Digital Thursday

It is Digital Thursday and through some kind of hecurlean effort (much to Wifey's chagrin) I was able to push this latest Digital Thursday piece out the door before the deadline of today. This Digital Thursday episode is brought to you by the Cartographers' Guild. "What is the Cartographers' Guild?" you ask. well it is a forum of cartographers who like making fantasy and role playing game maps. Some are professionals in the RPG industry, but most are enthusiasts who just enjoy RPG's, sci-fi and fantasy maps.

This piece is from the September Mapping Challenge, which was quite a bit more open ended than most of the challenges I have seen. The challenge this month was to take a quickly sketched map and do it up in a style of our own choosing. The sketched map was this one:
Overall this sketched map is pretty quick and dirty. The green is forest, the yellow-ish brown is swampland, and the pink are places that people live. This month there were 28 entries. It was, in a weird way, good that I waited so long to complete mine. By there being 28 entries the contestant cartographers really need to do something special to distinguish themselves from the competition. Seeing what genres were already done, I really needed to come up with an angle that was different.

My idea was that an advanced spacefaring people were surveying a more primitive society's planet. Here I give you "Planetary Survey."
All total this was about 12 hours in the making (not including the stops and starts down dead end styles). It was done in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator CS3. I don't think I will win, but I should at least get some votes.

To recap:
I haven't done a mapping challenge in a looong time
It was an interesting exercise
Speaking of exercise I needs to do that again soon
Having a Papa day tomorrow
So I will not be joining all of you stuck in the office
I will be in my own private Hell
A hell of taking care of 2 kids at the same time
I don't know how people do it day in and day out
Listening to 4 Sticks by the Rollins Band off of the Led Zepplin tribute album Encomium
Have a great weekend everyone

Call me

Is it bad of me that I am nearly un-willing to leave people messages on their voicemail?
Truly, I do not think many of the people I would call are interested in hearing me stammer on about nothing and give some flimsy excuse for why I attempted to contact them, only to be thwarted by their lack of answering. Most times I am unwilling to leave a message stating that I called and that I really had nothing to call about. Clearly this is an issue of mine and mostly mine alone because I overhear people listening to messages on their voicemail all day long. The message is usually something like “Hey this is so-and-so, I don’t got nothin’ Gimme a call if ya want. Peace out. Word to ya mutha.”

I am sure you are reading this right now thinking “Why is SRH ‘innocently over-hearing’ conversations of someone that is so clearly stuck in the early 90’s?” There is one of you out there thinking “Sweet Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch! Is he listening into my funky fresh voicemailzzzz, boyeeeee?” You need help, and you need to turn your phone off of speaker. Don’t hate the playa, G. Hate the game. See ya on the flip side.

Compounding my un-willingness to leave a message is the fact that most the people I am calling have some kind of caller ID going on. Often they call me back not having attempted to listen to the message I potentially could have left had I not deemed it largely useless. It is clear that both caller and responder in this chess game are already 4 moves ahead.

To recap:
I stuck in a meeting today to talk about Moroccan radar systems and Filipino telecommunications systems
Surreal
Q is getting better we think
Still a bit on the snotty side though
I have no idea what the fam will be doing for dinner tonight
I have to finish up a mapping challenge and post the final results tonight
If I get that done that will be the Digital Thursday submission for tomorrow
Are you all excited now?
I am all a flutter
Listening to Righteous Ape & Bird by The Octopus Project from Identification Parade

20 Questions Tuesday: 109 - Excuses Excuses

It seems that lately (for the past 34 years or so) I have been bandying about all these different excuses for stuff. I am trying to put some of that behavior behind me… if I have time.

Thanks this week go to Lsig, John P., JA Coppinger, Capt. McArmpants, Nadolny, and All Rileyed Up. Sorry about the answers this week, I wasn’t able to focus on them like I would like to because of stuff and things and such.

On to the Questions:
1. Do dogs actually eat homework? Did the dog ever eat your homework?
I have never actually heard of a dog eating homework spontaneously. Homework slathered in peanut butter or wrapping up a steak, maybe… but just raw homework? I don’t think so. Since I had cats growing up, this was not one of the options for me.

2. Is "because I don't feel like it" and excuse or just a simple truth? What percentage of the excuses you offer really come down to: "I just did not care that much".
There is a subtle but real difference between an excuse and a reason. An excuse is a hurdle that could be overcome, but a reason is a different beast entirely.

3. Which is it easier to find an excuse for- not exercising or not doing housework?
Not exercising. Everything is easier to not exercising.

4. Can you justify this sorry excuse for a blog topic?
Yes, it is no better and no worse than any of my other 20 Questions Tuesday topics.

5. Has Little Man started to make excuses for not doing things he is suppose to? Are these excuses any good and could he ever live up to your standards of fabrication of an excuse?
He has started down that path. He is my son, so I expect it. I have used the phrase “Don’t bring that weak game into my house, child” to him before, but he isn’t quite hip to that jive.

6. Who is better at making excuses in dealing with friends or family you would rather not deal with, you or Wifey?
I am better at making excuses for everything compared to Wifey. Excuses are pretty much like lying, but with a kernel of truth to make it more believable. Wifey sucks at the lying.

7. The polite “excuse me” in the grocery store aisle to get by the shopping cart in the exact middle of everything. Do you use it and does anyone ever utter it your way? ... by the way, I’m sorry my questions are so lame for today’s topic but I had a long rough weekend, the Steelers lost, I haven’t been able to buy The Force Unleashed yet, and I’m sitting here at work with a ton of stuff to do. I mean quite literally close to 2000 pounds of paper work, give me a break man!
I have been known to excuse myself around others taking up too much aisle space. I have also been known to need excused… I have kids now. Kids take up aisle space darn it!

8. Why two pronunciations for the same word? i.e. “That’s no excuse.” & “Excuse me!”
One is used as a noun and the other a verb.

9. What’s the worst excuse for missing work you’ve ever made?
I haven’t really used excuses for missing work. I typically tell my work, “Hey, I ain’t coming in on Friday.” I am rock star like that.

10. What excuse are you planning to use if you can’t bring the funny for one of these questions?
Questioners not bringing their A-Game

11. Aren't excuses the greatest thing ever. They are ridiculously cheap, easy to manufacture and yet we can use them to patch massive holes in the very fabric of society. Not only that!, but you don't even have to make your own, if you fail to someone else will do it for you. HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!!???
I am happy for you that you have someone who can manufacture excuses for you. I have to sweat blood and cry tears to get excuses.

