Goals:
Physical: Lose 40 lbs. Actually lost 15lbs. Not terrible, but not a complete success either.
Exercise: I have started exercising more, but I'm not currently doing an aerobic exercise.
Mental: I managed to read 3 non fiction books (not including text books). Moderate success. I can do better.
I passed all my graduate courses. Success.
Spiritual: I have begun to define my beliefs and my cosmology. Success.
Scripture study: Moderate, but that's where I want it to be right now. Success.
Writing: Outlined in the writing blog.
Film: 1 Film per year? No film. We've got a kick ass camera+microphone+course to know how to use microphone but no editing software. Partial Success.
Invention: I studied multiple patents and helped Skip. Slight success.
Economic: I still have my job. Jennifer has her job. We've managed to get a slight amount paid down on the credit card and avoid multiple myriad would be disasters. Success.
Friends: Occasional strains (politics) but generally still strong. Success.
Family: Occasional strains that were resolved. Previous two family gatherings were extremely positive and uplifting for all. Resounding success.
Children-Trying but not confirmed. Moderate success.
Broad Life Experiences/Memories:
Trip to Ireland.
Trip to Washington D.C.
Dragoncon 2008
Volunteered for a Political Campaign
Successfully created at least one decent role playing game supplement with decent writing and decent Art (Life Goal)
Created an epic poem for Podcast
General assessment: Success with room for improvement.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Life
Well it has been a busy couple of weeks. Starting with the most recent occurrences and working backwards:
*We saw "Marley and Me" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" over the weekend in a crazy psycho double feature back to back. Jennifer liked Marley better and I liked Curious better. We both liked both.
We are currently watching Lost and Season 4 of La Femme Nikkita. Lost is in Season 2 and excellent. La Femme Nikita....isn't so good any more. The characters are predictable and stale, and the plot seems to recycle through the same several bits over and over again. I just want it to end, but Jennifer wants to watch it out until the last few episodes of Season 5. 5 More discs to go.
*We did a lot of clean up over the weekend putting Christmas decorations away. Jennifer has acrued a rather impressive array of Christmas Character decorations including Spiderman, Peanuts, Disney, Pooh and a few minor abominations (Bratz, Cabbage Things etc). But for the most part it looks pretty cool.
*Listening to a book called Anathem by Neal Stephson. Its....complicated, but if you like Math or weirdness it is very educational. Its a book I might recommend if you liked 'The DaVinci Code'. It has a plot but it also conveys interesting things about math etc, though in a weird way.
*Trip home from Jenny's Wedding went OK. Broke it up over two days. We greatly enjoyed spending time with the whole family there and it was a shame we weren't able to spend more time with everyone.
*We saw "Marley and Me" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" over the weekend in a crazy psycho double feature back to back. Jennifer liked Marley better and I liked Curious better. We both liked both.
We are currently watching Lost and Season 4 of La Femme Nikkita. Lost is in Season 2 and excellent. La Femme Nikita....isn't so good any more. The characters are predictable and stale, and the plot seems to recycle through the same several bits over and over again. I just want it to end, but Jennifer wants to watch it out until the last few episodes of Season 5. 5 More discs to go.
*We did a lot of clean up over the weekend putting Christmas decorations away. Jennifer has acrued a rather impressive array of Christmas Character decorations including Spiderman, Peanuts, Disney, Pooh and a few minor abominations (Bratz, Cabbage Things etc). But for the most part it looks pretty cool.
*Listening to a book called Anathem by Neal Stephson. Its....complicated, but if you like Math or weirdness it is very educational. Its a book I might recommend if you liked 'The DaVinci Code'. It has a plot but it also conveys interesting things about math etc, though in a weird way.
*Trip home from Jenny's Wedding went OK. Broke it up over two days. We greatly enjoyed spending time with the whole family there and it was a shame we weren't able to spend more time with everyone.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
To Pass The UnPassable Class
Let me tell you why I love my wife.
Aside from being beautiful, sexy, smart, cool and the best friend I ever had, she also opens doors when there are no doors.
For three days I sat trying to figure out the @#$@#$#@ dream weaver program. I couldn't do it. It was, literally, impossible for me to do it. Finally after ranting out tirades like a lunatic, Jennifer didn't yell back, she just calmly picked up the book and showed me what I needed to do.
Without her, I would not have passed this class. If Jennifer had been there when I was in Grad School, I would have a degree in Molecular Biology.
Because of her, I will (probably since I still have two classes left) have a masters in science in project management.
Aside from being beautiful, sexy, smart, cool and the best friend I ever had, she also opens doors when there are no doors.
For three days I sat trying to figure out the @#$@#$#@ dream weaver program. I couldn't do it. It was, literally, impossible for me to do it. Finally after ranting out tirades like a lunatic, Jennifer didn't yell back, she just calmly picked up the book and showed me what I needed to do.
Without her, I would not have passed this class. If Jennifer had been there when I was in Grad School, I would have a degree in Molecular Biology.
