Decisions

This weekend I spent time at a friend's place, under the pretenses of making christmas cards, but what it really turned into was a fairly intense spiritual discussion. What we know, what is true, what we don't know, what we don't understand. I came away from it not feeling very good. There are so many things, so many big questions in life I am clueless about. I have a lot of big decisions to be making, and I'm not entirely sure how to go about figuring them out.

What do you look at while you're making up your mind? Ours is not a reflective culture, really, we do not raise our eyes up to the hills or bow to the east. Most of the time we decide the most critical things in our lives while staring at a linoleum floor of an institutional corridor or staring at the cheap industrial carpet of some waiting room while a television vomits nonsense.

I walked around my house seeking something, anything. My family didn't take many pictures while I was growing up, so there's not a lot to look back on. Sometimes my parents house feels like it could be anyone's, like anyone could live there. I guess I pace a lot when I'm trying to decide things, I'm not sure why. I guess I wonder how much I can change, how much I can effect, and how the world is going to be within the reach of my arm.

Progress Musically

We did finally end up going with "The 83" as our band name. Yes, there's only four of us. Hey, Ben Folds Five only had three guys, get off my back.

Last night "The 83" played our ward's Christmas party. It wasn't that big a deal, but it was 300 people who at least didn't throw their catered dinners at us. I came away from it feeling sparked. We played well, played tight, and I felt good about my stage presence and energy. I was genuinely having fun up there and one or two people commented that they noticed it (unbidden, no less). We played two originals and a cover of 10k Maniacs "These Are Days". It looks like we may have two shows in January, so hopefully the ball will get rolling soon.

I don't have any hopes or ambitions for our band, I'm just so happy to be creating and making music again. Every one of those basslines I play is MINE. I wrote them, I polished them, I created them. And when I play them for people, simple though they may be, it's me I'm putting out there. Don't worry, I'm not offended if you don't like the songs, I'm just happy to have something that's an extension of me floating out in the air and into your ears. That's why I love making music. It's like speaking a beautiful language that can express things where words fall short.

Election Fallout.

This will be a bit of an uncertain post to write. As well we all know, Bush won the election a week ago. Obviously in Portland there was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. What's been... interesting I guess is to see the fallout among people whose opinions I value greatly. When I went to school in Utah, it was comical: All of God's good little children always voted Republican. Being a person with a bit of common sense, a bit of analytical ability, and a college degree that focused on valid social issues, it's hard for me to respect a group of people who would vote for Hitler were he to be nominated by the GOP.

Then I move back home to Portland. Where the general urban populace would vote for Hitler as long as he was a democrat. On either end of the political spectrum, it's just stupid blind dogma. I have a lot of thoughts on the current political landscape, but for this post (there will be more in the coming days), I want to state what I feel about what's happened.

I voted for John Kerry for the simple reason that I am, or have been an example of everything he campaigned about. I lost a job to outsourcing. I have a college degree and can't find a good job. I have no medical or any other kind of health insurance because my employer doesn't feel like they need to offer health benefits until you've been with the company for a year or so. I believe that our country can do better than it's doing, and I honestly don't think it will with George W. Bush as the president. I don't feel more safe from terrorists because we invaded Iraq and abandoned the UN. I don't appreciate being lied to by my government. Do I think it was a bad thing to remove a tyrant? No. Do you think we were honestly dealt with as to exactly why we invaded Iraq by the Bush administration? I sure hope no one is that gullible.

Am I liberal? I don't know. I don't support abortion rights at all, and I really don't care about gay marriage, which seem to be the two accused touchstones of "those darn liberals". When in reality, I know that's just a bogeyman that conservatives use to tell themselves that they have God on their side. It is a difficult place to be in. I am a spiritual and religous man, so that obviously means I don't fit in so well with the left wing of things... but on the other hand, I CRINGE when I go to fast and testimony meeting and hear that "God annointed George Bush to be out next president" (true story), because I know in my heart he is no better choice for my future or my family's. Like a lot of life, I don't feel like I fit in here or there. I have lots more to say on this... I'll take up my pen again later.

New Band Performs

So the new band and I had a gig on Friday night. It went really well, despite a short setlist. We only played 5 songs, and we all really wished we had more. Unfortunately at this point, we are lacking a name. Anyone have any ideas? We're a folk R&B kind of quarted (cross nora jones with 10000 maniacs), so unfortunately some cool names I have had on the back burner don't work.

Current suggestions being batted around:

Under Debate
Day's Memory
Failed by Absence
Twilight Fades
Metallica

I'm leaning towards Metallica, myself.

Ashlee Simpson revealed for the no talent hack she is.

Well, Ashlee Simpson fell on her face on SNL the other night. I am grinning from ear to ear over it.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - ' Ashlee Simpson is reportedly taking the heat for deciding to lip-sync during a performance on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" over the weekend, a plan that backfired when the vocals to the wrong song were audible during her second appearance.

Simpson had already performed her single "Pieces of You" and had returned to the "SNL" stage to run through the title track of her Geffen debut album, "Autobiography." As the band kicked into the song, her vocals to the first song were heard while Simpson held her microphone at her side.

Flustered, she improvised a few dance steps before bolting from the stage. NBC quickly cut to a commercial.

At the close of the show, Simpson deflected the blame, telling the viewing audience "I feel so bad. My band started playing the wrong song." Geffen issued a statement blaming a computer glitch that should have played pre-recorded percussion rather than the "Pieces of You" vocals.

Simpson was reportedly singing a different tune Monday. MTV, home to her reality series "The Ashlee Simpson Show," reported on its Web site that Simpson admitted to lip syncing on the show because her voice has suffering from "the stresses of a heavy promotional schedule." '

Pathetic, but it shows her for the hack she is. At least her sister can sing. I hate corporate music with a passion. It's manufactured Walmart garbage, not art.

Ashlee Simpson Sucking it on SNL

So someone asked me the other day if they could get the internet on their computer. I said I'd do what I could, and so I started downloading it.

ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD

Local college student Eric Peterson recently announced that he's entered a committed relationship... with himself. Peterson vehemently denied rumors that the he was dating other people. "I'm totally committed to myself. We've never been happier." When asked what prompted the campus heartthrob to take himself off the market, he chalked it up in large part to his current financial situation, claming that recent fluxuations in the economy were making it too expensive for him to date around. "It was partly a cost-effective decision on my part, but it's been really nice for us to spend more time together."

So I was sitting there

So I was sitting there, and suddenly Gonzo starts singing to me

I wish I had a coat of silk,
the color of the sky.
I wish I had a lady fair,
as any butterfly.
I wish I had a house of stone,
that looked down on the sea.
But most of all I wish that I
was someone else but me.

Now I don't have a coat of silk,
but I still have the sky.
Now I don't have a lady,
but there goes a butterfly.
Now I don't have a house of stone,
but I can see the sea.
Now most of all I know that I
am happy to be me.
I'm happy to be me.

It worked for me.

Music as muse

Looks like a musical project I have been looking forward to starting for a few months now is actually going to get off the ground! Got together with 3/4 of the new band and laid out a demo last night, and did a little jamming. The drummer is incredibly talented, and the songs Stacey has written definitely have her style and vocal ability portrayed well. As Stace and I drove back, we were both really excited for prospects and to be involved with a musical project again. I love music so much, so to be involved with other musicians creating just gets me excited and babbly and... yeah, I probably shouldn't post when I'm like that (ha-ha!). I don't think we have a name yet, but there's a tenative gig scheduled toward the end of the month, so I'll keep me posted on that front. Ooh, what am I going to wear?

New baby

Yay, the new system build is progressing nicely. I had been planning on buying a budget Chaintech motherboard, but when I was window shopping in fry's this week, they had the fairly difficult to find (even online) DFI Lanparty NF3-250gb motherboard. Not only did they have it in stock, but it was the same price as the best case scenario online! Once the paycheck hits I should be getting the rest of the components... and then I'll have the dorkiest post my blog has ever seen: Mah Baby, the assembly (dun dun dahhh!)

progress report

I am well. Like life is okay. I'm trying not to let things that happen to me on a daily basis effect my spirits, but it's hard to think about doing it and then doing it. I haven't always been like this, as it's a way of life that I am quite familiar with... when things are good. The trick is being able to separate and compartmentalize daily irritations, major insecurities, and whatever is running through my beautiful mind and not have my attitude be determined BY that, but rather let it guide that. It's one of those knowing things... but it's hard to stick to it when things start swirling. Like I realized today that I haven't spoken to anyone in like 5 days, and I wanted some basic interaction. I made a few calls, and no one called back. Normally I'd start to wierd out. Today I just went on doing what I was doing, and no problems were had. Crisis avoided. Sure I would have liked to chitchat with someone, but I don't have to become a disaster over it if it doesn't go the way I hope.

Sheesh. Maybe they're right and I do need therapy :)) So far with a clever combination of bibs and medication, they've only just barely managed to control my drooling problem... :P

Right now, I'm watching daytime television. The usual suspects, Oprah, Ellen, the World Series of Poker on ESPN, MacGuyver on TVLand... and then I see Metallica. Metallica, the lords of heavy metal, and one of the first bands I REALLY got into when I was a kid. Yep, there they are, Metallica, on my television. On the Jane Pauley show. I will say it again. Metallica is currently on the Jane Pauley show, talking about their experiences in therapy. I had to watch it, like slowing down to see a car wreck. I'm filing this away with Greedo shooting first in the "crapping on my fond childhood memories" hall of fame.

Then again, they're mostly over 40 now. Thank goodness they're not doing the same thing they were when they were 25. And while my initial shock and horror may never go away, it's funny how a certain part of me expects certain things to stay frozen in time.