12. Does it annoy or amuse you when someone won't let go of their flimsy excuse. Like a guy will tell you he did not finish a proposal because his daughter was sick and you are like all whatever just get it to me tomorrow and he is like all yeh, she has a fever and stuff and you are like all yeah, that is tough, no problem just get it to me and he is all like and I had to swing by to get her medicine and that took forever and you are all like thinking while I personally have doubts about the existence of karma, if your daughter actually gets sick in the next week won't you fell a little guilty?
You are a hard hard man, McArmypants.

13. How much effort have you put into an excuse? I once went overboard on an issue of almost no consequence. I mean my standard is just to give the pensive cow until the inquiring party makes an excuse for me, because I think it is important to let people know where you stand with them, but once I started this elaborate nonsense just for reasons I honestly cannot say I understand or understood and just kept digging deeper and deeper. It was practically lunacy. That ever happen to you?
The problem with excuses, and I am sure you will agree, is that once they are given you have to keep them up. If I give an excuse for a twisted ankle, I have to always remember what ankle is twisted until the proper healing interval has occurred.

14. So who are the best "excusers"? The ones who fabricate for their intended audience and lovingly handcraft each fact to help others maintain their own illusions or the ones who are writing and re-writing their own saga to make sure that their official version is in-keeping with their world view of themselves?
The better excuses are lovingly the lovingly hand-crafted ones, but the more effective ones are the ones done by the deluded folk trying to maintain their own fractured world view.

15. What is the most number of times you can repeat a word in a sentence while remaining grammatically correct? No excuses, answer the question!
There is an infinite amount while still maintaining grammatical correctness. The Court will court the court recorder to record records of the court squash court, the court tennis court, the court, ….” I could go on forever using the word “court.”

16. Did you ever write an excuse for yourself for missing school and sign your parents’ name?
Nope, I didn’t miss that much school as a kid. Plus I saved forging my parents’ names for things like permission slips and the like that I had forgotten to take home.

17. Excuse me. Do people really mean it when they say it? Discuss amongst yourselves.
Very few mean it, but it is at least a polite way of saying “Move.”

18. What's the worst excuse you've ever gotten, for whatever the reason?
I got a boat-load of excuses when I was a Teaching Assistant running the lab section of a lecture class. I don’t remember many of the excuses individually, but collectively, they were weak.

19. Who says excuse me better, Steve Martin or, um, well, who else says excuse me besides Steve Martin?
I have to go with Steve Martin…. He is a wild and crazy guy.

20. Fill in the blank: Excuse me! Please, excuse me from the bottom of my heart, but if I held it any longer, it would have been a ______ .
Pile of linty dust slowly filtering into the wind.


To recap:
Smooth Criminal with Celine Deon acapella… who’s with me?
I have work to do
It is work
It is crappy work
It is crappy boring work
It is crappy boring unrewarding work
I don’t want to do it
Clearly
If I could only figure out something to say to keep me from having to do the work…
I need to learn myself some new software as well
Q is still a bit under the weather
Nothing bad though
Well, back to the grind for me
Listening to co-workers chatting about various gaming platforms

Steamed

One of the odd things about nearly purely breastfed babies is the easily imagined tether that the child has with the mama. It is completely understandable that a young one would be rather beholden to the vessel of their sustenance. Really, it only makes sense. If a baby wants to eat and what the baby eats comes out of one particular person’s boobs, that baby and that be-boobed woman providing nutritional nourishment are most likely within a short distance of one another.

Well, yesterday I had to go to the grocery store. Ingredients for dinner were necessary and Wifey was busy and Little Man was enrapt by a daemon named Youtube, so I gathered up Q and Q’s accoutrement to go to the grocery store down the street. Ah… I love having a grocery store down the street, but that is a post of another day. Anyhoo… I decided that since Q is still too small for sitting up in the grocery cart, yet big enough to hold her head up , so I decided to take the Kelty Kangaroo carrier. Think of a Baby Bjorn but with more strappy goodness. Together Q and I went to the grocery store to get ingredients for last night’s dinner of steamed chicken.

“What’s in steamed chicken?” you ask. None of your damned business, that’s what. Okay, I guess that was a bit harsh. Steamed chicken is made with a package of those chicken breast tenderloins (which is an odd concept on its own), potatoes, green beans, corn, onion, spices, and olive oil.

Slice the potatoes (about 8 to 10 regular potatoes, or 6 or 7 big honking potatoes) thin and salt, pepper, and garlic powder them to taste.
Toss them into a microwave safe bowl with about 1T of olive oil.
Cover those spuds with some saran wrap, poke a few holes, and nuke that for 20 minutes.
Whilst nuking the spuds, you sear the chicken in a frying pan with some olive oil in it.
Of course you season the chicken with salt and pepper (what kind of barbarian do you think I am?)
Set the chicken aside on a plate, in a bowl, a cup. Hey, I am not Stalin here. I don’t care what you put the seared chicken in, just take it out of the hot oil to stop cooking the poultry, otherwise it isn’t even worth attempting to steam the fowl.
Slice one medium to medium large white onion, but slice it like you mean it.
Open one large can of cut green beans and drain, or I suppose you could get fresh green beans and snap them yourselves if you are Captain Suzy Homemaker or some such crap. I don’t have that kind of time, Chuck. So lay off.
Open one can of summer crisp sweet corn or niblets or white corn or whatever and drain. It’s corn, damnit and a can of it. I am sure if you wanted to you could blanche some ears of corn and cut off the kernels, but I don’t think you get your bang for your buck by doing that. There is a point where industriousness becomes pointless.
‘DING’ the ‘taters are finished nuking. Dump the potatoes into a pretty deep thingy* for the oven. Make sure this thingy has a tight fitting lid. *thingy can be a Ducth oven, a clay pot, something else earthen ware-ish, a gigantic casserole, etc… Again, I ain’t your boss.
Dump the onions in. Salt and Pepper them bitches up
Dump in the green beans. Salt and pepper them bitches up too
Dump in the corn. Salt and pepper them bitches up too because they ain’t special
Stir to mix thoroughly (not to be confused with doing something Thoreauly which I found out whilst contemplating the singular beauty of the setting sun reflected off of the carapaces of the industrious ant building a home from whence his collective validation emits).
Put the chicken on top and season with… Not salt and pepper! That’s rookie!! The chicken has already been seasoned with salt and pepper! Don’t bring that weak-ass game into my house! Season the chicken with rosemary. Yes, rosemary! It is best if you have a sprig freshly plucked from your herb garden, otherwise I would suggest powdered rosemary.
Cover and bake that up for 45 minutes at 450°F.
Viola and Bon Apetite

Anyhoo… It was our first outing sans Wifey. She was in a pretty confused mood. This was only the second time she had seen the Kelty Kangaroo Carrier. She was soaking up all the looks we were getting, and everyone did seem to be staring. It wasn’t until we got out of the car at the grocery store that I realized it was our first un-supervised trip. We had a great time because it was a nice trip.