Because of her, I will (probably since I still have two classes left) have a masters in science in project management.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Epic Movies and Such
The weekend before last on our date we saw Australia. If you like Casablanca or the old thirties style movies, you'd definitely like this. Also we are both fans of Hugh Jackson and Nichole Kidman. Of course it has 3 endings like Hook but some people like Hook....
We both liked Australia a lot.
The last weekend we rented "The Great Dictator" which was.....um......well Mr. Chaplin is still a very good actor when he speaks. Its a shame he didn't take off in the 'talkies' because he was quite good. His writing and directorial skills....not so much. But the speech at the end was pretty cool, especially when you realize it was given two years before WWII. Probably not something I'd recommend though.
We got much Christmas stuff done. Not all of it but most of it.
We both liked Australia a lot.
The last weekend we rented "The Great Dictator" which was.....um......well Mr. Chaplin is still a very good actor when he speaks. Its a shame he didn't take off in the 'talkies' because he was quite good. His writing and directorial skills....not so much. But the speech at the end was pretty cool, especially when you realize it was given two years before WWII. Probably not something I'd recommend though.
We got much Christmas stuff done. Not all of it but most of it.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Thanksgiving
We spent it with family and it was a lovely dinner. No major drama, no headaches and the food was all most excellent. We watched "Stephen Colbert's Greatest Gift of All" and "Stardust." Grandma Lawson, Mom, Skip, Julie, Jennifer and I were all there. We played some games Friday night and had a lot of fun.
Jennifer and I got a lot done on the weekend. We removed the annoying air conditioner that was there when we bought the house and finally got the window closed. We also found the heating vent under the bed and opened it.
School is....well. How would you like to start a totally new blog, learn Dream Weaver, Design two web pages, study a 1000 page text book, join second life and surf around and perform a weekly bulletin board class plus a weekly paper. I am quite sure there are worse classes out there. Indeed, my fear of mutagenic chemicals was higher with biochemistry back at BYU...but honestly....this class is insane. Especially since the worst part was that once I finally had the pages done (Jennifer's advice was absolutely invaluable with this. She is far more technical minded than I) I had to upload the pages and there were almost no directions on how to do so.
Nightmarish.
Jennifer and I got a lot done on the weekend. We removed the annoying air conditioner that was there when we bought the house and finally got the window closed. We also found the heating vent under the bed and opened it.
School is....well. How would you like to start a totally new blog, learn Dream Weaver, Design two web pages, study a 1000 page text book, join second life and surf around and perform a weekly bulletin board class plus a weekly paper. I am quite sure there are worse classes out there. Indeed, my fear of mutagenic chemicals was higher with biochemistry back at BYU...but honestly....this class is insane. Especially since the worst part was that once I finally had the pages done (Jennifer's advice was absolutely invaluable with this. She is far more technical minded than I) I had to upload the pages and there were almost no directions on how to do so.
Nightmarish.
Monday, November 24, 2008
The Murder Mystery Went Well
4 couples on Saturday night. The murder mystery was pretty simple. Every person had a little booklet with lines that they read. Jennifer cooked an absolutely awesome dinner including potatoes, mango chicken and little cheese pastry things with a tart. It took three loads of dishes in the dishwasher to clean up after it all though. But we're all enjoying a very clean house. :)
Russel had to leave early because he was mildly ill, but he seems to be better now. Everyone had a really great time and it was all largely stress and drama free, so who could ask for anything more? :)
Russel had to leave early because he was mildly ill, but he seems to be better now. Everyone had a really great time and it was all largely stress and drama free, so who could ask for anything more? :)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Sick. Better.
Jennifer, myself, Mom, Skip and Julie all celebrated Grandma's birthday (she's 88!) last Saturday. We ate at a vegetarian restaurant called the Green Sprout, which was quite nice. We then went to Mom and Skip's house and watched 'Underdog' which is moderately cute, but awesomeness if you're a dog fan (like other members of the family and Jennifer.)
I was sick most of Friday. I was better by the time Saturday came around but I wasn't really back up to full mental capacity until Sunday. This class will indeed be a challenge. 1000 page text bok and about 150 pages of online lecture notes for the final in 3 1/2 weeks. The secret here is going to be figuring out what to study, because cramming all of it into my brain in that amount of time ON TOP of the class work load is essentially impossible.
Otherwise, things go well.
I was sick most of Friday. I was better by the time Saturday came around but I wasn't really back up to full mental capacity until Sunday. This class will indeed be a challenge. 1000 page text bok and about 150 pages of online lecture notes for the final in 3 1/2 weeks. The secret here is going to be figuring out what to study, because cramming all of it into my brain in that amount of time ON TOP of the class work load is essentially impossible.
Otherwise, things go well.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Murder Most Foul
We're finally going to have a Murder Mystery night with a murder mystery we bought at the beginning of the year. It involves 8 people and coordinating the schedules of 4 couples can be a bit of a challenge. Should be fun though. Jennifer is mailing the invitations this morning.