SIck, sick, sick.

So here's the thing. I have a cold, a rather nasty one.

It's funny how I look forward to almost any chance to slack off at work, but laying in my bed or on the floor of my house aren't exactly what I had in mind. It's funny how the sniffles, a cough, and fever reduce me in age by 20 years and suddenly I'm seven and all I'm wanting is ginger ale with a straw and my blanky. What stinks is that I am missing work. At work I have to walk around a lot and be outside a bit, but if I had a normal desk job I could tough it out at my desk. So I guess I'll take the chance to redecorate my room, since I had the time to clean it yesterday... Any suggestions? Please, don't leave me to my own tastes as a black velvet painting of Elvis could look mighty appealing in my ill state.

errands

Been having a productive day. Went to the doctors to get my little friends in my back checked out... went to Fry's and priced out computer parts... and dropped a manuscript off at the post office (I've had the writing bug lately). And am now home before 11 am! I've done more before 11am on my day off than most people do on their lunchbreaks. But for me, it feels oh so productive. *grins*

Reflection

(I've been saving this post as a draft since sunday, trying to get the words right. Like with most of my college term papers, the "aw screw it, it's fine" point has been reached)

Ever have the feeling like you finally know what you've been doing wrong and why you're in the funk you've been in? But it's a little late in the game to prevent some of the side effects of your actions? This is the feeling I've been having the last couple of days.

I have an attitude problem. I often expect the worst out of people and creating unrealistic expectations on the people around me, so that when I'm disappointed I can turn around and say "there! I was right!" So when I went through the most recent breakup a month ago, the girl in question wanted to remain friends. This wasn't a scenario that I have a lot of familiarity with. I was distrustful and leaned on her to hard, while at the same time got uptight and stopped listening, the very things that make me appealing as a good friend in the first place. She got impatient and stressed over me and some other things going on in her life. I didn't take the time to get over the loss of a romantic relationship, and was perpetually wanting more out of a regular friendship, then both of us getting frustrated when neither of us were getting what we wanted.

The irony is that both of us set things up and made the choices we did because we both really did want to be friends, real friends. But sometimes when you try and force something, you break it. I sure hope that the damage isn't permanent, especially now that I can honestly say I get it. It's sadly funny that now when things have blown up and such that I finally take the chance to relax, take a deep breath, and really listen to what she was telling me... and realize that I don't know as much as I think I do.

I'm happy right now. For no other reason than I choose to be. Whoever is reading this, I sure hope you're happy too. Life really is beautiful when you look up at the clouds instead of focusing on the mud that's on your feet.

Question

When some girl from church brags about how good her "better than sex" chocolate cake is... what's she saying about how good sex with her is? That people might prefer chocolate cake to it?

Ju-On: The Grudge

"An evil curse and vengeful spirits seem to linger upon a house where the horrific murder of a woman and child took place and anyone who sets foot inside the house is marked for a terrifying haunting which will not rest. One by one, those who have been tainted by the house begin to die, and nowhere is safe." - imdb.com

This movie was made by the same crowd that made "Ringu" which was made stateside into a little movie called "The Ring". This may be excited afterglow, but this just might be the scariest movie I've ever seen. Yes, to my mind it was scarier than "The Shining". It cranked up the spooky suspense within the first 5 minutes and really didn't let up for the rest of the movie. Now I have to figure out how to find a good way to get the most recent ex to go see it before it's out of theaters, as the predecessor's adaptation is one of her favorite flicks. Seriousy, if you have a chance, go see this movie. Zan bruised my arm she was so scared. One of those nasty purple-blue-yellow bruises, too.

What was interesting is that they used a really wide variety of film and plot devices to get the audience reaction, instead of pushing the same button over and over like "What Lies Beneath" or "The 6th Sense". The plot has some holes, and since I speak Japanese I can pretty much tell you it's not a matter of translation... but I think part of the charm of the movie is the ambiguity that we don't know entirely why everything is happening, merely that when that little ghost kid shows up, someone's gonna buy the farm. Sadly, it looks like the American version is going to be starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, so I can't say that I have high hopes for it.

Gooood thinking, USA

In a flash of brilliance today, A London-to-Washington flight was diverted to Maine when it was discovered that passenger Yusuf Islam, formerly known as singer Cat Stevens, was on a government watch list and barred from entering the country.

This is a man, an artist, that has done nothing but speak out against terrorism and islamic extremism, and preach peace his entire life. He's on the FBI's watch list for apparently being famous and Muslim. Way to go, geniuses... let's alienate the very type of people we should be putting on the air to show we're at war with terror, not Islam.

I said something funny today:

Man from Australia: "Yeah, some places in America can be dangerous... but if anyone gets cheeky, I'll just lay a good Aussie slap on 'em"

Me: "ermmm... 'aussie slap' ? "

Man from Down Under: "Right, mate."

Me: "So that's what, about 75% of a regular American slap at the current exchange rate?"



hmm... maybe you had to be there.

"Oh God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?"

(D&C 121:1-2)

As Shakespeare says, let us sit on the ground and tell sad stories about the death of kings. (Richard II) I can't be witty, or funny, or even so much myself when there's a large amount of turmoil inside me. I'm sorry if you're expecting something interesting or funny to read, I just don't have anything inside at the moment. We are experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by.

Musings

So I have a site counter and tracker, and I get weekly emails and such about people's browsing habits on my site, where they go, how long they stay, things like that. I normally completely ignore them, and go on my merry way. As I was cleaning out my college email inbox, I decided to click and view the report for the last month. Apparently, about 1600-1800 times a month someone clicks on to my website. This raised many questions in my head:

1) Who the hell are you people? I know several of my real life and online friends view this here little blog, and I even know of a few people who like it, but wow. I know at least a hundred of them are me... but still, not even Hyz would reload this page that many times...

2) Did google clue into some risque offhand remark I've made and I get a random flow of powdered sugar pizza fetishists or something?

3) How can I make money off of this? I'm sure if each of you kicked in a dollar, I could start my own matrimonial reality gameshow, "Who Wants To Marry A Hundredaire?"

Maybe if I keep at this, I can have a huge following like Llew and have my own advice column. But I think I'm just lacking something that would help me have a big online fanclub. Namely: boobs. Then again, anyone who knows me could tell you I have a half decent rack going already.

sigh.

All good things...

Well, it's not usually my style to announce this kind of thing... but I seem to be not be dating someone. Her name was Audrey, she has anime hair, and I was quite smitten... what can I say.

Seems like every time one of my girlfriends goes on a trip, when they come back, things fall apart. So Audrey went to see her sister last week, and I busied myself with the usual... writing, thinking, working on a project or two. Went shopping, bought some new clothes and even some cologne... and got dumped within a few hours of her returning home. Apparently she's not in a place that she wants to be having a relationship... or as she put it, "my body is rejecting it [our relationship] like a donated organ". I can at least appreciate the turn of phrase.

Fittingly, Donnie Darko comes to mind,

Every living thing dies alone.

I've seen things.

In the spirit of the badger, mushroom, snake flash hypnosis things is this, the much more palatable neo marxist "I've seen things". Go here:

I've seen things

I’ve seen things,
I’ve seen them with my eyes,
I’ve seen things,
they’re often in disguise
like carrots handbags cheese
toilets russians planets hampsters
weddings poets stalin kula lumpur!
pygmies budgies kuala lumpur!

And if you haven't had enought, head out to White House West for a special Will Ferrell election special clip. I think Ferrell's send up of Dubya is one of the great comedy feats of our generation. I miss seeing it on SNL.

Random Thoughts.

(Overheard while James is servicing a trash compactor and changing out a dumpster)

"Hmmm, why was it I graduated from college again?"
"And to think I even paid for it!"

(Overheard in LDS Chat)

Some Girl Trying To Be Sarcastic: "Have you ever noticed online, that the guys who brag about having big dicks never have any kids or anything?"
Me: "YOU'RE RIGHT! Now that you mention it, I DON'T have any kids!

(overheard at Skye's wedding)
Skye: "James! I'm so glad you came!"
James: "Yeah, well I was in the neighborhood and all... so how's your weekend?"
Skye: "Oh good, got married, having a reception, gonna go on a honeymoon...."
James: "Ah, so the usual then?"
Skye: "Yeah, pretty much just another weekend..."
James: "Yeahhhh... I was getting married a few weeks ago, and I just thought, man I just wish I could get away for a weekend, you know what I mean?"
Skye: "Yeah... "
James: "Well, have a good one, email me in a couple months or something."

(overheard last week)
Audrey: "You're evil."
James: "no, I'm diet evil, it has only one calorie and half the carbs of regular evil, but still with the same great evil taste."
Audrey: "I'm impressed how that just rolled right off your tongue, did you have that ready?"
James: *sighs* "If only."

Progress report: me

I don't have a lot new to report. I work, I sleep, I hang out with the woman, and I eat. Living life on a graveyard schedule is interesting in some ways:

• I usually don't run into traffic driving into work at 7:30 pm or home at 4:30 am.
• I am dating a pretty understanding woman who makes time herself (she works two jobs)
• The only thing worth watching on TV when I get home from work is MacGuyver, which is still the shiznit.
• If I am going to eat anything other than nasty fast food on my "lunch" break, I have to get it early before places close.

So we hung out a bit on my day off (after I picked her up from work... her car is broken down... fools may mock my minivan, but they shall mourn... for it runneth always, like the waters of the tao.) Went and saw Napoleon Dynamite, which was pretty darn funny in a Waiting for Guffman kind of way, and apparently twice as funny if you're from Idaho. I've been reviewing too many things lately on here, so I'll leave the Napoleon Dynamite rant for someone else.