To recap:
Little Man hasn’t reacted to any exposure to eggs
I have work to do today
I don’t want to do it
I would rather be napping
Seriously
I could have easily slept today awayQ is finding her voice these days
Talking up a storm
She is so vastly different than Little Man, so much so that we have pretty much thrown out everything we “learned” about rearing Little Man as a baby
Listening to Distraction by Angles and Airwaves off of We Don’t Need to Whisper

Digital Thursday

For today's Digital Thursday I want to show off some of the photo shoot that we did with franzphotography for the family. It was primarily Little Man's 5th birthday shoot (although they were taken a month after his birthday), but the whole fam got involved. Me and Little Man with are pirate faces

Wifey and Little Man

Q with an Elvis collar
It seems from this picture that Wifey actually likes me? I know... WTF?
Me and Q
The Family
The Family again

Little Man hopping
An innocent Little Man
Wifey and Q
A meeting of the minds
Happy Q

To recap:

Just got word from Wifey... we have cable TV and Phone... can the Internets be far away?

The photographer who took these shots is a great guy

I should make more of an effort to hang out with him

There are a few other local people I need to make more of an effort with

When I get home I will re-attach the pics so they can be embiggened

*EDIT* oooh it looks like I can already click for embiggination!

Had a cracking good sinus headache when I woke up this morning

Listening to Strangers in the Night by Cake off ofB-Sides and Rarities

Have a great weekend everyone

I feel... the POWAH

Over the past couple of days I have realized that the pioneering days were not all they were cracked up to be. Living without electricity is difficult when you are used to the modern convenience of things that “whirr” when plugged in and turned on. Not having much light at night makes insomnia really annoying and boring. Honestly I understand why people of yore got up a little before sunrise to start their day. It wasn’t because they were “morning people” or that there was so much to get done they had to start early, it was because they were bored out of their headachy skulls during the night if they were not sleeping. Don’t get me wrong it was nice to unplug for 1 evening and be unconnected to the electronic world. In fact it might become a monthly “day” for us, but 1 night was enough.

Now we have our power back so we can use our stove and keep food cold in a plugged in box instead of dangling it in a swift stream. Move us forward in time to say… the 1950’s. We have electricity and are very happy with that fact, but since we have out internet connection, TV reception, and phone all bundled together through our cable company and since our cable is out, we have no internet connectivity, phone, or TV reception in the house currently. So life has gotten better food preparation-wise but is still lacking in the entertainment area.

I hope that this “lack of global connectivity” is remedied rather quickly. There seems to be only so much I can do without tapping into the net to get validation from strangers. As it is, there are DVD’s to watch. Why Little Man decided that yesterday was a good day to dust off his Teletubbies DVD instead of his train DVD’s is beyond me. I never thought I would rather watch a succession of 140 trains in a 60 minute loop than Tinky-Winky, La La, Po, and that bastard out of Georgia, Dipsy.

To recap:
I needs the internets
Hopefully they will be back in action by the time I get home
Hopefully
I have little confidence in that though
And there is a new “Project Runway” on tonight at 9
Listening to All Alone by the Gorillaz off of Demon Days

20 Questions Tuesday: 108 - Exercise & Aging: Oil & Water II

Well, even though I am currently living in a post apocalyptic electricity deprived society, where only the lucky few are left suckling off the teat of modernity, I will still post what I was planning on posting for today’s 20 Questions Tuesday, the continuation of last week’s 20 Questions Tuesday. I received many great questions about aging and exercise, so many that I only asked a few people to add questions this week.

Thanks this week go to Allrileyedup, John P, Sparky, and Dr B-Dawg. Now, bring on the questions.


1. I just ran into someone in his mid twenties who introduced me to his fiancée as "she used to baby-sit me" -- how old should that make me feel?
Wow… oh, just wow… I know I would feel pretty darn old.

2. What makes you feel older -- running into some kid you know in the manner of the scenario above, or watching your own children grow?
I think the above scenario seems to make me feel more aged. For some reason my children’s development seems to be somehow outside of my own timeline.

3. Is there really no school like the old school?
Word

4. Fill in the blank: older than _____
Dirt.

5. Do you use anti-aging skin creams?
They make anti-aging skin creams?!?! Does it help with joint pains?

6. Much like the Theory of Relativity do we age faster the more we exercise? I know it is supposed to be good for you but why do you develop all the aches and pains with each workout?
Sadly for me, a prolonged absence from working out produces more permanent aches and pains. Exercise aches and pains seem to be rather transient.

7. Pick one: workout regularly and age gracefully or enjoy chips (or bacon) and MT Dew and go out kicking and screaming?
I defy your instructions and choose both. I can gracefully exit kicking and screaming.

8. What was the motivation for the run? Someone giving chase perhaps?
I wish someone were chasing me. I would feel a bit more motivated then.

9. Should we investigate human cloning more so we could all get a body double that is made to stay in shape and then when our lazy heart, lungs, and liver give out just “borrow” them back? Ethic smethics.
I agree, ethics smethics, give me a new knee, SRH2.

10. Would you workout to stay in shape so you could participate in a sport with you children they enjoy even if you didn’t like it in the least?
Sadly, yes, unless that sport also required an insane amount of equipment, then it would just be financially silly.

11. Whatever happened to good ole jump and bounce aerobics complete with neon colored lycra, white Reeboks and legwarmers?
I imagine they still exist. Whilst at my previous gym membership I occasionally saw the odd aerobics and step aerobics class occurring. They were definitely not as frequent as the yoga and Pilate's classes.

12. What are your top 5 tunes on the iPod for exercising?
I exercise to Tool’s Lateralus.

13. LL Cool J - aging hasn't slowed him down or cooled off his uber-hotness. What gives?
I have no idea. The man is a lip-licking machine.

14. Same question, subject is Dara Torres.
I have no idea. The woman is a swim/runway modelling machine

15. Did you see any of SNL this weekend with Tina Fey as Palin or Michael Phelps hosting? This question has absolutely no relevance to the topic, but I'm asking the questions here!
Nope

16. Do you feel that you're aging gradually or that there are abrupt stages that are a little jarring?
I wish I were aging gradually, but it seems more like I have abrupt quantized stages.

