I'm just going to leave this right here

The most adorable thing in the world

I'm not sure exactly how it came up, but it did. We all agree that this lil girl dressed as Chun Li is hands down the most adorable thing ever. There isn't really even any contest here.

The picture of me is cute and all. But it would have been way better if I was dressed as Boba Fett.

Prosperous is a funny word.

Say it out loud and think about it. Pra-spur-us. Heh...


Well shit. If I don't get my act together this April of 2011 might be the month with the least number of posts since I got serious about this whole blog thing. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but either way it makes me feel like I should say something more...


I went to Las Vegas. It was a birthday party for NESF. Not really a birthday party, but kind of like one. We did all kinds of things that I'd like to tell you about however if I did I would violate the policy of "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" and I don't really want to have the Las Vegas Tourism Bureau, Gambling Commission and other various state organizations coming after me for breaking the rules. I will tell you that I saw Love. It was amazing. I'd never seen a show in Vegas before and I was very impressed. Seats were right up front too. Nobody got arrested either. Good stuff...


My dog poops outside now. Exciting isn't it? Well it is for me. 


I need to find a place to purchase old (and some new) arcade games for cheap. I really need a Big Buck Hunter Pro in the warehouse. Snow Bros would be another one I could use. Maybe the original Simpson's arcade game. I think it'd be pretty cool to have an arcade at home...


Pangford has come and gone. I'm trying to figure out a more grandiose post to do about the whole experience. But if that doesn't materialize, know that he was here...


Oh yeah! One other thing that I'll tell you about Vegas. The credit card machine in the cabs run advertisements to you while you ride. Just like TV...


I really want to teach Wes how to do the Stanky Paw. We aren't having much luck, but some minimal progress has been made. Who am I kidding, the only "progress" has been him jumping around chaotically. I should still video tape it....


This is what I looked like 28 years and 22 days ago:

Yeah, I know, adorable

Alive

This morning when I got to work I decided that my gtalk status needed to change. I thought to myself "I need something that's reassuring that life is good" I thought for a few minutes and went with "Alive", because in the end what's greater than being alive? Apparently few people share my thought process on this one. 


Almost immediately I got a series of messages asking if I was okay, was I dead before and things of the like. Every one seemed to think that there was some horrible tragedy or near death experience in my life that led to my use of this individual word. I was chatting with NESF for a few minutes about this when he made the comment, "This is an interesting phenomena. Using the word alive on its own rarely sounds reassuring." I couldn't help but wonder why that is.


I have to stop for just a second here. This cup of coffee I'm drinking is amazing. Sorry about that, but I thought you'd all really want to know.


Isn't being alive the greatest part about our existence? If we weren't alive we wouldn't be at all. However by using the word "alive" by itself I think that we immediately take it as a comparison. If someone is alive they are not dead, and if they're going as far as to say that they're alive, they must have had an encounter with the possibility of not being alive. 


I guess what this all breaks down to is death. Merely mentioning the word alive brings with it the idea of dead or death. It doesn't have to. But now I'm just rambling, as if this were something more earlier on. Here's some tube videos:

"What you have heard is true"

It's National Poetry Month. Here's a reading of one of my personal favorites.

Wesley Green the Brown (sometimes Emo) Dog

But we just call him Wes.

In case you haven't already determined, I got a pup! He's awesome. Still fairly timid, but he's getting better each day. I brought him home on Friday. At first he was SUPER emo, when I put the harness on him he just laid on the ground and didn't move for 10 minutes until I took it off. Since then he's been adjusting nicely. We still have a lot of work with the house training, but that was to be expected. He's only 5 months old. His birthday was October 27th, 2010. My birthday is today. As such I'm not working. Just hanging about with the dog and later this evening I'm going to meet up with some peoples for games and drinks. Hopefully Wes is a little more comfortable with me leaving this time around. We'll have to wait and see.

When I talk to people in other parts of the country I regularly make a point to mention it's raining in Seattle, even when it's not, just to perpetuate the stereotype.

Entertain me

I asked to be entertained. I was sent a number of links. This is by far the best one. Plant on plant action. Tree porn. Yes, I said tree porn. Oh it's so good.

If it weren't for magnets none of us would be here.

I'm going to get a dog. It's decided. I got the go ahead from the roommates and now all I have to do is find one. Leaning towards a lab mix of some sort. Maybe pit or husky mix. I don't want a little yapper that's for sure. I'll be sure to keep you all posted as things progress...

My body is still a little sore. I spent the weekend helping people move. I've had numerous people tell me that I'm crazy for committing to help on back to back days. I guess the way I see it is that it's a small price to pay for having the great people in my life that I do...

I'm doing the MS Walk again this year. If you're feeling generous you should sponsor me. It's a good cause...

Sorry, no pictures this time around...

Now I think I'll leave you with an excerpt of a thing I'm working on. As with a good number of my "projects" Some of what you read actually happened, most it didn't. I'm not sure if this will ever be finished, but it is what it is:

“I can’t believe that this is where you grew up,” John said. “I mean, nothing against you, but other than the neighborhood this is a great place.”