We've got a lot of preparations to do still in the house. We took down some mirrors that the previous renters had left up that we finally are got around to taking down. We're going to paint the walls. We're also doing a major cleaning job this weekend. The murder mystery will be the weekend after the next.
Played Civilization last night with Greg and Jason (someone Greg works with who lives in Houston). Was quite fun. I used to play Eve Online a lot, but stopped because I was paying the monthly fee but never really playing the game.
School looks like it will be a challenge. We need to do an entire web page with thirty sub pages (as a team) in 3 weeks. They're grading in a very miserly fashion too. Looks like this one will be one of the tough ones. Of course, the last two involve finance and a great deal of mind numbing math. Best for last, as it were. :)
We've got a lot of preparations to do still in the house. We took down some mirrors that the previous renters had left up that we finally are got around to taking down. We're going to paint the walls. We're also doing a major cleaning job this weekend. The murder mystery will be the weekend after the next.
Played Civilization last night with Greg and Jason (someone Greg works with who lives in Houston). Was quite fun. I used to play Eve Online a lot, but stopped because I was paying the monthly fee but never really playing the game.
School looks like it will be a challenge. We need to do an entire web page with thirty sub pages (as a team) in 3 weeks. They're grading in a very miserly fashion too. Looks like this one will be one of the tough ones. Of course, the last two involve finance and a great deal of mind numbing math. Best for last, as it were. :)
Monday, November 3, 2008
Life in Motion
Movies Watched this Weekend:
Roshomon-Multiple points of view by Kurasawa. Very cool. Not for children despite being really old.
The Cat Returns: Done by the people that did "Whispers of the Heart" and "Spirited Away." Absolutely excellent. Children friendly.
Dr. Who: The Hand of Fear. Very good stuff. I don't know if I'd seen that one young either.
Torchwood Season 2: We're on disk 2. Very interesting.
Random Boliwood movie: Jennifer thought it was OK but not as good as some of the other one's she's watched. I didn't watch it.
I've just finished reading "River of the Dancing Gods" trilogy by Jack Chalker. It isn't as good as his "well of souls" series, but it made for suitable mind candy. The next thing I read will be more substantive.
My current school class is E-Commerce. Its moderately interesting and not as insane homework wise as my last class. One assignment is a blog. I didn't want to give my blog out to random people, plus this one must be more visually flashy than my main blog but if anyone really wants the link, comment here and I'll email you the link. Don't expect it to last long though.
Roshomon-Multiple points of view by Kurasawa. Very cool. Not for children despite being really old.
The Cat Returns: Done by the people that did "Whispers of the Heart" and "Spirited Away." Absolutely excellent. Children friendly.
Dr. Who: The Hand of Fear. Very good stuff. I don't know if I'd seen that one young either.
Torchwood Season 2: We're on disk 2. Very interesting.
Random Boliwood movie: Jennifer thought it was OK but not as good as some of the other one's she's watched. I didn't watch it.
I've just finished reading "River of the Dancing Gods" trilogy by Jack Chalker. It isn't as good as his "well of souls" series, but it made for suitable mind candy. The next thing I read will be more substantive.
My current school class is E-Commerce. Its moderately interesting and not as insane homework wise as my last class. One assignment is a blog. I didn't want to give my blog out to random people, plus this one must be more visually flashy than my main blog but if anyone really wants the link, comment here and I'll email you the link. Don't expect it to last long though.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Baby Broke Now
You have probably all seen these commercials with the talking Stock Broker Baby.
So Jennifer is walking by the television and casually says, "Baby Broke Now!"
At which point we both spent the next two minutes laughing. I, being the evil person I am, wait until she's about to get back up and say "Baby Broke Now!" again just as she's standing up so we both laugh for another minute.
:)
So Jennifer is walking by the television and casually says, "Baby Broke Now!"
At which point we both spent the next two minutes laughing. I, being the evil person I am, wait until she's about to get back up and say "Baby Broke Now!" again just as she's standing up so we both laugh for another minute.
:)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Weekend
We had a pretty low key weekend. We saw Torchwood Season 2 at home as well as Dr. Who. We watched a few shows but generally relaxed. Did a few chores etc.
Jennifer has been working like mad on a sleep pad for work so she can take 'nap breaks' which helps make the narcolepsy more palatable. She has also recently completed a rather cool coat and scarf.
Jennifer has been working like mad on a sleep pad for work so she can take 'nap breaks' which helps make the narcolepsy more palatable. She has also recently completed a rather cool coat and scarf.
Friday, October 17, 2008
The Happenings
Well, our yard sign was stolen. We filed a police report about it, but I don't expect to see much more than that. We've got a back up but tomorrow we're going to Home Depot and buying enough material for 10-20 signs.