17. How close are you to grabbing the yoga banner?
I tried yoga a bit whilst Wifey was teaching it. It is not an exercise for me.

18. As you move onward, would you rather be more Jack Lalanne or more John Goodman?
Isn’t there a happy more than medium leaning towards Jack?

19. a) You aren't wearing a step counter are you? b) If you do find yourself wearing one, does that forfeit your right to not have a bag thrown over your head and secreted away?
a) I count no steps. I am a specific distance or time frame runner.
b) I believe it does indicate a forfeiture of the Right Not to be Secreted Away by Masked Men

20. Do kids make the aging process speed up or slow down?
Yes


To recap:
Damn, I want my power back
I have stuff to do that cannot be accomplished behind work’s firewalls
I am tired of sleeping without the re-assuring sound of a fan
I want to clear out the fridge and begin anew
I am ready to watch TV again
Hopefully I will have happy power news tomorrow

3 Things

Oh, there are many a thing to tell from the weekend that was, I will instead only focus on three of them.

Thing the first: And They Call the Wind Maria: So it was a bit windy last night. By a “bit windy” I of course mean quite windy. There are quite a few trees down in the ‘hood and there is a good possibility that the fam will be without the power for a few days. The good thing is that we had not gone grocery shopping yet. We need to do laundry, buy groceries, and pay our bills electronically. I hope we are back online sooner rather than later.

Little Man was pretty freaked out by the power being off… not necessarily the wind storm itself. More to the point he was “scared” because he couldn’t play his new Diego based Wii game. He also might be kind of freaked out by the big ass tree that was knocked down onto a car down the street from us and watching the other tree split into thirds down the street from us. These are just guesses though.

Thing the second: Mom and Dad: Beyond the Thunderdome: My parents were going to pass through last night and have dinner with us prior to driving 2 more hours closer to their home. Well, they decided with the massive winds going on that it would be better to spend the night in Columbus and travel more today instead of part-way last night. This morning they decided to curtail their visit with the fam in order to travel get the HELL OUTTA DODGE!! I swear the looks on their faces made me think that they were uncomfortable in our lawless anarchy ridden post-apocalyptic war-zone. SWEET JEBUS THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS AREN”T WORKING!

Thing the Third: Hot Fresh Now: Little Man consumed his first food item that included egg in it’s preparation with no ill affects. We have been dairy-ing him up for a while now, yesterday he had his first taste of something with egg as an ingredient. He had no reaction other than wondering when we could “go to the store and get some when they are HOT FRESH NOW.”

To recap:
Driving to work today was like walking on glass
I had to help a poor bicyclist across the street
His heart was racing like a coke-addicted rabbit
A bicyclist trying to negotiate a 6 lane intersection where the drivers did not understand that they needed to treat it like a stop-sign
I almost said, “Grab onto my bumper and I will drag you to freedom”
Instead I said, “Stay close and follow me”
I am a super-hero
In my own mind
If it is only in my mind… why am I wearing a costume?

Digital Thursday

Well, I decided to take off most the identifying markers from this graphic and posting it up as an "example" of the mapping work that I do.

This is built from the CAD work done by the roadway engineer designers. I have to knit together their linework to make a coherent graphic. I tinted the background photo to a green tint in order to make the linework and new facility . Most of the design aesthetic associated with this graphic are legacies from beginnings of this study in 2001.

There are many many ways to make the graphic more pleasing in its design, but since there is a legacy keeping the family feel to the graphic is necessary. This version is supposed to fit on a 36" x 44" poster, but the final will most likely be a larger format print. There is a shit ton of detail on this.


And a close-up for detail

To recap:
The nanny starts today
For blog purposes I will refer to her as The Nanny
For blog porpoises I will refer to her as click click whistle click
It will be interesting to see this in-home childcare works out
Man, am I tired
I don't understand the dainty sneeze
You know the one
Everyone knows one person who dimply says in a conversational tone "a-choo" three times
They then mention how sneezey they have been and go about their business
Now, I am not a lift out of the chair and wake the neighbors sneezer, but my sneezing bouts last 30 seconds and involve much watering of eyes and lemony facial expressions
At the moment I am not listening to anything... well except for a dainty sneezer
Have a great weekend

sitting at my desk

So here I am sitting at my desk watching a blue progress bar slowly creep across one of my myriad of necessarily open programs.

.11%

It is significantly past when I would normally be home with my family. I have been working like mad the past few hours, so again I apologize for the tardiness of this post.

.............25%

Anyhoo... Maybe I will share some of this riveting graphic as Digital Thursday. I know you are all out there with hearts all aflutter waiting with barely contained anticipation to see what could possibly be keeping me from eating dinner or going home. Maybe I will throw you a bone. A very dull and unexciting bone from what very possibly was at one point in time, a squirrel.

........................38%

So, other than being here sitting at my desk watching a progress bar barely progress, I do have news to impart to you, my fine readership and it is concerning Little Man's allergies.

............................42%

Yesterday Little Man had an appointment with the allergist who is also in charge of managing Little Man's Asthma.

...................................................67%

Results:

Firstly the asthma. It looks as if we will look at reducing the amount of asthma meds going into our 5 year old's system. The regimen that we are currently putting him through is working really well, so the doc wants us to look at what his breathing is like with marginally less meds. So kick ass there.

........................................................74%

Secondly the food allergies: Little Man got a scratch test which he was not happy about receiving, but the results were amazing. It looks like he has finally gotten past his milk and egg allergy and he might be less than a year away from outgrowing his peanut and tree nut allergies as well. Go ahead. Read it again. I will wait.... I know! Isn't that just amazing?

....................................................................88%

To recap:
............................................................................98%
After this thing gets to 100% I am going to take it home to work on
.............................................................................98%
I have a better machine there and the same software
.............................................................................98%
We really don't even know what to do with this potentially food allergy free child
........................................................................9.. 99%
It is pretty amazing to think of
.............................................................................99%
US v Trinidad and Tobago tonight in World Cup Qualifying
.............................................................................99%
My phone ran out of battery around 2pm today
.............................................................................99%
Okay this is silly, the progress bar is just playing with my emotions now
.............................................................................99%
umm... listening to Right in Two by Tool
.............................................................................99%
WTF!!?!?!? Still 99%?!?!?!
.............................................................................99%
SWEATY JEBUS AT THE WATERHOLE! JUST 1 MORE FRIKKEN PERCENT!!!
.............................................................................100%
Woooooooooooooooo-Hoooooooooooooo!