Music Review: Pearl Jam Live at Benaroya Hall

So having been paid this weekend, I took the chance to actually buy something when I was grazing at Circuit city this weekend. I spied a brightly colored Pearl Jam bootleg. I've been a Pearl Jam fan since minute one (part and parcel of living in the Pacific Northwest). I had remembered reading about this show online.

Yes, it's another Pearl Jam live album. But no, it's not like their other 700 brown paper bag live albums. For one thing, it's an intimate, unplugged, home-town performance, almost full of rarer melodic songs. The most mainstream Pearl Jam song they play that night is "Daughter". For another, the set list is geared toward mellower, moodier fare like Low Light, Think Air and Immortality. For a third thing, the band had just recorded "Man of the Hour" for the Big Fish soundtrack a few days before and debuted the song publicly for the first time at this show. And for a fourth, part of the proceeds goes to charity.

The recording is truly excellent (better than the most recent DMB live at the gorge CD set I bought), the setlist is the most unique Pearl Jam has ever played, and on the whole, it's a remarkable musical performance. It's been fun to just buy this off the cuff and end up with an honestly incredible live CD set. This show goes instantly into my top 3 of live CD recordings, right with Dave Matthews Live @ Luther College and the Counting Crows VH1 Storytellers show. It's really that good.

So out of the 700 live Pearl Jam official bootlegs, this recording is a singular and unique experience. If you like Pearl Jam at all, buy this CD. It's that damn good.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Going to see the Voodoo Daddy baby, yeah.



T minus 4 hours and counting. I'm kind of glad the whole Gap khaki retro swing thing is mostly over with (except for some of the more quarantined parts of Utah which are just now hearing of this Django guy...). Anyway, I'm glad it's over with and I can enjoy the retro sound and not feel like I have to do that lame cloverleaf dance with some girl who wants to feel like she's connecting with something. Instead, I'm gonna go to the zoo, sit in the nice air outside, listen to some great musicianship, and probably not have to dance at all.

Last night

Little did I know, but last night was the peak night of the Leonid meteor shower. Being me, I was at home watching the Vanishing (the original foreign film, not the Jeff Bridges-Keifer Sutherland vehicle.) and catching Audrey up on Dead Like Me (I'm a television adulterer, what can I say). She announced at 12:30 we had to leave, so we went and snuck into a state park, spread out some blankets, and made splendor in the... er, watched the meteor shower. It was pretty cool. There weren't as many as I was expecting, but the ones that came down were very bright and intense. Good times.

Dead Like Me

On a whim this week as I was wandering through Fry's, I say this dvd packaging. I remembered hearing something about this show, so I picked it up, and on the back I could have swore I saw Mandy Patinkin in a picture on the back cover (turns out it WAS Mandy Patinkin, whom I worship, but I hate the Princess Bride... funny, eh?)

Dead Like Me takes a darkly comic look at mortality through the eyes of someone stuck between this life and the afterlife. "Bail bondsmen for the disembodied" is how Rube (Mandy Patinkin), the often exasperated Reaper foreman, explains it to disaffected 18-year-old George (short for Georgia) (Ellen Muth) after she’s vaporized by a falling toilet seat from the Mir space station and drafted into the ranks of the Reapers. It's now her job to take the souls of the doomed towards their final destination, not getting to actually go to the pearly gates herself. For a black comedy, this is actually pretty light and accessible. Patinkin is just awesome, and even though Muth whines and bitches like a teenager (which, I guess, she IS), she also is believable as someone being forced to discover who she is for the first time in her life. Highly recommended (and half the cost of 6 Feet Under... snoogans)

Serendipity

As it turns out, the location for my family reunion was about 15 minutes from one of the nicer casinos in Oregon, so naturally I availed myself of the chance to enjoy a little gaming type diversion. I finished up 40... which for playing 5 buck tables was alright for just having fun I guess.

Family reunion.

I'm going to a family reunion. I have very mixed feelings about it. Mostly of the obligation vs. laziness in my routine kind of thing. Doom 3 also comes out this week, and I won't be able to play it till I get back. This sucks.

Here's a muppet news flash

Well, it's not usually my style to announce this kind of thing... but I seem to be dating someone.  Her name is Audrey, she has anime hair, and I am quite smitten... what can I say.  I guess I could simply quote Prince and say,

"Let's go crazy
Let's get nuts
Look 4 the purple banana
'Till they put us in the truck, let's go! "

I will now open the floor for questions, comments, or complaints.

Canadians are so droll.

Got this in my email today:

"A concerned Canadian has invited you to join the georgebush.ca petition and stand side by side with other Canadians that believe George W. Bush and his administration need to be voted out of power. As Canadians, we have a special opportunity to help inform our American friends exactly how Canada feels about the current US government headed by George Bush. This November 2nd, we can't vote but we certainly can make our voices heard. Join the growing list of Canadians that are against the re-election of George W. Bush! http://www.georgebush.ca/  "

 Now, I certainly have my feelings about Dubya, but who the hell are these Canadians to have a say in this sort of thing?  I'd be willing to grant them a say in this IF I could get a say in, and open up a dialogue about the global embarrassment that is Quebec.  If your own country had it's crap together enough that an entire province wasn't regularly trying to secede from it, I MIGHT listen.  Don't do this to me Canada, I loved you so much.  Now you make me want to treat you like the Fredo to my Michael, and have you garroted.

I have nothing to say.

Still working,
still graveyards,
still not so witty at this hour of the night.

Really, it's almost 2:30 am here, and I'm just drawing a blank.  I got nothing.  I'm trying to think of the most interesting thing to me in the world right now... but... I'm pulling an Admiral Stockdale here.

This comes highly recommended.

I was introduced to www.explodingdog.com last night by my friend Audrey (who has the same name as the plant in "Little Shop of Horrors".  She's not a horror though, she's delightful.  At explodingdog.com, visitors are encouraged to leave titles to non-existent drawings, from which the site's owner, Sam Brown, draws something based on some of the suggested titles.   Some are funny, some are sad, some are actually even touching.  It's a very simplistic kind of art, and Sam himself is incredibly unassuming.  Some of my favorites are:

The Salad of the Future
thank god I saved you from those evil men
I promised myself i wouldn't do this again 
i really need to learn how to draw, i am the worst ever
maybe she'll call back
i never expected THIS! 
 
I always feel a little apprehensive sharing something that's way cool to me in a quirky way, because I worry that other people won't "get it", or think it's as neato as I do.  Still, I guess someone had to share it with me, and who knows, maybe explodingdog will be as big with my friends as Strongbad became (and you all know I introduced you to it).

 

About working graveyards

The change in normal work shift for me has been an interesting experience. It's not as hard as I thought it would be, and the late hour also means I get to work in relative peace and quiet. This is nice. I also have relative freedom to do pretty much what I like, as long as the work gets done. So far, for the most part, I read. I think I may buy one of those portable DVD players so I can watch movies. That would be pretty cool. The one cool part about working graves is that I can sleep till two in the afternoon, wake up and be lazy, and still have a completely productive (and profitable) day.

News

I'm working graveyards at the moment. It seems to be cutting into my wit a bit.

Local news, you suck too (except yours, Tamara dear)

Sometimes I forget sometimes that my major source of news is the internet. I made the mistake of watching the local Fox affiliate's news tonight. Good grief, when did the quality of news drop so steeply that even the most simple of events are teased to be major disasters. "It might be the most DANGEROUS THING IN THE WORLD, AND IT MIGHT BE IN YOUR HOUSE!!!" So you sit there, thinking "Is it peanut butter?" They think that only things are happening right now, as if for the first time to "make" the news. Like when these idiots go out on a live remote at an expressway in Portland when it's snowing and say something like "What IS this white stuff falling from the sky?!?! Are the gods angry with us!?!?!". Gee, it's only been snowing in Portland in the winter for what...10,000 years or so?

Blogger, you suck

Well, this site has been pretty much unreachable for days, I don't know... maybe blogger hosts this thing on a bloody Commodore 64. No point in updating if no one is going to read it.

Somewhere, Jon Stewart is rubbing his hands together gleefully.

US Secretary of State Colin Powel performs a version of the Village People hit disco song 'YMCA' at the conclusion of Asia's largest security meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday July 2, 2004. Powell took to the stage, dressed as a construction worker Friday, with other unidentified US diplomats to deliver their rendition of the 1970's hit song to an audience of Asia Security meeting delegates.

Yeah... I'm proud to be an American. At least when I was in Asia, I stuck to Sinatra.

My friend Hyz's new/old tattoo

I'm going to see if this works by sharing it from yahoo. This is hyz's tat cover up job. I'm now accepting suggestions for my own ink. Anyway, this is her story in her own words (Exclusive to Adub's blog!):

"Okay, so here's the deal. I was 20 years old and 6 months into a rocky marriage. I was incredibly insecure and for some reason I figured that if my husband had my name tattooed on him, then he'd suddenly became unattractive to other women. So, that's what I requested for my birthday. Of course, he wasn't about to go through with it unless he got a label on me as well. I agreed, only fair, right? Now, just to clarify, I did come to my senses before I got his name tattooed on my lower back. However, when I tried to back out we ended up in an argument where there was no way for me to win, short of. Long story made short, 2 years later I had his name on the small of my back and was awaiting the finalization of my divorce. So although it's taken me two years to get his name covered, it's done now. And I'm very happy with the end result. Heh… when the ex saw it he said, "Well, that sucks. Where's my name?" Yeah… and his mom swears he's a genius. "

Ah, I love a good story. Although her "Okay, so here's the deal" is dangerously close to my blog's unofficial catchphrase "okay, so here's the thing". You eyeballing me? I've got my eye on you, punk!

