probably couldn't garner a clean sweep in the catagory of loathing. While it's obvious that clowns are agents of evil bent on bringing sorrow and fear into the world, the fact they even exist is a terrifying testament to the depraved souls who continute to carry on this abomindable practice. Heck, in the middle ages clowns were used as dark humor to add a jovial element to that side-slapping, yuck it up phenomenon known as the plague! It makes me wonder why we burned witches at the stake when our firewood could have been put to much better use burning clowns (though the melting visage of dripping red clown hair, bubbling white make up and sizzling oversized bow-ties may provide a lifetime worth of nightmare fuel).
Like a lot of people, I don't find the clown Pennywise from Stephen King's It to be that scary--it's a clown acting like a natural clown, not pulling any punches with a thin ruse of juggling or tumbling out of undersized Speck-sized cars. Murdering and torturing people is what I expect clowns to do.
If anyone can add to the list of activities where your duty is to beat-up clowns, by all means let it be known. You can make the world a better place. Here's a few places to start:
*Sock 'em inflatable clown punch toy/training unit
*Mad Clown (Super Punch-Out!! on the SNES)
*Clown ball toss game (assorted county fairs)
*Gear Clown (Mega Man 2 on the NES)
*Paste a clown picture on a dart board; throw darts
*Clown Stomping Day (observed worldwide)
Good luck and remember, the only good clown is a dead clown--wait, zombie clowns? ArgghhhhHH!!!!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Inspired by Stephanie's post a while back, I decided to do the classic Horoscope accuracy test. Because I am not a very Aries-like personality, I've rarely put any stock in the stars and I generally write-off the vague fortunes presented by horoscopes, since with the right interpretation just about any of them will apply. But, just to be sure I'll take two readings into consideration and see how they do. Today's first reading take from horoscope.com is as follows:
Your ruling planet Mars moves into a very powerful position today and you will begin to feel the benefit of the numerous positive planetary aspects. This is a great day for moving forward in any project that is close to your hear. This evening will bring romantic excitement galore!
Love: 4 stars of 5
Mood: 4 stars of 5
Money:4 stars of 5
Style: 4 stars of 5
The first disturbing thing I notice is that my future has a typo. Not a good start. Assuming the aforementioned projects are close to my heart and not my auditory canals, I'm not sure I have many in the works right now. I'd like to play more of God of War 2 and perhaps get around to building the awesome Lego Castle I got for Christmas. So perhaps I'll move forward in those pursuits. Romantic excitement galore sounds freakin' sweet but I don't think that's on the agenda either, especially if go ahead and spend the night playing video games.
Perhaps the most innacurate parts of this reading are the "money" and "style" sections. First off, in my whole life I've never gotten above a 2 for style and even that is a generous rating. The same pretty much goes for money, unless they are literally referring to 4 dollars, that I might have.
Ah, but reading the stars is an art so let's try Yahoo's local astrological whiz:
Commerce is not an ideal thing to be involved in right now, especially if you are interested in selling some of your possessions. Your personal goods will not move as quickly as you think, so you might want to either consider giving them away to charity or holding onto them for a little bit longer. On the other side of the equation, as a buyer you are vulnerable to misleading statements. Do not assume that something is included in the purchase price unless you see it in writing!
Now this one seems more accurate: I suck at finance and I shouldn't sell anything on Ebay. This is advice I can easily follow, since selling my old odor eater insoles or my prized copy of Chubby Cherub may not be a wise move. As for buying things, I may get lunch and that's about it. But Yahoo loses points for only telling me what NOT to do.
By the way, here are typical Aries traits:
The Ram
March 21 to April 20
Traditional
Aries Traits
Adventurous and energetic
Pioneering and courageous
Enthusiastic and confident
Dynamic and quick-witted
On the dark side...
Selfish and quick-tempered
Impulsive and impatient
Foolhardy and daredevil
LIKES
Action
Coming in first
Challenges
Championing Causes
Spontaneity
DISLIKES
Waiting Around
Admitting Failure
No opposition
Tyranny
Other peoples advice ;)
You know, as someone who prefers coming in last and loves tyranny and waiting around, these stats are all off! And I love admitting failure, it's the best! I suck, now do what I say!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Monday, January 07, 2008
After generally avoiding the hassle of making myself smarter, I finally decided to figure out torrents this weekend. I've half-heartedly downloaded clients in the past, only to completely ignore the fact that you need to actually find torrents for the clients to work. However, actually reading a bit did wonders and I soon and discovered the wonderful Mininova search engine and coupled it with Bit Tyrant. Voila! Within minutes I was listening to Velvet Elvis. Why Velvet Elvis you ask?
The OTHER thing I did this weekend was organize my gear room, which was home to dozens of cassette tapes (remember those?) I haven't touched in years--amongst them Even Worse. I needed some good cleanin' music and was thus inspired to torrent my heart out. Good stuff. Note I didn't pirate anything, not a single RIAA protected song, especially no old Metallica. Nope, none you hear that Lars Ulrich?!
One of my future projects (also semi-inspired by the gear room) is to go through all my old photos and get them on my PC. To do so I need a bigger hard drive (40 GB ain't cutting it) and a scanner. Scanners are getting harder and harder to find due to the fact most people are using digital cameras these days but I should be able to find a decent one for under 100 bucks online. I have a box of pictures from around 1994-2003 I need to sift through and admittedly, it's going to be an interesting journey. A majority of shots are from highpoints trips (including a good 23 photos + doubles of the summit of Kentucky's highpoint, where I thought my camera remote wasn't working--and it was).
It seems like since the digital camera era, I've aged quite a bit. I can't differentiate myself from about 1995-2003, as I essentially look the same. And what the heck too, there I am smiling all young and happy, fit and tan etc. and I couldn't get a date for like 5 years in that era! Not that I'm bitter. Oh well, at least I have photoshop for the modern age.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Perhaps my favorite part of going home for the holidays is sitting in Marc and David's (my cousins of course) living room and playing assorted video games until my eyes throb from sleep deprivation. Over the years we've whiled away countless hours playing such games as Mario Kart: Double Dash, PGA Tour Golf and more recently Super Mario Strikers. Well sort of recently. David got Strikers in 2005 as records and scores from the game indicate so I guess we've been going it for a few years--but generally only once a year!Strikers is oddly a soccer game (in name) but plays more like an unabated bash-fest, which makes it a blast. As a single player game it leaves much to be desired but as a multi-player game, it's too much fun. The computer AI is really tough on the highest settings too, which makes for challenging gameplay. Over the years we've refined our roles: Marc is the defensive specialist who can also score when called upon, David is the offensive super star who demands the ball more often ala T.O. and I'm kind of the guy in between, sort of like a reliable fullback (the fact I'm relating the game more to football than soccer is a good sign!) Throw a few sugary sodas and pizza bites into the mix and you have a great way to spend a cold winter night.
While I was in Connecticut I also finally got to see John and assorted members of his family for the first time in many moons, including his little baby Hazel. As a bonus, the venerable Paul Lenhart joined the fray and heck, it was darn good to see the guy. We met at John's parents' house, one of those warm places that puts the sweet in Home, Sweet Home. I only had a short time there, as is often the case on holiday visits, but it was great to catch up.
And then all too quickly I was zoomed back to Colorado on a couple of jet planes. I connected out of Newark from Hartford which was actually kind of cool because I flew directly over my college (Marist) and then got a remarkable view of the NYC skyline as we descended to land. It's always good to return to the mountains though and I'm hoping 2008 rocks.