20 Questions Tuesday: 107 - Exercise & Aging: Oil & Water

So this weekend I did something I have not done in over 5 years… maybe even 6 years… they just start smooshing together after a while. One year blurs into two, then all of the sudden, there you are with a fragmented memory… Where was I? Oh yes, nigh on 6 years ago I went for a run. Yep, I went for a run on Saturday. It was not pretty, but it did lead me to the idea for this 20 Questions Tuesday topic.

This was the first run ever where my cardiovascular system decided to throw in the towel before my decrepit physical condition. So in “honor” of that event today’s 20 questions is on Exercise & Aging: Oil &Water.

Thanks this week go to Lsig, ACW, Capt McArmypants, and JA Coppinger.

On to the questions:
1. Do you listen to music when you exercise?
If I go to a gym, most definitely. I am not terribly keen on music whilst running outside. I have tried it a few times, but I think I would rather be able to hear what’s going on around me… That is, of course, until I can exercise outside for more than a painful 30 minutes of wheezing, hacking, and cursing.

2. Do you prefer to exercise indoors or outdoors?
If it is an activity, outdoors, but if it is “merely” exercise, I think indoors.

3. When were you in the best shape?
Senior year in college. I was fencing competitively at the time which meant practice at least 4 times a week and I was lifting with some guys 2 or 3 times a week.

4. What is your fitness goal now?
Complete a triathalon… Not sure when I will actually set that goal as a firm date as of yet. It is a bear trying to balance a life that is out of balance already. The new baby and the 5 year old demand a bunch of attention. Plus when I am not paying them attention I need to find some time to share with my spouse. Once in a while I also need to throw a bone to my oft neglected friends as well. On top of all that I have work too.

5. Do you prefer to work out singly, with a partner, or in a group?
I prefer not to work out, so whether I exercise in a group or singly is immaterial. That being said, different work outs seem to fit best with different amounts of people. Cardio is something I want to do on my own with no one able to watch how pitiful it is. Strength training, I feel is done best with a small group of 3 or 4.

6. Why exercise? - We’re all gonna die anyway
Well, it is about quality of life at the moment. I would like to be able to do some of the more active activities with my children as they grow. Plus I seem to be falling apart, and the only way to not fall apart is to do this physical preventative maintenance.

7. Did you at least make it to the end of the block?
I ran 1 mile at a pretty good pace (for starting out) and walked 1 mile like a weak mewling asthmatic kitten praying for breath.

8. Doesn’t aging suck?!
Boy howdy! It sucks real bad.

9. Ever been to a reunion and noticed how everyone else aged (but not you)?
I don’t go to re-unions. The people I keep in contact with are the ones I want to keep up with. Anyone else would fall into the category of idyll curiosity.

10. Better with age? - Thoughts
Depends on what you are talking about. Scotch? Yes. Hard cheeses? So I have heard. Wisdom? Definitely. Knees? Nope

11. Why does Global Warming nonsense get so much media play when clearly gravity has been increasing ever year for the last 15 years!!!! I mean focus here people!!!
I think that gravity may not be increasing…. I think your density is increasing like a superpower.

12. Do you find it harder to judge athletes for taking HGH now?
Sadly, yes.

13. How much solace to you take in the fact that you are still healthier than half the high school age children in America today? (As you steal a Wal-Mart scooter to get from the parking lot to your office tomorrow will it help that at least you can remember a time when you were in good shape? or will it only make it worse?)
I take no solace in that. As to the parenthetical question: All the Wal-Mart Rascals were in use and there was a line. I had to drive to work and walk up to the door like a chump, and in some ways having been in shape at least once in my life makes this worse because now I know how far I have fallen.

13(b). How much better is this latest James Bond movie going to have to be than all the other James Bond movies to overcome the title: "Quantum of Solace" (Please do not reference how bad the title "Octopussy" is because let us not forget it was also a terrible movie.)
I think it might actually be up to the task. Daniel Craig is a bad-ass bond. The ones that it will have to beat are Casino Royale, Dr. No, Never Say Never Again, and maybe Moonraker. Although Golden Eye was pretty good too.

14. Do you have lists of exercises that you can still do physically, but no longer do because it hurts too much the next day.
I keep no such list.

15. Can you still do that thing where you walk down stairs while simultaneously turning in a circle? Cuz as long as you can do that you are not out of shape.
I am woefully out of shape then. I have a hard time turning in a circle or going down stairs.

16. When you move past the aches/lack of oxygen do you actually like running, or is it just an “I gotta do it” thing?
I fucking hate running. I hate it with the heat of a thousand suns. I loathe it with a cool fury the like of which has never been seen. My hate for running is worse than the black bilious ichor that resides within the darkest reaches of the worst of mens’ souls.

17. Which part of the body hates exercise the most in your advanced years?
At the moment, my lungs, but my feet are not far behind in that race. I swear I have the arches of an 88 year old.

18. Morning or evening workouts – and how does your ancient self looks while exercising affect the choice?
My body prefers evening workouts, but that is family time at the moment. As soon as Q is a bit more self sufficient, I might be able to get a routine going in the evenings. I lookj rather silly in my exercising duds. That is all you need to know.

19. Are you an iPod kinda guy when working out?
I am trying that out as far as the road running, but most definitely if I am in the gym. Sometimes I put the earbuds in just so people won’t talk to me.

20. Why the break from the long hiatus?
It is time.


To recap:
I am having a Papa Day at home today
Little Man starts his pre-school again today
Then he goes to an allergist appointment
Hopefully he will test out of dairy and egg today
It has been rough allergen –wise for the SRH household this week
Little Man has been Zyrtec-less for the past 5 days to “cleanse” his system before being tested
EDIT
Went to the allergist this morning for Little Man, it went well
Sorry for the late post, but I was away from computers all day

11+

This weekend Wifey and I celebrated 11 years of wedded bliss. Bliss, DAMNIT! BLISS! So, in honor of those 11+ years now I give you 11 facts about our marriage in no particular order.

1. We do not have a “side” of the bed. We switch sides regularly or we fight over the middle and make the other sleep somewhere else. It is good that I am bigger than her. It is bad that I sleep more soundly.

2. Both of us regularly cook meals for the fam. It is not only one person’s chore.

3. She fills the dishwasher and I empty it. She hates putting dishes away while I hate filling the dishwasher. It is a yin to yang thing. We complete each other.

