And Naturally

Song lyrics photoshop

Okay, I occasionally participate in Fark.com's photo shop contests... here's my idea for the "photoshop song lyrics." set they had this week. For those of you that can, join in! Visually represent the lyrics of a song, and email it to me at ironchefboyardee@gmail.com and I'll put it up on here. I'll leave the "answer" up in a comment so if you're stumped you can peek!

In the end, I went out the classy route.

Dear Susan, Duane, and Heather,

This is to inform you that I have decided that it is time to move on, and I have accepted a position elsewhere. I am therefore tendering my resignation from your company and wish to advise you that Sunday, October 30th will be my last day of employment at Lovejoy Station and Pearl Court. On that day I will leave any Bowen property in my possession at Lovejoy Station, and would like to cash out any remaining time off that I have accrued. If there is some difficulty in finding a replacement for me, I am open to the possibility of working the weekend shifts (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) until a new night monitor is hired, but you will need to let me know before 10/30/05. I would like to thank you for the experiences I've had while working for Bowen.

Sincerely,

James Wright
Lovejoy/Pearl Court Night Monitor

So today I get the EXTREME delight of composing my resignation letter for my current job. I've been waiting for this for a long, long time.

Be glad you can't see me...

I'm dancing right now.

Oh yes.

I'm doing the "I've got a new job dance".

I am the newest counselor, in charge of transitions, at the Bridgepoint program at the Columbia River Minimum Security Penitentiary. It's a significant pay raise (about 6-7k more a year), and a DAY SHIFT, and it's a great opportunity in counseling. Unlike other places I've worked, I only have to focus on counseling, not dicipline or enforcement (the Department of Corrections is happy to take care of that here). Plus I get to say offhandedly every day, "so, when I got out of prison earlier today..."

Let the celebration begin.

The 10 Questions

These 10 questions originally came from a French series, "Bouillon de Culture" hosted by Bernard Pivot. It is probably more familiar to many as the question James Lipton asks at the end of "Inside the Actor's Studio."

1. What is your favorite word?
"pontificate"
2. What is your least favorite word?
"but"
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
For me, the most I've been turned on creatively and such is when I've jammed or played in bands, and I just feel this alive bursting connection with creation. I like standing in a circle with other musicians and just expressing ourselves in that way. It's also when I've felt the most alive.
4. What turns you off?
Ignorance, willful ignorance.
5. What is your favorite curse word?
"Bitch". I especially love calling men this.
6. What sound or noise do you love?
I love the sound that I hear when it's snowed in Oregon, and I go outside into the street, and everything is muffled and quiet... I love the sound of... air, I guess!
7. What sound or noise do you hate?
I hate the sound of buzzers, beepers, and superflous alarms. I don't need a damn alarm to tell me that my seatbelt isn't buckled yet. I don't need an alarm in my office to tell me when the door is open. Oddly enough, I don't mind the alarm to get up in the morning, that serves a legitamate purpose, but it seems there's buzzers, beepers, and noise makers on every damn thing these days.
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
I guess I'd try to be a writer. Maybe an auto mechanic?
9. What profession would you not like to do?
I could never be a server, or wait tables. I just don't have the demeanor for it.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
"Hmmmm..." *peers down at me, stroking chin thoughfully* *looks down at the book of life, up at me, down at the book again, and back to me slowly* "Well...." "Hmmmmm....." "Oh.... alright, I guess."

Anticipation

So right now, I'm living my life for a phone call.

I interviewed for a new job last week. It went really really well. I felt like I'd fit in well at the program, and that I'd be able to perform the job well. I'm friends with someone who works there, ans was able to use them for a recommendation, so I've got an "IN". It's a significant pay raise, a move to a day shift, and it's in line with my educational pursuits. So now all I have to do is get the news that I've got the job, eh? I can't wait! And yet, waiting is exactly what I am having to do.

So I carry my cell phone with my like it's a rosary. Alpha and Omega, amen.

Everytime someone calls I have to pretend that I'm not disappointed that they're not who I'm hoping will call.