Tomorrow is my final for my 8th class out of 12. If all goes well I graduate in May. It is not immediately apparent if I'll be able to use my Masters to get more money at this point, since new careers of any kind are likely to be on hold for...a while, but things are going moderately well at my current job so that's OK. Still, I need to pass an exam called the PMP, which is like the bar for lawyers or certification for Accountants. It's basically one you need to pass if you're going to work in that field. I plan to start studying in November and hopefully take it in March.
We plan to start trying for children in about two weeks. Right now I'm driving Jennifer to the MARTA station for work every day and picking her up on the way home. We've been doing it for 6 weeks or so and it seems to be working well.
Played Axis and Allies with some friends on Wednesday. It was the new version, much more balanced. I (and my partner) got Crushed. Jennifer and the other two wives present played Settlers of Catan and had a much nicer time.
We saw "City of Ember" last week. We had a free movie ticket from their frequent pass thing. It is pretty good, but probably better for DVD. We liked it though. We saw "Burn After Reading" the week before that. Not exactly family friendly that one.
Tomorrow is my final for my 8th class out of 12. If all goes well I graduate in May. It is not immediately apparent if I'll be able to use my Masters to get more money at this point, since new careers of any kind are likely to be on hold for...a while, but things are going moderately well at my current job so that's OK. Still, I need to pass an exam called the PMP, which is like the bar for lawyers or certification for Accountants. It's basically one you need to pass if you're going to work in that field. I plan to start studying in November and hopefully take it in March.
We plan to start trying for children in about two weeks. Right now I'm driving Jennifer to the MARTA station for work every day and picking her up on the way home. We've been doing it for 6 weeks or so and it seems to be working well.
Played Axis and Allies with some friends on Wednesday. It was the new version, much more balanced. I (and my partner) got Crushed. Jennifer and the other two wives present played Settlers of Catan and had a much nicer time.
We saw "City of Ember" last week. We had a free movie ticket from their frequent pass thing. It is pretty good, but probably better for DVD. We liked it though. We saw "Burn After Reading" the week before that. Not exactly family friendly that one.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Short synopsis
Good thing I kept a vacation day. Between Ireland and the Family reunion, I was just about out of them. However, I think my sister's wedding is a cause well spent. Even if I don't get the day off I'll do the overnight drive thing. It will be nice to be able to go to it.
We got rid of a futon to a friend of Jennifer's. It had been supposed to leave our house in June. But she had trouble getting a place. We took it to her house at the same time (per her request) she was having her Open House party. She (Jennifer's friend) got a few of the party goers to help bring said futon up the stairs.
We got rid of a futon to a friend of Jennifer's. It had been supposed to leave our house in June. But she had trouble getting a place. We took it to her house at the same time (per her request) she was having her Open House party. She (Jennifer's friend) got a few of the party goers to help bring said futon up the stairs.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Life Continues
Jennifer and I went to a rather nice Thai place on Wednesday to celebrate her getting her degree. It was very good food and really good service. Quite frankly, it may be the best Asian food (certainly Thai) that I've ever had. Kind of the opposite of a Mexican place we ate at the other day that we went to mainly because of a coupon book. The food wasn't so bad, but the ownership had chanced and they wouldn't honor our coupon. They did take personal checks but we had to make the check out to some random person. Not exactly an experience that engenders confidence.
Right now I am reading, "River of the Dancing Gods" by Chalker. Mindless fun from the 1980's. I got the book at the same used book store we went to with grandma two weeks ago. We took her out to go used bookshopping and it was pretty fun.
We spent some time Saturday night with our former next door neighbors. They helped Jennifer out a lot before I met her and watched our dog a lot when we used to live in Forest Park. They are losing their house and are declaring bankruptcy. One of them works in a day care and the other does extremely physically demanding day labor for three of the local county water systems. We played Cranium, which they had never played before, but it was a fun evening. Kind of puts things in perspective.
We're trying to alter our eating habits a bit. I do a lot of the cooking, but that primarily involves multiple rotatable combination involving cans and pasta. Jennifer's meals are much more interesting and she planned out things and gave me a grocery list. Of course, it took much longer to shop for some of this stuff, but it should work out well in the long run. I'm going to try and learn one or two of the things she cooks. I'm mainly a fan of stove top or microwave cooking though. My experience with ovens doesn't do well; and I don't touch grills.
Gas is still scarce here in Atlanta. I have a half tank and 32 mpg on my Toyota echo so I'm not too bad off compared to most but being paranoid I still have my eye out on the various gas stations. Either they have lines or don't have gas anymore. Going out for lunch today in a weird angle and time in hopes of catching one without lines that does have gas.
I still have the original bank account I opened at BYU. Its a credit union, so we're moving a bit of our reserve into that bank...just in case. We WERE talking about opening an account in Europe but now they're nationalizing banks as well. It isn't so much that we're worried about losing the money, but if things go really bad, it might take a few months for the government to get around to giving it to us. As long as we have things spread around it shouldn't be a problem, but I certainly don't intend to have all of our eggs in one basket.