Catching up

I've been staring at this screen for too long. So I think I'll just type nonsense. I went to Seaside for the weekend to celebrate Paul's thirtysomethingth birthday. I can't make fun of him for his age, because he looks younger than me and gets more women than I could dream about (well.. maybe not dream about...)

Hyz got her tattoo augmented. Let that be a lesson to you kids, never get someone's name on your body unless they've come FROM your body (that's one thing that can't be undone) I'll find a place to get the pic hosted and put it up here. Still, we have the whole "you get a tattoo, I get to get a tattoo" deal going, so I'll take any ideas what I should have done.

When I log into chatrooms, I usually go to LDS (mormon) chat. The downside to that is that sometimes it's full of idiots, rabid antimormons, and jesus crispies. Sometimes it's insane in there, and at those times, I just think of Buddy Cole or Gavin (the annoying kid), from "Kids in the Hall" and then I type anything that I can remember them having said... or anything I think they might say. Not only do I get to get into character, but usually people stare and actually try to make sense of it. Like this:

"It all reminds me of the time that Anne Murray and James Baldwin were sharing a smart cocktail at her cottage in Parry Sound. Anne said to James, It must be hard enough being black and gay... Imagine if you were also Canadian, eh?"

or

" There's this kid in my class, and she lives on her own without any parents or guardians, and she's eight. And she took the number off her house so the cops can't find her to take her to jail, and also, she took off the mailbox, so they can't send her a letter and say she's in trouble and has to go to jail.... and she's eight like I say."

or even,

"This kid at school, Raymond Snepts, the guy I told you about many times? D'you know what happened when he went away to the Soviet Union and was supposed to come back? He didn't. And d'you know who was in his desk? Another kid. And when they called out his name, when they called out "Raymond Snepts" at roll call, this new kid put up his hand. Scary, eh?"

The sad thing is, it's usually much more interesting than what's being said. Mormon people depress me a lot, sometimes.

Death Cab for Cutie: Redux

So, a few people have asked me what the best introduction to DCfC is. I'd recommend getting the album "We Have the Facts, and We're Voting Yes". If you're a suspicious dude like me, and prefer to download a few songs to see if you like it, I'd recommend the following tracks: "Why You'd Want To Live Here", "Styrofoam Plates", "405", "Company Calls Epilogue", "Death of and Interior Decorator". This will probably give you a pretty good idea of what the fuss is all about.

Even though it's a side project, the "Postal Service" album is also incredibly good. It has the DCfC lyrics and vocals sound over kind of an electronica background. I was moderately suprised I liked it.

re·dux (r-dks) adj. Brought back; returned. Used postpositively.

In Praise Of: Death Cab For Cutie

In my opinion, the best indie band out there (EAT IT, Belle and Sebastian!). I've been recommending this band to anyone who will listen to me for years. They're from Bellingham, Washington. The indie pop quartet Death Cab for Cutie began in 1997 as the solo project of singer/guitarist Ben Gibbard, who organized a full blown band after composing the band's first songs. Gibbard continues to have several side projects, most notably the recent release "Postal Service". The songs are very melodic and lyrically driven. I'd shudder to use the word "pop", so maybe I'll say "melodic emo" instead. If you're looking for an easily accessible introduction, buy "We Have the Facts, and We're Voting Yes", it's a great CD. And yes, it's supposed to sound like crap for the first minute or so, it's a joke and tribute to the earlier garage days of crappy muffled 4 track demos. They seem to favor very short album titles ("Transatlantacism" or "Photo Album") or very very long (the aforementioned "We Have the Facts, and We're Voting Yes", or "You Can Play These Songs With Chords"). Anyway, check them out, they're GREAT.

Things you might hear me say.

I'm fond of an entertaining turn of phrase, I think I might make a page of things you might hear me say. This is almost not passing the "Would anyone other than me give a rat's ass" test... but who knows. I'll throw this out to you, Constant Reader, and see if you have anything that I say that's stuck in your head. So, if you want to add... put a comment on here, and I'll stick it up in this post (and delete the comment).

Things you might hear me say or, the catchprases of Adub.

"Good times, noodle salad" (originally from "As Good As It Gets")

"There's the rub" (Shakespeare)

"I find you vulgar and offensive, yet I am drawn to you like moth to flame" (SNL)

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that... all I heard was "blah blah blah, I'm a dirty tramp" (Mr Deeds, I think)

"Damn, got beat in the five hole again" (original)

"you no-talent ass clown" (Office Space)

Then there's a wide array of old rap lyrics. The interesting thing for me... try this yourself at home... but the interesting thing for me is just where some of these things come from that I say a lot. I'm not that big an Adam Sandler fan (then again, Kathy Bates says the line I like from Mr. Deeds), but it's funny how something that makes us smile rattles around in our heads like a bb in a spray paint can, then comes out at the most opportune moments.

A riddle.

This is funny.

Click here

This is funny on three levels, the first person who can correctly identify all three wins a prize. Maybe a big kiss, maybe a pizza (sans powdered sugar), maybe a movie or game from my collection. So tell your friends, and think hard, because you might have to dig a little here (ie, it's not exactly the pic that's funny).

How I view relationships, or: how to lose a girl in ten days.

I made a complete idiot of myself tonight. I was chatting with someone, and when they expressed concern over where our chat and relations were headed, and I made the all time genius comment of, "I'm not thinking about anything much more than "I wonder if talking to you is this good in person" , and then a comment that I found her attractive. She took it to meant I don't think about her at all in the long term.

I'm such a freaking idiot.

See, here's the thing. I've been in a few relationships where things have gone great... but I get so caught up in how awesome the future can be that I forget to tend to the present, and I fall flat on my face. One time I clicked with a girl so well and thought "man, we're going to be great together!" only to be a total space case on the first date and had nothing interesting to say... naturally, there wasn't a second date.

I TRY not to fantasize about the happily ever after part, no matter how much I wish or hope for it... because I want to make sure I make it to the next step (whatever that may be in any given situation). It's easy to fantasize about moving in and being together and then being a dud on a first date.. or saying something insensetive like I did. Mostly I try to keep my eyes focused on the trail in front of me, not at the top of the mountain.

So that's what I think about when I meet a new girl. I wish I could have said it like that. Of course I didn't... and I'm not taking bets on the odds of even a first date there. sigh. It's been a bad week for me, sorry about the low quality of my recent posts.

Beastie Boys: To The Five Boroughs

Most people who know me know I like the Beasties. After six years, they've released a new album, titled "To The Five Boroughs". I picked up a copy yesterday. Amazon says: "It's an up-tempo yet surprisingly homogenous assemblage of vintage electro-style party beats, and it's a strictly Beastie affair: the Boys co-wrote and produced each track themselves, which means that it sports none of the sonic fripperies and quirky collaborations that distinguished previous classics such as Paul's Boutique." Which was a little bit of a shame since I loved Paul's Boutique... but then I also loved Hello Nasty, and this album seems to follow in it's footsteps nicely.

It's good to toss in an album of hip hop that hasn't forgotten what the point of rap is: to break some beats, say your peace, and make the bodies move. You can take your Jay-Z and your drrrrrty south, I'm not interested in your bling bling or what size rims you're rolling on. Come on, think anyone is going to remember 50 Cent in ten years? The Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Run DMC... these guys made (and make) rap music that means something more than a blip on MTV and record sales. The only time any of the new rap generation has done something worth remembering is when they've been shot and killed.

Typing

The Lakers lost, for this I am glad. I hate that fat retarded gorilla Shaq with a passion. I only hope this is a sign of bigger and more interesting things to come for the NBA. Most of my readership doesn't care a whole lot about sports... but hey, it's my blog after all.

I wish I had some big long entry full of deep things or exciting news... but things aren't really aces for me at the moment. Count your blessings that I am out of bed. That's really the only place I want to be.

'I kind of think bumper stickers are like this big banner that says "Hey, let's never hang out"... "And that goes for your honor roll son too" '

Flying My Guilt Over a Quilt

I've had a few questions about the title of the last entry, they're lyrics from the Jason Mraz song I mentioned entitled, "Flying My Guilt Over a Quilt" It's not on any of his albums, it's a new song. You can download a live accoustic version of it HERE at the bottom of the page...(don't worry, live recordings like this are legal MP3s, so enjoy and don't sell!) And you can find the lyrics to it HERE

If the plane goes down... down, down... I will remember where the love was found.

So here's the thing. I had a fun "oh he's just my platonic friend" date this weekend. I want and saw Jason Mraz's "Curbside Prophets" show. Unbelieveable talent. Did dinner and such before hand where the highlights in conversation included:

"You know, I really wouldn't have any problems killing someone" -her

"You know, mormon girls really are very boring... I mean, what am I gonna do, talk about scrapbooking? Oh, present company excepted." - me

*someone throws a flower lei on stage, Jason puts it on the mike stand* "Oh cool, someone gave me a lei... it's been too long..." - Jason Mraz

*girl playing percussion comes up toward front, Jason puts the lei on her, someone in the crowd shouts* "HEY, THAT WASN'T FOR YOU!" -Mouthy Concert Girl.