Everyone's saying, "oh, I'm sure you got it..." and I'm sure I got it too... how could they not pick me? I felt really good about the interview and all the answers I gave and my comprehension of their program goals... but sureity doesn't help the waiting. Tomorrow will have been a week, they called my references on Monday, so it could come any day now. I've never been good at the waiting game, which is surprising considering that I'm actually a patient person in most respects. I have held off posting since I knew I was going to have this big news and such, and yet it hasn't come. Perhaps I've invoked it by writing about waiting for it today, and lo, it will happen tomorrow!

If only.

Wedding Bands

So I got the wedding band I ordered in the mail today. It was made in France in 1876, and is actually two rings that fit together, puzzle fashion. It looks really good and is shiny like a new ring, not one that's 130 years old. I ordered it from an antiques dealer in Amsterdam, and they got it here in like 3 days! Isn't modern transport mind boggling?

Firefly: Serenity

"As is often true of fantasy/sci-fi themed shows that get cancelled, the rabid fans of Firefly, who'd dubbed themselves "brown-coats," protested the network's decision. They also bought DVDs, lots of them, selling three times the amount they were supposed to sell; there was clearly a market. Universal cagily picked up on this and gave the series a second chance, this time as a feature film.

In Firefly a band of mercenaries survive on the fringes of civilized space. It is five hundred years in the future and the galaxy has just ended a brutal civil war. The captain of the ship "Serenity" is Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds and he was on the losing side of the conflict against the totalitarian pan-galactic government called the Alliance, which sought unification and harmony among all the planets, at any cost.

Also on the losing side was Mal's second-in-command, Zoe, who owes the captain her life, which she repays with fierce loyalty. Zoe's husband, Wash, is more laid-back, even though he has the stressful task of piloting the ship. Kaylee is the perpetually vivacious, engineer and Jayne is a mercenary with very little loyalty to anyone at all. On the show they ended up bringing along a brother and sister in their travels, Simon, a secretive doctor and River, a psychically gifted young woman whose physical and mental talents are such that she is considered a dangerous weapon and a threat to the stability of the galaxy.

Serenity starts out with a little back-story as Simon frees River from an Alliance deprogramming center. Almost immediately they are being tracked by the relentless Alliance Operative. He will stop at nothing to get River back, since it turns out holding a psychic in a secret naughty government installation could be a bad idea... she somehow knows some deep, dark governmental secret, though neither she nor Simon has a clue as to what it may be.

The Operative is so ruthless that it becomes evident that harboring River has become prohibitively expensive for the crew of "Serenity." As they scrape by, from friendly port to friendly port, they realize they may have to go to the edge of the known universe, through the vicious race of cannibals called the Reavers, to get themselves out of their current jamb. All of this is thrown at the uninitiated viewer as if they should know what a Reaver is, or that the next port they're going to is safe for them. The interplay among the characters feels comfortable, as small reactions tell of entire histories (or at least a season's worth of association).Part of the fun is connecting the dots."

-IMDB review, slightly edited and paraphrased.

I was a huge Firefly fan, and between Firefly, Futurama, and Family Guy, I'm convinced Fox couldn't manage their way out of a paper bag. Such complete bungling of some of the best shows on TV, while they push another season of the latest Paris Hilton shit on us... sigh, I have to go take my blood pressure medicine.

Go see the movie. It's witty and cool. River kicks a whole lot of ass.

They're animals.

I have to kill some time here at work before I go home. It's friday night, which if you're like me and the night dude at a swanky downtown apartment complex, means the parade of frat boys and women made up like hoes going out to hit da club. They all leave between 8 and 10, then come back between 1 and 4 in various states of sobriety. Some bring people with them (you think I'm just the office dude, but hey, I notice when you've brought home 4 different guys in two weeks), and some come home in packs.

I wondered about this for a while. It's never really been my scene. Are these people really expecting to meet someone when they're out there dressed like someone they're not acting like someone they're not. How are you supposed to find love in a bar? It's silly.