Right now I am reading, "River of the Dancing Gods" by Chalker. Mindless fun from the 1980's. I got the book at the same used book store we went to with grandma two weeks ago. We took her out to go used bookshopping and it was pretty fun.
We spent some time Saturday night with our former next door neighbors. They helped Jennifer out a lot before I met her and watched our dog a lot when we used to live in Forest Park. They are losing their house and are declaring bankruptcy. One of them works in a day care and the other does extremely physically demanding day labor for three of the local county water systems. We played Cranium, which they had never played before, but it was a fun evening. Kind of puts things in perspective.
We're trying to alter our eating habits a bit. I do a lot of the cooking, but that primarily involves multiple rotatable combination involving cans and pasta. Jennifer's meals are much more interesting and she planned out things and gave me a grocery list. Of course, it took much longer to shop for some of this stuff, but it should work out well in the long run. I'm going to try and learn one or two of the things she cooks. I'm mainly a fan of stove top or microwave cooking though. My experience with ovens doesn't do well; and I don't touch grills.
Gas is still scarce here in Atlanta. I have a half tank and 32 mpg on my Toyota echo so I'm not too bad off compared to most but being paranoid I still have my eye out on the various gas stations. Either they have lines or don't have gas anymore. Going out for lunch today in a weird angle and time in hopes of catching one without lines that does have gas.
I still have the original bank account I opened at BYU. Its a credit union, so we're moving a bit of our reserve into that bank...just in case. We WERE talking about opening an account in Europe but now they're nationalizing banks as well. It isn't so much that we're worried about losing the money, but if things go really bad, it might take a few months for the government to get around to giving it to us. As long as we have things spread around it shouldn't be a problem, but I certainly don't intend to have all of our eggs in one basket.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Jennifer had her final oral exam today.
She passed.
As of now she has a Masters in Education and Technology.
As of now she has a Masters in Education and Technology.
Monday, September 22, 2008
So far
Things seem to be going well with the novel. I am (more or less) on track. Progress is more detailed on Tossing Grenades at Windmills.
Jennifer has started a new sewing project. She has a bag that she wants to be able to carry on her shoulder as she travels via MARTA. I'm not entirely aware of all the details but it looks rather impressive.
She also got her Capstone back. There were some things marked as not done they wanted, but she turned it around the next day. Theoretically, her oral defense is this week, but it depends on how fast her grader processes the thing. Still, the actual end of her degree is in sight.
My class is rather crazy. I write REALLY fast but I can't imagine how a normal person would cope. In the last 3 weeks, I've had 2 6-10 page papers, 4 1-2 page papers, and 6 online discussion topics that were essentially one page papers. Mid term is next week, and I've still got about the same amount as what I've done so far to turn around. It is by far the most 'busy work' intensive class I've had so far.
Of course, the final two classes I have are rather math intensive.
We finally saw Hancock at the $2.00 theater. It was really good. I'd mark it (for me) fourth best movie of the summer after Wall-E, Dark Knight and Iron Man. Unlike Iron Man, it also has a heavy rewatch value. IE I can picture Hancock being popular 10 years from now whereas Iron Man might be.
Jennifer has started a new sewing project. She has a bag that she wants to be able to carry on her shoulder as she travels via MARTA. I'm not entirely aware of all the details but it looks rather impressive.
She also got her Capstone back. There were some things marked as not done they wanted, but she turned it around the next day. Theoretically, her oral defense is this week, but it depends on how fast her grader processes the thing. Still, the actual end of her degree is in sight.
My class is rather crazy. I write REALLY fast but I can't imagine how a normal person would cope. In the last 3 weeks, I've had 2 6-10 page papers, 4 1-2 page papers, and 6 online discussion topics that were essentially one page papers. Mid term is next week, and I've still got about the same amount as what I've done so far to turn around. It is by far the most 'busy work' intensive class I've had so far.
Of course, the final two classes I have are rather math intensive.
We finally saw Hancock at the $2.00 theater. It was really good. I'd mark it (for me) fourth best movie of the summer after Wall-E, Dark Knight and Iron Man. Unlike Iron Man, it also has a heavy rewatch value. IE I can picture Hancock being popular 10 years from now whereas Iron Man might be.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Various items
I'm worried about my family in Houston. I'm mainly worried because they seem worried, not panicked but making serious preparations. They'll be in our prayers.
I've seen some friends of friends lately say things like "They're all crooks" when it comes to politics. I'm not responding here, but I did respond on my livejournal. The entry is called "The Sin of Neutrality."
Make of that what you will.
Have a good weekend.
I've seen some friends of friends lately say things like "They're all crooks" when it comes to politics. I'm not responding here, but I did respond on my livejournal. The entry is called "The Sin of Neutrality."
Make of that what you will.
Have a good weekend.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Life
Jennifer trimmed Thunder's ears the other day. He looks cute.
At the grocery store when I went shopping at costco yesterday, I bought a box of drumsticks. They're very good. Sometimes its fun to be a grown up.