I was also someone suprised to hear one of my favorite catch phrases "good times, good times" also used a bit by Jason Mraz. Of course, I take mind from "As Good As It Gets". I have no idea where he gets his from. The show itself was really good, I think my favorite song he played was "Flying My Guilt Over a Quilt", I've had it in my head most of the weekend. Spending time with Ashley always makes me think. It's kind of like spending time with a few of my other really high quality LDS women friends... Being around them gives me hope that perhaps there might be someone of the artistic and intellectual capacity that I crave wrapped up in a nice convinient LDS wrapper. Sometimes I wondered if I was going to have to "settle" or divorce my romantic pursuits from the interactions that I have with my closer friends. I guess I start to wonder what it is I lack. I suppose it's more of a rhetorical question, as my problems and faults are pretty well documented. But I guess I wonder what it is that makes us overlook people. I always wondered why Zannah and I never really tried anything (though there's more of a scheduling issue there, as we weren't ever single and on the same continent at the same time)... and it's not that I wish last night were some big romantic thing, or that I had one of my other friends realize I'm the best thing since saltines, it's just that when things are really good, I guess that which is missing just gets highlighted a little bit. It continued getting highlighted throughout the course of the weekend.

I didn't know I could be happy and lonely at the same time.

The last quote of the night comes from me (I'm so quotable): "All of us, we're on this earth for really such a very short time. Much to short for any of us to be casual with our love." I'm not sure what that means... but the words jump out at me now. Maybe it makes sense to you?

I'm sitting here staring at this page.

Sometimes I have bloggers block. Lots of things happen, but few things pass the "would I be the only one who gives a crap about this?" test. I promised myself a few things when I started this blog... and it kind of degenerated into a set of rules I try to live by on here.

1) I wouldn't ever post an entire song's lyrics so "show how I feel" or some nonsense.

2) I would try to refrain from having too many of those "I did ____ today blah blah blah" kinds of entries.

3) I thought I would avoid religious or political discussion, as I'm a bit of a cynic on both topics.

Though now, the more I think about it, the more I reserve the right to break any rules at any time I feel like it.

Oh, and my parent's anniversary was today... congrats to them... 35 years. Not that they read this...and perhaps that's for the best.

I need to remember this...

"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Abraham Lincoln said this. I wanted to put this on here so I had a convinent place to look at it when I wanted to. I have much on my mind, and at the moment I would very much like to be swayed by the better angels of my nature.

Pictures of Birthday and Skye's gig

I took pics this weekend, anyone interested in checking them out, can go to the link at the right and check them out!

The days are just packed.

Well, it was my birthday this weekend, so I was out and about a lot. There was much socializing, and good times were had by all. I usually try to avoid the travelogue thing on this site, but thanks to all who were involved and all that good stuff. I am falling behind on here! I have tons of pics from this weekend to label and get up... priorities, priorities.

One major happening this weekend was music related. Not only did Skye have her first gig in quite a while (a rousing success), but I met a new artist by the name of Stacy Unck. She's another accoustic singer songwriter, with a little bit of an R&B flavor (think Jewel, I guess). She's looking to develop some songs and play out, and I'm going to play bass for her. We're not aiming for the stars like Skye is, just wanting to get out and make a little music. I'm excited for it, though.. as I love making sweet sweet music. I'll keep y'all posted.

A new opportunity.

Had lunch with Skye today, and among other things, we discussed the offer she's made to me to manage part of her music career. It's a heady thing, because while I've never had difficulty accomplishing anything I've tried to do, this is someone else's dream. I never worry normally, because if something goes awry, I live with the consequences. With this, however, if I screw up, it's someone else's dream that suffers. Obviously the main answer is not to screw up. I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to focus my artistic energy on something real and living.

Rarely do I quote myself, but I said something at lunch that has kind of rattled around in my brain, like a BB in a spray paint can. Skye is uncomfortable I think about asking people to take on things just for her. I said something to the effect of, the reason any of us are going to be doing this Skye street team thing (www.skyepixton.com) and promoting her band is because we love her, and we want to make her dreams come true. Do any of us really care primarily about the music? I mean obviously it helps, but she could be trying to start a hip hop group, and if she believed in it as much as she does this, we'd want to help her.

How many of us do things because love is really our sole motivation? How many parties have we gone to, how many stupid choices have we endured, how many parents have we met out in the boonie end of Hermiston, Oregon because we love someone? I use the word love very loosely. I learned that from a girl name Cara when I was in high school. We hung out once or twice, and as I was dropping her off she gave me a big hug and told me that she loved me. I thought about it a lot then, and still do sometimes. We should tell people we love them more. I tend to wait till the timing is right with my friends, so it has meaning, and I think that's fine... but gosh, I know I'd feel a lot less lonely if I heard it more. I wonder how many other people would too?

Boy meets grill.

I love to barbeque.

Flame, raw meat, marinades, spices, I love it. I love watching shows on the food network (aka porn for fat people). I love honing the skills. So last night I went to my friend Kedra's birthday party and they were going to barbeque. Now, this will sound sexist, but I have yet to meet a woman that's knowledgeable in the ways of the grill. It's usually all like "um, so you turn it on and then throw the meat on... rrright?".

Sigh.

So I got my grill on. I prepared for this probability by whipping up some generic steak rub: corn starch, black pepper, season salt, garlic salt, crushed bullion, oregano, chili powder, onion powder... shake it all up and rub it on. And low, I did grilleth steaks, burgers, whipped up some grilled cajun shrimp, even did corn on the cob for Rich... And the Lord did grin and the people did feast. And there was much rejoicing. Truth be told, I'm poor, and I figured making sure the barbequing went well was the least I could do for Kedra's birthday. So, for those of you not wise in the ways of the grill, let me kick the beat a little something like this, and learn ya:

JAMES' COMMANDMENTS OF GRILLING:

1) When thou grillest a steak or chicken and remove it from the grill, thou shalt let it sit for no less than five minutes. This lets the steak finish cooking and the juices evenly distribute themselves. Fish does not need to rest and should be served immediately, as it loses heat very quickly.

2) Thou shalt not play with thy meat, lest thy go blind (just kidding, that's a myth). This includes picking it up to see if it’s done on the bottom, moving it around, and turning it over every ten seconds. Put the food down and give it a chance to cook. This will give it a chance to sear on the bottom so that it naturally pulls away from the grates and doesn’t stick. If you try to move the food before it’s seared on the bottom, it will definitely stick. This is important with Chicken and fish. Oiling the grill also keeps things from sticking.

3) Thou shalt not cut into your food to see if it’s done. For one thing, it doesn’t really work, since you can’t get a good look at the inside anyway. For another, it lets the juices come pouring out and the food dries out on the grill. The best way to test food is by poking it with your finger. As it cooks, it becomes firmer and firmer. A rare steak feels squishy; a medium steak feels more springy; a well-done steak feels very firm.

4) Thou shalt clean thy grill. This is what a scraper and wire brushes are for. It's easier to do as te grill is cooling down. A clean grill cooks cleanly, and doesn't make your food dirty. This also increases the life of the grill. Seeing an old neglected grill that's never been cleaned is like seeing a hot girl on the street light up a cigarette then wave her positive HIV test at you.. it's just sad.

5) Have fun. Grilling is art and finesse, not science. Once you're comfortable you'll learn that recipies are not instruction manuals that need to be followed down to every last detail. Then your food can truly become a creation of your own. That rub I mentioned earlier.. I literally got a spoon out and threw it together. Why? Because after a while you just know what works.

Thus endth mine epistle of the grill.

And it was good.

Blog Quandry

So, here's the thing. I have online friends, old friends (many of whom I keep in touch with via online means) and real life friends. Since I put the art night pics up most of my real life friends have visited my website at one time or another. Not that I'd vent about them specifically, but never before has the possibility of something I toss out into cyberspace coming back to haunt me really existed before. To my blogging type friends, is this something you think about, or is it more damn the torpedos, full speed ahead?

To be honest, I like it. I never liked the idea that being online is this shady alter ego life, I value it as a communication resource and tool of expression. I like being able to connect with people. I've really liked emailing my "real life" friends lately, instead of waiting till we hang out or run into each other. I also really like having in depth exchanges with people that I haven't really connected with before, and in doing so making better friends. I am having trouble expressing why this makes me feel so good at the moment, but it does. Good times, noodle salad.

I've created a monster...

Cuz nobody wants to see Marshall no more
they want Shady I'm chopped liver
well if you want Shady, this is what I'll give ya

mmmmmno.

So like my sister Bethany before her, my sister Amy is fond of Final Fantasy 3 on the Super Nintendo, though she usually plays it on an emulator on the computer. Since I have all of the Final Fantasy games from 2 up to 10, she asked me if I had any games she might like to play on our "big screen" (see previous entry) Though they are sequential in number, none of the Final Fantasy games are sequels, they all have completely independent stories. So I tossed a copy of FF9 in the playstation and handed her the controller.

Two hours later I was still waiting to play Disgaea.

Today, Memorial Day, I'm in here on the computer, Return of the King playing behind me, and she's been on the thing for over three hours (edit: five hours) straight. Like I said, I've created a monster. I couldn't be prouder. Good thing I have the backup Playstation for just such times as these. Her husband will thank me someday for getting Amy hooked on the videogame crack that is Final Fantasy.

Ramblings

My, it's been too long since I've posted. What can I say, I've been lost. I actually spent a lot of time with my family this weekend... which usually means we all stay in our rooms and read or watch stuff or what have you, but this weekend it was most of us in the same room. Dad's been out doing failure prep type seminars (he's a civil engineer with the Fed), and as such he's been out with a large video projector. Being the enterprising man that I am, I hooked it up to ye olde DVD play and stereo, and shazam: 90" of home theater glory on yonder wall. Pirates of the Carribean, Into the Woods, Minority Report, and then a late night of the PS2 and Xbox. Reminded me of the good old days when Josh and I would rent a projector from BYU for March Madness and have a grand old time. It was funny that my folks hadn't thought of doing that before. "You can do what with that thing? Hey... that looks really good!" Got a cold Saturday night, and have spent most of the weekend sniffling and sneezing. No fun.

Cooking mishap.