4. We both strongly feel that committed relationships are serious work.

5. Both of us have a disdain for most things reality T.V. I shall not mention the guilty pleasures in the realm of reality TV. We need to keep some level of Internet respect here.

6. We are both totally and completely who we are in the marriage. No apologies given and none are expected.

7. She is both hotter and smarter than me. But I am white and a man, so I guess it evens out there.

8. Over time she has migrated from being a night owl to being a morning person. I blame the kids…. Darn kids.

9. We love traveling with each other. But rarely make the effort to have it happen.

10. My love of bacon is
only equaled by her distrust (yes, distrust. She is quirky. That is why I like her) of the breakfast meat. Together we are a circle without beginning or end.

11. One of our favorite pastimes is good-natured making fun of each other. It is good-natured, right?

To recap:
Wedded Bliss! DAMNIT! BLISS!!!
Not sure what we are having for dinner tonight
Found a recipe for dairy-free/soy-free margarine
Flieschmann’s Light Unsalted is no longer dairy AND soy-free
Bastards
The recipe involves palm oil shortening, xanthum gum, yellow food coloring, and love
Listening to One Way or Another by Blondie

Digital Thursday

Some work related stuff for today.

These are some cross-section/block diagrams that I did for a public involvment meeting that were not used.

...and here were the ones that were used.

They stopped me from finishing up the more detailed block diagrams with labels and such.

Ooooh, interesting!

To recap:

I will re-embed the images when I get home, then they will be clickable for embiggination

Have a great weekend everyone

Conversation

I have tried and tried to have meaningful conversations with my dad. They always devolve into him telling me about how much money he has. After waxing eloquent about his monetary station, the conversation lapses even further into such banal topics as weather and local sports franchises.

Every attempt I make at deflecting the conversation into something not about his finances lands me directly into a conversation about how hot it is, how wet it isn’t, how cold it was, etc… It doesn’t matter if the topic attempted is about finances or about retirement, if the topic cannot be steered back to HIS FINANCES then the phrase “how about that…” is quickly followed by heat, rain, snow, wind, etc… If I attempt to re-energize the conversation with something not weather related, BAM! Right into sports.

It makes me sad.

To recap:
If dad had invested in a sports franchise named after a weather phenomenon, his conversations would come down to mere talking points provided by a prospectus and PR department
By the way, the ‘rents are in town today
My grandma is turning 94-ish this weekend
Saturday is Wifey and my wedding anniversary
11 years of wedded bliss
Bliss! I tell you
Not sure what I am showing for Digital Thusday tomorrow
I am sure it will be all digital-ish though

20 Questions Tuesday: 106 - The next 5

Today’s 20 Questions Tuesday is all about being off the cuff. I say that because I completely forgot that today was Tuesday and that yesterday was Monday because family traditions that are typically done on Friday were done on Sunday making Monday feel like Saturday. Plus my calendaric confusion level tends to go up on holiday weekends. So today I sent out an impassioned plea for the next 5 questions each person thought of. I shall answer them with questions of my own. Who says this old dog can’t learn new tricks.

Thanks this week go to Lsig, Belsum, ACW, Wifey, Capt. McArmypants, theMikeStand, and AllRilyedUp.


1. Why do I still work here?
Why does anyone work anywhere?

2. Does expired Tylenol have any adverse side effects?
Not that I know of, how many tentacles do you see?

3. Can I sue Target for selling me expired Tylenol?
Wouldn’t you have a better case in court if it were expired soy pudding and Whole Foods instead of expired Tylenol and Target?

4. Don't Mondays suck, even when they are technically Tuesdays?
Who cares about technicalities in work week hate?

5. There is no fever so what brought on the boy’s puking?
Why do some illnesses/viruses/germs target certain systems but not others?

6. How come nothing is ever easy?
Why do people constantly disparage the concept of “Nothing?” What has it ever done to you? Nothing maybe?

7. Will I ever feel well rested again?
Do you even remember what well rested felt like?

8. Labor Day? - is this our nod to the old USSR's celebration of the labor party/workers?
Were the USSR’s celebrations of the proletariat worker derived from the Pro-Union activity that brought about Labor Day in the US?

9. What's up with "For Better or Worse" in the comics?
Why can’t some people let go?

10. It's September! What happened to summer?
Indeed! Where has the time gone?

11. Why won't she go to sleep? Or rather, why won't she stay asleep?
Why does the sun rise in the east and set in the west?

12. Does she hate me?
Is she capable of hate? Of love? Of indifference?

13. Are we already setting up some dynamic whereby we teach our dear child to torture those who love her?
Shouldn’t we instruct her in a dynamic that does not have so much potential to harm us?

14. Why can't I wear white after Labor Day?
Are you in the Navy?

15. So I woke up this morning and my back was killing me, it happens sometimes. I immediately chose plan B, which is where I cook up a big breakfast to fill my stomach and then take some serious muscle relaxants. I then hang from something for about 15 minutes and then I walk to work. (Thank God I can walk to work, driving is not an option.)
a. So how pathetic is that?
b. What is the biggest betrayal by your body for you?
a. If pathetic were a question, I would respond, why?
b. Have you ever heard of metabolism?

16. Did you know that Canada is going to have a Federal election just before the US has theirs? Using your limitless knowledge of Canadian politics, how do you think the outcome of our election could affect the outcome of yours?
If a butterfly flaps it’s wings in Japan, does that affect the wind and water in Louisiana? Better yet, will the conservative result in Canada create more resolve in the US for something less conservative?

17. Who was / is your favourite Muppet?
Why don’t Beaker and Doctor Bunsen Honeydew have their own show ?

18. How could you forget which day of the week is TUESDAY?????
I know, WTF?

19. What is your opinion on stomach stapling?
Do I have an opinion on stomach stapling? Does it work for all people who get stapled?

20. Favorite breakfast cereal?
Would it have to be consumed for breakfast? At that point is it really “breakfast cereal” or merely “cereal?”


To recap:
Did I forget to post yesterday?
I just received 5 questions from Peefer, should I answer them?
1. Why don't I ever get anything done on time?
What exactly is time?
2. Do you ever think about what angle the plane of our solar system makes with the plane of the Milky Way? If so (or if not), what is your best guess?
Nope, I never think about that, should I?
3. Last course you ever took?
Would you believe a 1 hr course of independent study for my thesis completion?
Why only 3 of the 5 questions?
Why not?
Why am I listening to a cover of I Will Survive by Cake?
Why aren’t you?