Jennifer recently bought new drapes for the house. They look quite nice. Might put up a picture of it later.
I'll also get Jennifer to post a picture with her Stargate my little pony when she's done with it.
This morning for breakfast, I had an Apple Nutrigrain bar. I've also had a Lean Cuising Teriyaki dinner. Haven't had any of the drumsticks yet. We're saving those for later.
At the grocery store when I went shopping at costco yesterday, I bought a box of drumsticks. They're very good. Sometimes its fun to be a grown up.
Jennifer recently bought new drapes for the house. They look quite nice. Might put up a picture of it later.
I'll also get Jennifer to post a picture with her Stargate my little pony when she's done with it.
This morning for breakfast, I had an Apple Nutrigrain bar. I've also had a Lean Cuising Teriyaki dinner. Haven't had any of the drumsticks yet. We're saving those for later.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Like Shooting Wolves in a Helicopter.
We had a lot of fun at dragon con. We did a lot so its hard to remember it all.
Friday we spent the day going to a panel about myth in literature and then saw a showing about Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. It was awesome. We also went to a Vogon Poetry slam which was horrible but not because the poetry was horrible (Vogon poetry is supposed to be horrible) but because the moderator had no prizes so he stretched things out so there were only 4 matches in an hour. Then Jennifer went to a ....not suitable for this blog panel and I played Warcraft the Board game with Russel and Ken.
Saturday we started the day off with the Stargate Mega Panel (the dead guy on from Atlantis was pretty cool), a rather cool panel on the Dark Tower (Stephen King book). Then I went to the Skeptics vs Believer's debate (absolutely FASCINATING! The million dollar challenge guy showed up and challenged one of the believers who declined) while Jennifer showed people her costumes. She also went to a Middle Man panel.
If you aren't watching Middle Man...you should. It really is one of the best shows on television. I went to a writing in shared world's panel (cause I'm writing a novel in a shared world with Ken).
We went to a panel about the influence of Pixar on Disney and how it has improved things. (Hint: Some people are REALLY defensive of Disney).
Sunday Jennifer went to the My Little Pony Abomination Panel whilst I went to the "How to make your podcast sound cool" panel. Odds are I'm producing "I, Odyseus" in pod cast form later this year. It was very helpful. Then we watched the short film Comedy section. Great stuff! Then we had dinner. Then we watched more short films, Light and Dark. Also great stuff. Then we listened to the Atlanta Radio Theater Company. I missed that (we did not go to the live costume contest this year.) After that we went back to the room and watched the master costume contenst for a few hours on the con channel. Then we played "Mafia/Werewolf" but with a Buffy the Vampire twist for 3-4 hours until late in the night.
Monday we watched Robot Battles and then saw a rather cool panel on Interstellar travel.
Then we picked up the dog and came home.
Friday we spent the day going to a panel about myth in literature and then saw a showing about Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. It was awesome. We also went to a Vogon Poetry slam which was horrible but not because the poetry was horrible (Vogon poetry is supposed to be horrible) but because the moderator had no prizes so he stretched things out so there were only 4 matches in an hour. Then Jennifer went to a ....not suitable for this blog panel and I played Warcraft the Board game with Russel and Ken.
Saturday we started the day off with the Stargate Mega Panel (the dead guy on from Atlantis was pretty cool), a rather cool panel on the Dark Tower (Stephen King book). Then I went to the Skeptics vs Believer's debate (absolutely FASCINATING! The million dollar challenge guy showed up and challenged one of the believers who declined) while Jennifer showed people her costumes. She also went to a Middle Man panel.
If you aren't watching Middle Man...you should. It really is one of the best shows on television. I went to a writing in shared world's panel (cause I'm writing a novel in a shared world with Ken).
We went to a panel about the influence of Pixar on Disney and how it has improved things. (Hint: Some people are REALLY defensive of Disney).
Sunday Jennifer went to the My Little Pony Abomination Panel whilst I went to the "How to make your podcast sound cool" panel. Odds are I'm producing "I, Odyseus" in pod cast form later this year. It was very helpful. Then we watched the short film Comedy section. Great stuff! Then we had dinner. Then we watched more short films, Light and Dark. Also great stuff. Then we listened to the Atlanta Radio Theater Company. I missed that (we did not go to the live costume contest this year.) After that we went back to the room and watched the master costume contenst for a few hours on the con channel. Then we played "Mafia/Werewolf" but with a Buffy the Vampire twist for 3-4 hours until late in the night.
Monday we watched Robot Battles and then saw a rather cool panel on Interstellar travel.
Then we picked up the dog and came home.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
This is only a fraction of what there is to see
But alas, my picture taking habits were eclectic at best. More details shall be included forthwith (tomorrow) but for now here are the pictures.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Good News and Hurricanes
I am worried about the current Hurricane for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it may head towards New Orleans and Houston.