And it really was. Once we reached the porch it’s full beauty came into view. The house sat atop a 200 foot cliff that looked out onto Puget Sound and Vashon Island. On clear days you could see the Olympic Mountains in all their glory rising above the water on the horizon. I didn’t think much about it, but upon seeing it again I realized how much I missed it.

“How’d your folks afford a place like this anyways?”

“They bought it a long time ago, when things cost less. What exactly are we working on?”

“Oh that wall back down the driveway. We’ve just got to fill in a couple parts. Shouldn’t take us long at all if you want to walk around for a bit first.”

“Yeah I would like that actually.”

“Alright, I’m going to gather up some tools.”

John wandered down to the old shed on the south side of the property. The door never locked so the only thing we ever used it for was storing rusty old tools, they hadn’t changed that policy. Back in middle school some friends and I were trying to clean it up and came across a couple bottles of wine. My parents never drank so it was a complete mystery as to where they came from. We couldn’t find a cork screw and had to get creative opening the bottles. Once we’d worked it enough to just push the cork through we drank all night long out in a corner of the yard. My dad never said anything about it, but I think he knew.

I walked over and sat down next to a fig tree. I always thought it was the best view on the property. A couple of Madrone trees had grown tall enough to block a portion of the view. I thought about going to cut them down. I thought about cutting down the fig tree. I thought about burning the house to the ground. I thought about a lot of things, but before I could do any of them I was interrupted.

“Sean? Sean is that you?”
                I’d recognize that voice anywhere.

“Mrs. Bloomer, how are you?”

“Oh Sean, I can’t believe it’s you. It’s been so long.”

“It has been. I’m a little surprised that you still live here.”

“Well I wasn’t about to be chased out of my home by a few no-good-ians.”

“I’m glad to hear you haven’t changed your stubborn ways.”

We both smiled from opposite side of the fence.

“What brings you out here, Sean?”

“Well actually I’m here to do some work. My buddy’s brother just bought the place.”

“That’s so good to hear. It’s pained me to see this house fall into the state that it has. You used to take such better care of it. Would you like to come over for some coffee, maybe a cookie?”

When I was still in elementary school I’d go to Mrs. Bloomer’s house every day after class for a cookie. She lived alone and didn’t seem to have much in the way of family, but she always had an excess of baked goods around the house so the neighborhood kids gravitated to her house like bears to honey.

“That’d be nice, give me just a second I’ll be right around.”

I walked down the driveway and told John I’d be right back. He was listening to some music through headphones and I wasn’t sure if he understood what I said, but waved me along either way.

Mrs Bloomer’s was the last house on the dead end. There were large evergreen trees that concealed the entire building except a quaint garage. There was a short chain link fence that did little more than keep her dachshunds from running free.

It wasn’t till I reached the kitchen that I realized she already had company and it stopped me dead in my tracks. It was the old woman from the bowling alley.

“Sean, this is my friend Eleanor.”

“It’s a pleasure meeting you again, Sean.”

The look on my face must have expressed my total confusion. Mrs Bloomer moved closer to me, “Is everything alright Sean?”

Eleanor stood up and said, “Oh I’m sure he’s fine Florence, just a bit surprised to find me here.”

 “Oh, you already know each other?” Mrs Bloomer said with excitement.

Finally composing myself enough to speak I said, “I guess you could say that.”

“Well, here dear, have a seat. The coffee is almost ready. So how is it that you two met?”

I looked at Eleanor and immediately could hear her voice in my head, “Don’t involve her with our problems.”

Startled I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and she began again, “Tell her that we met bowling. She doesn’t need to worry herself with our situation.”

Not knowing what else to do I said aloud, “Actually I met, was it Eleanor here, bowling a short while ago. We shared a drink before I met with some friends. How do you know each other?”

Eleanor invaded my mind once again, “Good. I won’t explain this all now, but I will in time.”

Then she spoke for us all to hear, “Oh Florence and I have been friends for a very long time. I actually remember coming to visit her back when you were young.”

Mrs. Bloomer sat a plate of cookies on the table and said, “Always looking for cookies. I guess some things don’t ever change.”

I smiled, “I guess not.”

We made small talk for a little while about where I was living and what I was doing. She briefly asked about my family, but respected my position when I didn’t want to get into that. After about 20 minutes I decided that I needed to get to work.

“It was a pleasure seeing you again Mrs Bloomer. And you as well Eleanor.”

“Oh I’m just tickled to get to see you all grown up.” Mrs Bloomer said while giving me a hug.

“Likewise Sean, I’m sure that we’ll be seeing each older again.” She said before returning to her form of silent communication, “Very soon.”

“Yes, well I really do need to get back to work. I’ll stop by again if I’m in the neighborhood.”

"It might be impractical to seek out a new romance"

"We won't know the actual if we never take the chance"

New TVOTR video. Can't wait for this album. If only it were a week earlier, however I'm willing to accept a late birthday present as long as it's TVOTR