Digital Thursday

Here we are on Digital Thursday again, and this time I actually have some stuff to show. It is like graphic design show and tell Intertubes style, baby!

First up is the beginning of an identity package for a company that someone I know is starting up. The co. is a pet care company that wants to promote the idea of high end /upper level care for animals in their own home. Not a boarding house or kennel. The person requesting the package wanted an “upscale” feel with a dog and a cat toasting with champagne. I decided to go with an 1880’s Victorian glitz and glamour feel. Anyway… the first version I did was with a plum and eggplant accent color. It turns out that the client is not a big fan of the purples, so I created about 8 different color schemes and she chose the mint and green accent colors.


I still need to develop the business cards, letterhead, notepad, etc… but I think I am well on my way. That is a project for this weekend.

Second up is a shirt design that a co-worker asked me to develop. He plays a game called Flames of War with a local hobby shop gaming group. I guess there is enough of a regional population of gaming groups that they have loosely organized themselves into “companies.” So this Company wants shirts to kick it up a notch. I hope they go with a bowling shirt instead of a regular old t-shirt.
Bowling shirts would be awesome. Super. Awesome.

To recap:
Big old birthday party going on tonight for Mim
I was right, Wifey was a mess last night
She is doing better now though
The dog and cat logo has gotten surprisingly good reviews from people so far
Reactions I was not exactly expecting
Some of which were oddly intense
Oh well
Wow, I just looked around and my desk is a mess
Bankers look at my Credit Union and are dumbfounded by their hours
I swear they are open from 10 to 10:15am, but not at all on end of month processing days or holidays or days that begin with “T” or “S”
I need to figure out an additional way of making some money
But who doesn’t?
Listening to Seven Days by Sting

DVR

I find myself mentally shaking my fist at Little Man and threatening to take “that ball the next time it comes in my yard” whenever we watch TV together. Shockingly I am from a time prior to the wonder that is known as the DVR.

**Side note: I kind of feel bad for Tivo for not getting enough market penetration prior to cable companies adding DVR’s to their list of services. Unlike Xerox or Kleenex or Band-Aid, Tivo was not able to make themselves into the generic name for their product’s industry. End Side note**

When I was a kid, you just watched TV as it was given to you. Sure you could record it whilst watching something by operating your wood-fired Video Cassette Recorder, but you could not replay instantly and then catch up with the existing programming. Well these damn kids these days watch something funny and then replay it ad nauseum. This morning Little Man saw something mildly amusing on his kid’s show of the moment, and then re-wound and watched this 30 second snippet 18 more times. It was the watching equivalent of listening to a skipping record… a repeating loop on a CD. (Even my analogies are old.) So, anyway… I am constantly fighting with my impulse to make him stop and watch TV right, Damnit! But who am I to judge what the correct way of viewing TV is?

To recap:
It is difficult to be a Renaissance man in a non-Renaissance world
This non-Renaissance world is chock full buzz-kills and idea-smashers
… and spiders
But luckily not techno-spiders
No one wants to be in a world with techno-spiders
Trust me on that one
I actually have some fodder for tomorrow’s Digital Thursday
Go Me!
Wifey is going to be a mess tonight
Friends of ours (mainly hers) are moving tomorrow
To Vermont of all places
She is going to be a blubbering mess
Plus she has work that needs to get done
Completely unrelated: Happy birthday, Mim!
Listening to Lust for Life by Iggy Pop

20 Questions Tuesday: 105 - Sleep Debt

So, there is no denying it. I am sleep deprived like no one’s business. I haven’t completely gone off the end of dementia, but I would not consider it out of the question.

Thanks this week go to IC Yellow, Belsum, Sparky, Capt McArmypants, and Allrileyedup:

Onto the questions:
1. Have you ever been asleep dreaming that you were lying in bed trying to go to sleep? That's happened to me a time or two. Talk about confusing!
I have had a dream that I was nearly done with all the morning tasks when I am rudely interrupted by my alarm. Very similar confusion I would imagine.

2. Who's more sleep deprived? You or Wifey? Who's handling it better?!?!?
I think I am more sleep deprived than Wifey, but not because of Little Man and Q. When I am stressed my sleep goes to shit. Plus both Wifey and I think that there must be some kind of hormone flowing through breast feeding moms that nullifies some of the sleep deprivation effects.

3. The Captain woke up at 2:30 this morning and had insomnia. Now I’m a wreck. How is that fair?
Parenting is completely unfair. It is best to keep that in mind.

4. Is waking up in the middle of the night to pee really the body’s way of preparing you for the post-birth sleeplessness or is it just the smaller bladder due to the parasite taking up residence in your abdomen?
I would say that it is a little of Column A and a little of Column B.

5. Does caffeine actually help when you’re working on severely not enough sleep or does it just make you so jittery that your attention is diverted to that unsettling feeling instead of being mad about not getting enough sleep?
Caffeine is a substance that helps insure that I stay marginally conscious whilst at work. I have never really felt jittery after consuming something caffeinated, then again, I am not that fond of espresso or other super potent forms of caffeine, so I really haven’t taxed my system with caffeine as of yet.

6. What’s worse: not being able to fall asleep initially or waking up for no good reason and then not getting back to sleep?
Not being able to fall asleep initially is worse for me. That is when the brain starts to do crazy stuff. Truth be told, though, I cannot remember an instance of waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to get back to sleep.

7. Why is it always possible to fall deeply asleep about 40 minutes before the alarm goes off, even when you’ve been tossing and turning all night long?
Because there is a higher power and that higher power is known as Irony.

8. Unisom? Tylenol Simply Sleep? Tried them? Perhaps you should?!
When co-sleeping, one should not take sleep aids. Anything that assists someone into a sleep often takes them into too deep a sleep to have an infant in the bed. Those would be excellent choices to reset the sleep-o-meter if Q were not sleeping between Wifey and I.

9. How about quitting the Dew after 12 noon? This might help. Too much caffeine makes one edgy and it's hard to wind down then drift off (personal experience talking).
This is definitely a goal in the life of SRH, but it is one that needs a few criteria to be met prior to enforcing. Without the mild caffeine found in soft drinks most likely what would occur is sleeping at my desk at work and being wide awake at home. Honestly, sleep would not be an issue if I were able to take an hour long nap in the afternoon.

10. Can you try resetting your body's clock and going to bed earlier for a week? It will be tricky at first, but you'll adjust.
This is trickier than one would think. The transition would be frustrating beyond belief. One of the most frustrating things that I can do to myself is to lay in bed trying unsuccessfully to go to sleep. Lack of sleep coupled with immense frustration does not a fun-to-be-around SRH make.