Jennifer was able to finish the costume. Tonight we are making final plans for DragonCon. I am not a camera person, but if you've never been, getting a taste of how fun it is is worth spreading so I may attempt to actually use the camera on my cell phone for the second time ever on my own. The first was to send Jennifer pictures of Shamu/Seaworld. We'll see if I can join the 21rst century and figure out how to get them off of my phone and onto my blog.
Skip has challenged me to write a 100,000 words in two months. He's volunteered to edit this. To put this in perspective, I wrote the first novel in 5 years. The second has taken 3, and is looking like it may be 3 1/2 to 4 before I try to get it published. This combined with the other novel I'm writing with a friend (albiet at a slower pace) is going to keep me quite busy. To anyone who is interested in watching me (probably) crash and burn in my two month challenge, you might want to check out the Tossing Grenades at Windmills blog I also maintain on this site. I'll not be putting actual writing there, but I will put some notes.
I got an A in my last class. That is 8 of 12. 2/3rds of the way done. I graduate in May.
Jennifer has completed everything but her final written project and her oral defense. She looks to graduate some time in January.
She will slowly work off her meds after Dragoncon after which it looks like we will begin trying to have our first.
For Dragoncon, we're putting the dog in this kennel like place that has a web cam. Might include the link for those obsessed with bizarre things like watching other people's pets frollic and play. :)
Red Anvil Productions now has a website. http://www.redanvilproductions.com.
I have now officially had my job for a year and it seems (knock heavily on wood) to be going well.
Jennifer was able to finish the costume. Tonight we are making final plans for DragonCon. I am not a camera person, but if you've never been, getting a taste of how fun it is is worth spreading so I may attempt to actually use the camera on my cell phone for the second time ever on my own. The first was to send Jennifer pictures of Shamu/Seaworld. We'll see if I can join the 21rst century and figure out how to get them off of my phone and onto my blog.
Skip has challenged me to write a 100,000 words in two months. He's volunteered to edit this. To put this in perspective, I wrote the first novel in 5 years. The second has taken 3, and is looking like it may be 3 1/2 to 4 before I try to get it published. This combined with the other novel I'm writing with a friend (albiet at a slower pace) is going to keep me quite busy. To anyone who is interested in watching me (probably) crash and burn in my two month challenge, you might want to check out the Tossing Grenades at Windmills blog I also maintain on this site. I'll not be putting actual writing there, but I will put some notes.
I got an A in my last class. That is 8 of 12. 2/3rds of the way done. I graduate in May.
Jennifer has completed everything but her final written project and her oral defense. She looks to graduate some time in January.
She will slowly work off her meds after Dragoncon after which it looks like we will begin trying to have our first.
For Dragoncon, we're putting the dog in this kennel like place that has a web cam. Might include the link for those obsessed with bizarre things like watching other people's pets frollic and play. :)
Red Anvil Productions now has a website. http://www.redanvilproductions.com.
I have now officially had my job for a year and it seems (knock heavily on wood) to be going well.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Life
Well, "The Fate" has sold more than any item I've sold since my first, so it seems to be doing well. Still far from what I'd call profitable in any sense whatsoever, but it was fun to do.
Picked the costumes up from the Dry Cleaner today. Golddame55 will be doing the alterations this weekend. She also recently got a "Bolwick" which is apparently a glorified sword holder and a pretty cool sword. She got a pistol for herself so the costumes should look keen when done.
Played board games last night with a friend of ours; Cranium. Still, even with the expansions if you play it enough times some of the answers become rather easy to guess. Still it is an awesome game because it lets people socialize in all of the different categories they're good at. It does suck though when someone rolls two or three purples in a row and is suddenly half a game ahead of you. I think they've changed it in later cranium games, but to be honest, I hate all of them but the original Cranium game. Not sure why, they just seem lame by comparison.
Picked the costumes up from the Dry Cleaner today. Golddame55 will be doing the alterations this weekend. She also recently got a "Bolwick" which is apparently a glorified sword holder and a pretty cool sword. She got a pistol for herself so the costumes should look keen when done.
Played board games last night with a friend of ours; Cranium. Still, even with the expansions if you play it enough times some of the answers become rather easy to guess. Still it is an awesome game because it lets people socialize in all of the different categories they're good at. It does suck though when someone rolls two or three purples in a row and is suddenly half a game ahead of you. I think they've changed it in later cranium games, but to be honest, I hate all of them but the original Cranium game. Not sure why, they just seem lame by comparison.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
It is Finished
I always wanted to do a large roleplaying game supplement with professionally done art and of a decent size. I've had a lot of people help me over the years, both with this and other projects for which I appreciate the help. This is a 'life goal' just like writing the first novel was. In fact, I've done a good chunk of them now so I'm going to have to make up a few more. Raise the bar as it were. :)
Here is the link (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=57234&src=FrontPage") to the cover page if it interests you. If you're a family member and interested in a copy, ping me.