Okay, so here's the thing. I love to cook. Absolutely love it, and I often brag about my skills. Lately I've been on a real pizza kick, so I thought hey! I'll make pizza from scratch, and not have to drive down to Papa Murphy's or something. So off I go.. making the crust from Jiffy flour... letting it rise a little, getting the cheese and pepperocinis out.. and I fill the mixing bowl with extra flour so I can roll it out.

The ball of dough absorbs the flour unusually quickly. I thought it was rather fine flour, so I yell down the hall asking the fam if we have cake flour or something in this canister on the counter by mistake. The ball of dough takes at least 1.5 more cups of the stuff before it lets me roll it out, and even then it was tacky. This should have been my first clue. The incredibly sweet taste of the crust when I took the first bite of my "pizza" should have been the second clue. It was some of the wierdest pizza I've ever tasted. Puzzled, I walk down the hall, and ask the family units, "Hey, is this flour?"

"No, that's powdered sugar!"

Maybe I'm not as skilled as I thought.

sigh

Becoming a better musician.

My friend Skye is starting another new musical project. I got the email about it today and started thinking about my own love of music. I play the bass, for those who don't know... and I'm incredibly mediocre at it, but I really love having a role to fill in making music. I marvel at the magic of creation that music brings. Music is a language to me. A language being a form of communication, a way to connect. A way to express myself. It is definitively used to express one's self, our feelings, and our messages.

I wonder.

How do I find people to make music with around here? Most LDS people I know that are musically inclined are occupied or get that deer in the headlights look when I suggest including me in their plans (yeah, I saw that look). Obviously, I need to practice more, so I can be a worthy addition to someone's band. Mostly, I just want to become more fluent at the language of music. Victor Wooten said, "Think about this. The English language has 26 letters in its alphabet. Our Music language only has 12. I'll let you do the math." Heady subject matter for 1am.

Pictures of Art night (and a few from oscar night)

Perhaps you might like to see some pics of my friends at art night last night. Alas, no pics of me... I was taking the pics. I'll get ahold of Paul's pics, I'm sure there are a few of me in there.

CLICK HERE for pics of art night.

It's the first "friends" folder. If someone who was there is reading this and wants some of the pics, you can either save from yahoo photos, or email me, the originals are about twice as big, which is handy for condensing and printing on your own.

Cafe de' Seville, a night of art.

Well, I'm sitting here in Paul's apartment, and art night is currently going on around me. I had already planned what I wanted to do, because I was responsible for some cooking tonight. The food seemed to come off very well (I was certainly pleased with the results) I made some chili spiced chicken, flat nan bread, brown rice, and curry. In the past, art nights have been more of a performance sort, but tonight we have all been given a 8x11 inch piece of paper, and all around me right now, people are trying to figure out how to express themselves in an artistic fashion. My piece is a series of ripped photographs, my own on top and texts, torn away to reveal layer after layer until the simple sentence "Where did we go astray" is revealed underneath. I'm not entirely sure what it means... but it's what I feel at the moment.

And you may find yourself in a beautiful house
With a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, Well...
How did I get here?

This is not my beautiful house. Or my beautiful wife. I have nothing of the sort. I feel like Virginia Woolf's character in the Hours... "My life has been stolen from me. I'm living in a town I have no wish to live in... I'm living a life I have no wish to live... How did this happen?" Now... I love the town I live in, but as far as the rest goes... I find myself trapped in a reality that I find distasteful, less than ideal, nothing like what I hoped for or dreamed about and yet, I am not sure how to get out of it, at least the first step. Where did we go astray? Where did I go astray? I don't really know. The leitmotif of my life seems to be having more questions than answers. I think that's what is referred to as being grown up. You just kind of make it up as you go along. I guess what I really want to do is make something completely different up, but I imagine it doesn't work that way. Pathetic, really. I have a roof over my head, I am not unnecessarily hurt or frightened, and yet here I am whining about how my life isn't how I want it. Boo freaking hoo.

It's funny how in one night, life can be so amazing, beautiful, and glorious. And at the same moment, frightening, saddening, and desperate. Funny, and yet it's so.

Sunday

Slept in a bit, but was still the first one up. I didn't feel like going to church, I just wasn't in the mood to run into the Ex again, and I'm not in the mood to pretend I'm all happy and glad to be there. I worked on a few projects at home, and am now getting ready for The Cafe d'Seville which is happening again tonight. It's being held at Paul's place, and I am helping Paul make Indian Food for it. Sometimes I wish I felt like I were exploring and learning about myself and things as much at church as I do when I'm playing music, or creating art.

Oscar Night, the aftermath

So much for the afterglow. Oscar night was entertaining. I was straight b-boy pimpin in my orange suit and fedora. I donned a nice blonde wig for some music, and we rocked the house. I don't know how good we sounded, I was just trying to play it straight. I also took home the oscar for best original screenplay... though I think it was more of a pity award. I got packed up and got out fairly quickly. As fun as it was, being in the same room as the recent Ex isn't my cup of tea... so I sounded the retreat around 10:30.

Saturday: the big day

Well, most of this week's preparations are leading up to today: Oscar Night. We'll see if my little movie won anything, and I'm playing bass in a makeshift band twice tonight. Naturally, I'm going to go in orange and black stripes to devote some of the attention away from the actual sound. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, I will have rocked the mic.

Vaya con Dios, Lenny Brisco.

Okay, I'm pissed off. I just found out on commercials during Law & Order: SVU tonight that tomorrow is Lenny Brisco's (played by Jerry Orbach) last episode on Law and Order (the regular one). Now, this is from the same station that pimped the Friends finale for a damn MONTH, and Orbach has even been on the air LONGER! The guy has three emmy nominations, and has a Tony award for crap's sake, and THIS is the sendoff he gets? Screw you NBC, and shame on you for treating one of the best actors in primetime drama like that. Jerry Orbach deserves better.

Unless this is how he wanted it.. in which case, I'm a jerk. But since when is that news?

A weekend in Vancouver, Canada.

I had never been to Vancouver, BC before, which was the perfect reason to go when the situation presented itself. Seven of us (Brice, Emily, Lumina, Jimmy, Michelle, Paul, and yours truly) made our way up at different points of the day on Saturday. Paul and I made pretty good time, and we gabbed the whole way up. Vancouver is an awesome town, as cool as Portland, as big as Seattle. We agreed we could be serious menaces there. There were tons of artsy stores and resturants all over the place, as well as a huge asian community and more clubs in a 5 block area than Portland has in the whole city. It was fun to just wander around and see the sights.

Saturday we got there, checked into the hotel, and then drove around the town to just see what's what, and had dinner late at this italian bistro place that had authentic italian style pizza cooked in a woodburning oven. Sunday we went to this open market kind of place, and watched the street performers. Then we went to Gastown, the "old town" and currently the "tourist trap" where we got panhandled a lot and eventually had dinner. Then we went down to the beach, where some of us were lazy, some threw the frisbee around, and eventually we had a campfire. I tried to get dinner at Wendys, only to be told the didn't accept Visa. Expletives followed. On Monday, Paul and I went and explored downtown, while Emily and Brice went and "hiked" and the others went sailing. We took off in the mid afternoon, had sushi in Seattle on our way back, and I got home last night around 10.

It was a weekend of thinking for me. Recent personal events made me want to get away and take a breather. Also, my parents have changed their opinion on what I should be doing with my life. Up until now they were of the opinion that I should be finding a nice entry level job and settle down. Being a bit tired of school, I thought it was an okay idea... but naturally finding that job and someone to settle down with are proving more problematic than I imagined. Out of the blue on Saturday the told me to think about what I'd want to do if I were to go back to school. And so I have been thinking. I'm fairly confused right now... not really sure what to do about it all.

So here's the thing...

Going to Canada, back in a few days. I just gotta get out of town.

Oscar Night

Okay, so here's the thing. My ward (church) has this Oscar night activity once a year, where in the months before we all group off and make little movies. Since I'm a bit of a writer and director, I got asked to come up with a script idea. So I did. Then I got asked to film it, so I did. Then about two weeks before the screening night, I get greeted at church with "Hey, here's the footage, edit it when you get a chance, okay?" So, over the weekend, at the eleventh hour and fifty-ninth minute, I did. The result is "The Elevator", a quirky little short film produced and directed by me. I wish I had some way of posting it online, but... even as a 8 minute AVI it weighs in at about 150 megs... so I guess you'll have to take my word for it... it's not too bad. If you're ever out Oregon ways, I'll show it to you. Who knows, maybe I'll take home the "Oscar" for editing or directing.

Two new additions to my Classic RPG collection

In between sessions of editing the movie I got stuck with (more on this later today.. my movie got screened last night), I stopped off at the mall and hunted through the old neglected stacks of used playstation games. As most people know, I have a bit of a classic rpg addiction/collection (mostly SNES, Saturn, Emulator, Dreamcast, and Playstation) and so I always have my eyes open for games that I never got "back in the day". I picked both of these up for less than 30 bucks total, so I was pretty happy. Vagrant Story was one of the last great games for the Playstation (not counting the current occasional sports games updates), before Square went on to developing for the PS2. It's fun to find an old game I may have been looking for.

If anyone has their eyes open and happens to spot a copy of Tactics Ogre or Valkyrie Profile, I'm looking...

Thinking too much.

It's midnight, and I really am thinking too much, but right now there's little else to do. A lot of things have happened this week, and while I like talking about some of the insights and thoughts I might have on this blog, I don't normally talk about actual personal things. It was always such a turnoff for me, people sharing intimate details with complete strangers, almost begging for attention. Like Strong Sad or something, it just makes me get all flaccid and rubbery, or whatever the polar opposite of turned on is. It turns me off like a naked anorexic.