11. How about making yourself NOT get on the pc/gaming stuff and hitting the hay instead?
I honestly haven’t played the big computer game of my life more than 3 times in the past 2 months. Lately the late nights have been Olympics and/or Sudoku. Actually, I think the lack of game playing has contributed to my insomnia. I have not had enough mindless yet engaging activity to “reset” and escape.

12. Are people who actually believe they are better off going without sleep if they can only get an hour better classified as imbeciles or dimwits?
There is some sooth in the thought that sometimes a paltry amount of sleep is worse than no sleep at all. It all depends upon when the person wakes up in the sleep cycle. Some times a power nap’s end can coincide beautifully with a waking time, but then again there is the chance that you will be groggy for hours as well.

13. I used to have a really hard time sleeping. Light sleeper, could not actually get to sleep with all these little thoughts bouncing around and then other thoughts would wake me back up when I finally got to sleep. Except for the light sleeper stuff, I pretty much got all that beat. My thoughts pretty much keep to themselves if they know what’s good for them! So what is your main problem? I am pretty sure it is not light sleeping, so brain activity waking you up or keeping you from going to sleep? or a combo of the 2 with what percentage?
I would say that on stressed out days it is 75% keeping me from going to sleep and 25% waking me from sleep.

14. How is it that the siesta has not taken off like wild fire? Would you go so far as to say that when we embrace the mid-day nap as a species it will be an evolutionary step?
I believe we would evolve as a race with the global implementation of a siesta. Genius really.

15. When really sleep deprived I resent everything that wastes my time and get very frustrated with things that would normally just annoy me. But my real hot buttons, (I say hot button, but cause the phrase "pet peeve" is actually a pet peeve of mine.) are inexplicable traffic jams and multiple human voices talking at the same time. Anything seem unusually aggravating when going on 4 or less hours of shut eye?
Everything seems annoying to me.

16. So I figure Napoleon was lying and actually got 8 hours a night and just talked a whole bunch of crap in hopes that some one would try his B.S. sleep recommendations. What is your ideal sleep amount?
Ideally I would subsist well on 7 hours. I would do fine with a solid 6. The problem is that I am getting an interrupted 5.5.

17. Is a 20 minute catnap as empowering as those advice columnists claim them to be?
Nope, those advice columnists are a bunch of lying jackals... the lot of them

18. What have you been dreaming about lately?
Oddly, I have been dreaming about super mundane stuff. The grocery store, laundry, world domination… the typical stuff.

19. What do you think your children dream about?
I believe Q dreams about Mama, while Little Man seems to remark about dreaming of Chicago. Peter Cetera did all his own stunts when he was with Chicago.

20. What is your dream sleep time?
I sleep best from about 2 am till 9 am. Yes, that sleep would make me happy.

Bonus Question

21. Admit it, when you look at her, all the sleep deprivation in the world is worth it, isn't it?
With or without the sleep debt, she is amazingly worth it. That being said, I do not feel that she is the over-arching reason that I am not sleeping well. Heck she sleeps from midnight to 6 and goes back to sleep after feeding. That would give me plenty of rest if I could assimilate into that schedule.


To recap:
Interview went well last night
We kicked the caregivers in the stomach today
It could have been worse
We could have shot them and eaten their hearts in front of their fading consciousness
Instead we just ripped their hearts out
We are good like that
I have way too many icons on my desktop
But I cannot, for I need the icons, yet they cannot be moved elsewhere
Woe am I
Listening to The Theme From Shaft by Isaac Hayes
They say that Shaft is a bad mother..
SHUT YO MOUTH!
I’m talkin’ bout Shaft
Then we can dig it!

3 Things

I have three things to go over from this weekend.

Thing the first:

The search for a nanny for Q has begun in earnest. G-Ma D and G-Pa R just aren’t spry enough to chase down 2 kids. Especially when they are having difficulty with the one we have them watching currently. Little Man is a handful for the septuagenarians with various auto-immune deficiencies. It is not surprising to us, but we are afraid that in their infirmity they may not have realized that the writing is on the wall. Tomorrow morning we are spreading the news. It will not be pretty.

So far we have three candidates that we have in the queue. Saturday we saw the first of the 3. We see the second this evening and the third tomorrow evening. We are hoping to have the decision decided by this weekend. This is a difficult process.

Thing the second:

I can honestly say that I miss the Olympics. I miss being to catch Volleyball at nearly every hour of the day. Men’s… women’s… indoor… outdoor… whatever. I was able catch some other non-traditional sports as well. Unfortunately, while other events were happening, I also was able to focus solely on swimming and gymnastics. I hear that the online coverage was incredible, but that is only of small consequence since I watched the Olympics on my TV and not my computer.

Thing the Third:

Capt McArmpants was in town over the weekend and game Little Man his birthday present. Little Man is now the proud owner of a Wii. He is also known to make the noise, “Wheeeeeee!” whilst playing said Wii. So far he has only been willing to try out the Wii Bowling, but he is easily the best in the house. Now Wifey and I are on a mission to find appropriate titles for his Wii playing habits. If we (umm really “I”) find some other titles on the way, that is just a bonus for the fam.

To recap:
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
Thanks! Capt Armypants
Bock! Bock!
Soo sleep deprived
The Olympics coupled with child rearing coupled with job stress equals no sleep for SRH
Tonight’s interview is the one Wifey and I are most looking forward to
Tomorrow’s interview is iffy at best
Saturday’s was good, just not inspiring
Not listening to anything at the moment
Well, I am listening into my coworkers’ conversations as much a s I can, but that is a different story
The story is a simple story though
SRH = Nosy

Digital Thursday

Okay here we are again with a Dr Doom Digital Thursday. This time around I have modified Jason's inks to include some damage to the armor. then I started painting the armor with a new technique that i am just now getting comfortable with.

Anyway, I give you Decrepit Doom WiP I

Looks like Victor has been getting worked over.

To recap:
Last night they showed the Gymnastics Galla during the primetime Olympic coverage
WTF?!?! Hey, NBC, there was actual sport going on when you were showing that tripe
I know some people want closure from the stessful gymnastic viewing, but come on...
The Olympics didn't have a fairwell send off to the swimming events, and they were frought with tension as well
Actually I bet some of the other ports were pretty tense as well... maybe we could have watched them? or at least highlights of them?
Listening to Divine Hammer by the Breeders
Have a great weekend everyone