I had a relationship end this week. I didn't think it would bother me, and for a while, it hasn't. People keep asking me how I am, and while I really appreciate having good friends, I guess how I feel about it hasn't completely shaken out yet. I'm a fairly zen person, so this, like with anything, has both good and bad... And what I am focusing on at any given moment makes the difference in my mood. I don't know how I am about this yet. It wasn't the most ideal or greatest relationship, but it was still nice to know someone wanted me, well in real life anyway.

I saw Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind a while back and the basic premise of the movie is that the technology exists to erase memories, or an individual person from our memories. The question then becomes, are we the sum of our memories? If freed from some of the shadows and shackles of our past, would we be different, or merely run head first into the same mistakes again? As I sit here thinking I wonder, would I erase her if I could? There are a lot of things I would change about the past, and even some people I would erase if I could. But... I think for the moment, no... I wouldn't. I'd rather have the knowledge of what small things didn't work for me, and endure the rejection of being dumped, than have that spotless mind. Then again, "Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders." (Nietzsche) Maybe a little instant amnesia juice squirted on the old cerebral cortex mind be better for me now. Honestly, I just don't know.

That's on Ebay.

When you can't seem to find
the baseball that's been signed,
that's on eBay!

A new toy you can wind,
a men's suit that's silk lined,
that's on eBay!

Phones that ring, organizer thing,
Jazz or swing, nice bling-bling...
that's on eBay!

Buy today and it's on its way!
Other users say you will feel okay!
That's on eBay!


I eBay, I admit it. As I love basses and guitars, and their parts, eBay is MUCH better than ye olde time trusted method of hunting through sleazy pawn shops. And I can do it in my underwear too. There are some things about eBay I get really tired of. First: everything on ebay is supposedly 'RARE'. Look champs, I know a copy of Tactics Ogre is a little bit rare, that's why I'm clicking on this guys sorry auction instead of going down to Babbages. My other princely favorite is the 'not' advertisers. People selling basses or guitars will put things like "Fender P-bass (Not Gibson, Yamaha, Lakland,Spector)" in their auction titles to drive the hits up... which is not only dishonest, but it causes you to do your search and find half of the hits are 'not' what you searched for. Geniuses. The other one I love are guitar stores that try and sell last year's models at retail price. I've fired off more than one email asking, "so how is this bass different than the one I can buy at my local Guitar Center for the same price?" Oddly, those emails don't get answered. Ebay needs a "punch seller in the gonads" button.

In Praise of: Escape From New York Pizza (Portland)

I mentioned it in my post about showing my cousins around Portland. One of my favorite local hole in the wall eateries in Portland is Escape from New York Pizza, on 23rd. There's another EFNY Pizza place in San Francisco, run by the brother of the fella who owns this place. Escape from NY Pizza is the real deal. The best crust, the best sauce, the best price. Forget your fancy brick ovens. Forget your fancy goat cheese or avacado topping. It's NY style pizza, which means a thin crust and large floppy pieces... but if you've been raised to think Pizza Hut is great pizza, you're about to find an oasis in the desert of mediocrity. It is the closest thing to New York you are going to find in Portland. The crust is just right to me. A bit crispy but soft on the inside, yet not overwhelmingly bready. If you have an issue with grease you may not enjoy it, but let's be honest... if you were wanting to go lo-cal, you wouldn't be hunting up pizza joints, now would you? As NY style pizza goes, this is as close to a '10' as you can get.

A weekend in Portland.

Had fun late this week. My cousin Tyler and his wife Amber stopped off in Portland for a few days, and basically wanted the tour of the town. They live in San Francisco, and have come to the realization if they ever wanted a home of their own, they'd have to either win the lottery, or get out of San Francisco. So being the faithful tourguide that I am, I showed them around town. I forget how cool Portland is to someone who's never been here before (you're missing out, Llew.. just going to Cali and the armpit of the desert {Utah}) So I took them downtown, got them set up in the Benson hotel, took em to some of my favorite spots like 23rd and Escape From NY Pizza, or Papa Haydn's ... Showed off the Portland, Oregon temple, and all the wonderful greenery that sprouts up here when you don't put a parking lot on top of it. I remember it was suprising to many when I decided to move home to PDX, but the truth is I just like the pacific northwest. I think I'd want to live here even if my family didn't.

Dateline: Adub

"Famed cynic Adub the Anonymous Bassist has been missing in action since last posting his announcement of unemployment. Apparently shaken and withdrawn, Adub emerged from seclusion and went outside yesterday to make his first public appearance since losing gainful employment. When asked about his lack of posting by our correspondent, Adub laughed, shat in the camera, bottled our correspondent in the temple and invited us all to bite his ass."

I hate that bloody McDonald's "I'm lovin' it" theme. It's hip, it's urban, it's happening, and I hate it's dark vile heart. What, like McDonalds NEEDS some urban cool hiphop theme to connect to the younger generation? The thing just reeks of some marketing department's two drink minimum power lunch. Do they think that adding someone going "Yeeah yeeah" in the backbeat they'll connect to some magical as-yet untapped marketing segment? Ooh, the new xtreme McDonalds. Listen, I love real rap music, but this is about as lame as Mr. Jiggy Fly from the Geico commercials. If I am out running errands and I hear Usher and Lil' Jon hawking Taco Bell "WHAT?!? YEEAEEEHH!?! CHALUUPAAHHH!?!"... you have my permission to just shoot me in the head.

So much for liquidity.

"We're sorry but a decision has been reached to end your assignment here at Novellus" That's corporate speak for " We were shorthanded for two weeks, and we brought you on as a temp and strung you along, and now we're gonna chuck ya ". Bastards. The hours were lousy, the money good, and the management couldn't lead a wino to booze. *shrugs* I'm going to go swear a lot.

And in other news, random girl chooses chocolate over man.

IGN is reporting that last night was singles night at a San Francisco Giants baseball game, and a 'The Bachelorette' type contest was held. The winning bachelor was given a choice to either take the beautiful, young, brunette bachelorette out on an all expenses paid date, or receive a Playstation 2. Naturally, the bachelor took the PS2, and 'The men in the audience cheered.'" The article notes: "Looks like when it comes down to a choice between video games and female attention, these days, videogames are winning out."

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned for Sony.

On a strange side note, I am remodeling my bathroom, and am using my father's bathroom... SO I kiped some of his old man hair gel, and I smell like my dad now. I always thought it was a clever cocktail of cheaper cologne than I like + anti-inflamatory cremes... but nope, Dad's smell comes from his hair gel. To be honest, this is really wierding me out.

And you may find yourself... Working in the Logistics department...

Today is payday. My first in a long time. I am pleased to be going liquid in the funds department. So before my celebratory coke-and-whores spree this evening, I think I will post a little story about work.

Imagine a warehouse with bins with every computer part imaginable, and to build a computer you have to go with carts and bins, and pull every single part that goes into making that computer, then wheel them into the next room where guys in bunny suits like at the end of E.T. build the computer. Now imagine the computer has robotic arms and platforms so it can build things, and is roughly the size of a few refrigerators and costs 3-7 million dollars, and the bins of parts making up the kits take up four or five 72" five shelf racks. That's what I do... and that's about as exciting as I can make it sound. One of my responsibilities is to receive in incoming parts, organize them, and then pull the parts needed to make up the kits.

So at this job, I like to be left alone so I can get stuff done. Yesterday we had a ton of boxes and things to receive. My bosses boss calls us over, gestures to the large amount there and says ( I kid you not) "We've got a heavy load today guys, we'll need to get it done" I didn't say anything.. but 1) We were the very people who dragged all of the stuff off of the semi's in the first place. Do we know it's there??? uh, hyeah. 2) It's not like we're having a party, all we do is receive all day, it's not like there's this mythical overdrive gear that we can magically get everything done in. 3) Did we really need to be stopped to be told that? Sometimes, Dilbert is really too close to the truth.

In Praise of Band of Brothers

I think I will make my "in praise of" entries a regular thing. I intend to make it a little archive of stuff that I think is just the bee's knees. Since I'm a big fat nerd, I'm sure video games, movies, and books will most likely figure regularly. This week, I am writing in praise of Band Of Brothers, the HBO miniseries. When someone asks me what my favorite movie is, most of the time my answer is "Band of Brothers".

Produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, and based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose, the epic 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers' journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear. They were an elite rifle company parachuting into France early on D-Day morning, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were also a unit that suffered 150 percent casualties, and whose lives became legend.

Imagine Saving Private Ryan, where the characters are developed fully. It's a completely unique experience to have men you've grown attached to over the course of four or five episodes get killed in a brutal artillery shelling outside of Bastogne. It's also heartrending to realize that this isn't dramatic timing on the part of a director... this is what really happened. On DVD, each "act" is prefaced by clips of interviews of the actual men that we're watching the actors portray. It's amazing to see the an actor portray Richard Winters on screen, then see the actual man himself talking about what he thought and felt at the time.

I know it's not really for everybody, but to me it's great drama, and more than anything Hollywood is making, it's a fully developed story with fully developed characters. I guess it takes 10 hours to do that for me. But then, I prefer the extended versions of Lord Of the Rings. Give it a rent, watch an episode or two a day, and then be prepared to want to watch it all over again.

The Cafe d'Seville

So once a month a group of friends and acquaintances gather for the Seville Cafe, a performance art night. We gather, share art, munch, and disperse. All are encouraged to exit their respective comfort zones, so if you're an accomplished musician, then you should do something other than music, and so it goes. Last night was nice. I have shared several times before, so I relegated myself to more of a supporting role, and played bass to back my friend Emily's guitar on a song she had written about Brice, her on-again, off-again (currently off) love. It was reasonably well received. I think the reason so many of us love it is that we are all at various stages of life, but whether you're still young and a student, or older and have a mortgage, the soul still needs to be expressed. That's something all of my friends here share and have in common: soul. A soul's most innate need is to connect. With family, friends, lovers, God... something. It's nice to find people to connect with.

Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch?

Just got done watching the Chappelle show rerun with Wayne Brady doing his "Training Day" parody. I laughed my butt off. Nothing makes me laugh more than Wayne Brady "stopping at the ATM" , pulling up to a street corner while his hoes gather around the car and he gets his take... one of them is short and he looks at her all hard and says, "Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch?"... funniest skit ever.

"White people like Wayne Brady because he makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcom X" - Dave Chappelle

How to get out of doing things you don't want to do, and the legend of the Tampon Walrus.

So we were having a discussion today at work about how so and so has to go to his mother's for dinner but he doesn't want to, but of course you can't tell your mom you don't want to have dinner with her...... and how so and so hates it how his wife makes him go and buy ice cream in the middle of the night, but she's pregnant so of course he does it anyway... and I had to share with them the classic man secret: When asked to do something you don't want to do by a woman, do a piss poor job, then feign stupidity.

"What honey? You mean butter pecan ISN'T the same as toasted almond? Awww, I'm sorry sweetie." You then are deemed incompetent to perform the simple task, and next time she wants it, she'll do it herself......... which is what you wanted in the first place. They looked at me like I was Robert E. Lee laying out some unheard of strategem.

This served me well last week. I get tired sometimes of being a gofer into my Insignificant Other's purse. I hate rooting through it trying to find gum or something, when she could be doing it herself. Of course, I'm not going to say no, that would involve us having "a talk", and nobody wants that. So last week when asked to fetch some gum out of her purse, I reluctantly started rooting through all the crap she has in there, like a pig hunting for truffles. Naturally, my hands run over cosmetics, and a number of feminine products. I then realized my way out of this situation forever. I decided that tampons stuck in my gums on each side of my mouth protruding downward made me look a bit like a walrus. Flopping around and making walrus like noises completed the picture. Needless to say, this was not very well received. She... was not amused. I seem to have had my purse privileges revoked. Which... is what I wanted in the first place. And now you know the true legend of the Tampon Walrus.

Here is A Muppet News Flash...

I am gainfully employed.

Yay.

I had my first day of work today, I worked 10 hours and am really wiped out. I work in the shipping, receiving, kitting, and Q&A section of Novellus.

In their own words: "Novellus Systems, Inc. manufactures, markets and services advanced automated wafer fabrication systems for thin film deposition, surface preparation and CMP. Our chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), copper Electrofill™, photoresist and residue removal and CMP systems are being used worldwide for volume production of high-quality semiconductors at the lowest overall cost. "

Basically I work in a plant that makes the machines that make computer chips. It seems to pay alright, and the company is growing. I work about 5 minutes from my house, a major bonus. I work 50-55 hour weeks, a mild minus. However 10-15 hours of overtime a week isn't bad, though. I am very confident in my abilities, and I think I can learn this job well and exceed expectations there... but I am a tiny bit worried on getting worn down or burnt out. Right now, I'm wasted. Good night all.

Oh, and the dress code is casual... I like the fact that I can wear shorts to work this summer.

Ok, a little bit less of a nerdy turn.

The Ghost Towns of Chernobyl

This site is hauntingly interesting. It's photo journal of Elena, the daughter of a Ukranian nuclear physicist, and as such she is able to get passes to ride through the Chernobyl "dead zone". 18 years ago one of the reactors in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant had a massive failure and meltdown. It's believed 300,000 to 400,000 people died as a result of that accident. The area around the plant is severely contaminated, and pretty much uninhabitable. When Elena goes on her tours, she has to take a geiger counter anywhere she goes to insure that she isn't overexposed to radiation.

This site is amazing in how plain and honest it is. Greenpeace would have a field day with it if it were theirs, but Elena is simple and straightforward. I even find the english mistakes endearing. To me it's an interesting example in the hubris of humanity. We are indeed lords of all we survey, but it's amazing how foolishly we can wipe ourselves out and plow our own fields under with salt (or deadly radiation).

I think it would be interesting to meet a member of the Siuslaw or Clatsop or Tillamook or any of the myriad small native American tribes that used to populate the Portland Metro Area... and see what they think of the fine metropolis we've built. Don't get me wrong, I love this city, but it's amazing how an entire people can be utterly wiped out. I wonder if their ghosts wander unseen around us completely bewildered by all that we have replaced them with. It makes me wonder what the land around me was like before... before we came. Looking at the pictures of the villages and towns around Chernobyl, you can see how many of the apartments and roads are almost frozen in time on the day the area was finally exacuated. I wonder what the ghosts of Chernobyl must think.

In Praise of Final Fantasy Tactics

For an unemployed guy like me, videogames help to fill the late hours and in-between times. I'm particularly fond of older RPG and adventure games. Currently, probably my favorite game of all time is Square's "Final Fantasy Tactics". For Square, Final Fantasy Tactics was an experiment turned utopia. It's unlike the traditional console role playing games that make up the Final Fantasy series, instead bringing strategic, tactical combat to the center of gameplay. Imagine a completely interactive chess game. Recruit a squad of soldiers, give them unique jobs that evoke special abilities and characteristics, and go to battle evil.

It's not like Tactics started the strategy/RPG genre -- not by a long shot -- but it definitely took strides towards perfecting it. Games like Ogre Battle and Shining Force were of the same ilk, but were very niche in their audience. Tactics really didn't have a big following, either, and was originally released in limited supply. I bought mine at the same time I bought the play station in 1998, but in later years when supplies were scarce, you could see them on Ebay at prices well over 50 dollars. I never considered selling mine. Not even once. Eventually it sold enough to warrant a republishing and price reduction, and can be found usually for about 15 bucks.

This is a game you can literally and easily plunk 300 hours into and only barely be scratching the surface. It takes 60 or so hours to play through normally, 80 to do a chunk of levelling up, and easily 100 hours to complete all the side quests. Since characters have different job classes and combinations of skills, the game offers several replay possibilities. Since it can be found for between $15 and $20, that averages out to about $0.06 per hour of enjoyment. Not too shabby, huh?

So, I make guitars and all.

I am a budding luthier, that is to say, a maker of string instruments. It's a hobby that I'm hoping to turn into a side business. I make electric guitars and basses I can make just about anything, but I usually stick to standard body styles. Currently I offer several basic models of guitar and bass, but if someone out there has a specific look or sound they're going for... "I want a fretless jazz bass just like Jaco Pastorius...", I can easily accomodate that. Where this leaves you, Constant Reader... is I need customers. So I'll toss out this offer. While I'm just getting going, I'll build anything for the cost of parts plus 20%. What this would mean is a handmade instrument at less than a commercial one would cost at the store. I'm a craftsman, an artist, and a musician, not a businessman.

Anyone know much about these kinds of things?

Fiddling... fidgeting... just can't leave well enough alone

After some well placed criticism of the resolution of my blog, I went to try and make some adjustments, and ended up pretty much screwing things up. At the same time, my templates wouldn't upload, and basically things kind of got shot to heck. Needless to say, I'm still fooling around with the layout, and definitely the current color scheme will not be kept... but oh well, it seems to be working again... thank goodness for small favors.

Edit... Okay, I'm getting the hang of the way the template is coded now... I think I have close to the look I was wanting... I think I have the link and resolution issues fixed... any other thoughts, or snide comments, by all means, shout out below.

Sushi is like manna unto me.

Went for sushi last night with some friends and friends of friends. Good times. It's hard to explain how comforting sushi is to me. I was a missionary in Japan for two years, and I love most things asian (strangely, I don't have a thing for asian girls, I must be defective) BUt I missed it when I came back to the states. It really got me down, like I had cut off a part of me and left it 7000 miles away. I was living in Utah, which not only doesn't have good sushi places... it doesn't have much in the way of good anything places. Being a poor student without a car eliminated the going to Salt Lake option. So I went home on Christmas break from school to Portland. My father offered to take me out for sushi. I picked out a promising looking place over in Beaverton. As it turned out, it was a kaiten zushi, the style of sushi bar with the conveyor belt where you take whatever looks promising. Nigiri, Maki, even little extras like prawn tempura and japanese style jello were on there. I ate my fill and found not only my stomach being filled, but another empty place inside of me. It's silly, but when I have sushi at a good place, it reminds me of being there.

Last night was no exception. The maguro (red ahi tuna) was particularly tasty. I always like taking people who are new to sushi becasue I know how great it is, but I also know how reluctant people are to try something new. I have a few basic things I tell people who are closeminded about it.

1) No, it's not all slabs of raw fish. Sushi means "with vinegared rice". Saying sushi is like saying "mexican food". It's a whole branch of cuisine, not a single dish. Many sushi dishes have cooked meat (anything with shrimp, prawn, scallop, crab, or lobster, for instance)

2) Try things and actually find out if you like it or not. Not even a japanese person likes it all. I don't like everything. For instance, I find lots of my friends like eel. It's barbequed and has a tangy sauce it's marinated in, which to me is a bit strong but most of my gaijin friends seem to like. This is the area that's the true mark of a person. If someone is willing to try new stuff, and not begrudgingly like Calvin being forced to eat a pasta dish he's unfamiliar with, they are someone I might get along with.

3) This is GOOD food! It's incredibly healthy, and even when you're loaded up full on it, you won't have the same near death feeling I usually get when I eat three or four cheeseburgers.