Golddame55 is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with her masters. She turned in the results of her course report Monday. It was 50 PAGES! At this point she only has to revise an essay and all she has left are the final thesis of her masters and oral defense. The final thesis uses parts of her other major projects so it shouldn't be so bad, but the oral defense (mid September) will be a bit challenging potentially. Probably not 50 pages challenging though.
Enjoyed visiting with Christy, Jenny, Julie, Mom, Grandma, Skip and the wonder twins on Sunday. We talked a lot and had good food.
We've signed up for this monthly 'organic food' program which is locally grown. Its good food though we've gotten an AWFUL lot of blue berries each week. Fortunately golddame55 loves blue berries.
Dragon con is coming up in two weeks which is like, the biggest convention in the south east. Upwards of 30,000 people go to it each year and it utterly fills up about a dozen hotels (4 of which have the programs events etc). We're greatly looking forward to it. Saturday night we'll be wearing the Irish Pirate costumes golddame55 made last year for the masquerade.
Here is the link (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=57234&src=FrontPage") to the cover page if it interests you. If you're a family member and interested in a copy, ping me.
Golddame55 is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with her masters. She turned in the results of her course report Monday. It was 50 PAGES! At this point she only has to revise an essay and all she has left are the final thesis of her masters and oral defense. The final thesis uses parts of her other major projects so it shouldn't be so bad, but the oral defense (mid September) will be a bit challenging potentially. Probably not 50 pages challenging though.
Enjoyed visiting with Christy, Jenny, Julie, Mom, Grandma, Skip and the wonder twins on Sunday. We talked a lot and had good food.
We've signed up for this monthly 'organic food' program which is locally grown. Its good food though we've gotten an AWFUL lot of blue berries each week. Fortunately golddame55 loves blue berries.
Dragon con is coming up in two weeks which is like, the biggest convention in the south east. Upwards of 30,000 people go to it each year and it utterly fills up about a dozen hotels (4 of which have the programs events etc). We're greatly looking forward to it. Saturday night we'll be wearing the Irish Pirate costumes golddame55 made last year for the masquerade.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Frustration at the workstation
So the neat news is that I get a new lap top at work.
The bad news is that the image is @#$@#$@ up and I get to spend almost all day (and still not done so far) trying to get it to work at basic functionality because our IT department (one guy) is rather stretched at the moment.
Jennifer has done a lot on her Master's program. Thank you very much to Skip, Julie, Joyce and Rachelle for their help. It was very helpful and she was able to get the data she needs, she just has to finish putting it together at this point. We will both be very happy to see it done and out the door at this point.
I'm currently on book four of the "Wild Cards" series and enjoying it quite a bit. Had to order a few of the more obscure books online used since they're rather old (about 20 years). Not family fare.
What is family material that is pretty good is "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D. I'm not recommending it, because there are so many OTHER good movies at this point, including family movies that I can't see justifying it, and even on Netflix I could name 100 movies you probably haven't seen that are better; but since we've seen a good chunk of the movies worth seeing in the last few weeks, it was a good mindless waste of time. We nearly got a DVD from blockbuster, but apparently my card has expired, and their contract mandates that any problems you have with them go to Binding Arbitration. Yeah, not a big fan of binding arbitration, so we saw the movie instead. Sometimes you have to do it, but not to get movies from Blockbuster. I was over their poor service and loan shark letters enough to give them another try (after like...5-6 years) but not enough to give them my credit card and sign up for Binding Arbitration.
Not a fan, sorry. Not to say I'll never sign an agreement like that, but not with Blockbuster.
The bad news is that the image is @#$@#$@ up and I get to spend almost all day (and still not done so far) trying to get it to work at basic functionality because our IT department (one guy) is rather stretched at the moment.
Jennifer has done a lot on her Master's program. Thank you very much to Skip, Julie, Joyce and Rachelle for their help. It was very helpful and she was able to get the data she needs, she just has to finish putting it together at this point. We will both be very happy to see it done and out the door at this point.
I'm currently on book four of the "Wild Cards" series and enjoying it quite a bit. Had to order a few of the more obscure books online used since they're rather old (about 20 years). Not family fare.
What is family material that is pretty good is "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D. I'm not recommending it, because there are so many OTHER good movies at this point, including family movies that I can't see justifying it, and even on Netflix I could name 100 movies you probably haven't seen that are better; but since we've seen a good chunk of the movies worth seeing in the last few weeks, it was a good mindless waste of time. We nearly got a DVD from blockbuster, but apparently my card has expired, and their contract mandates that any problems you have with them go to Binding Arbitration. Yeah, not a big fan of binding arbitration, so we saw the movie instead. Sometimes you have to do it, but not to get movies from Blockbuster. I was over their poor service and loan shark letters enough to give them another try (after like...5-6 years) but not enough to give them my credit card and sign up for Binding Arbitration.
Not a fan, sorry. Not to say I'll never sign an agreement like that, but not with Blockbuster.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Wherefore art thou?
Got the cover for "The Fate of Inglemia" from the artist I commissioned. Its rather incredible. The game should be coming out on August 15th.
I'll post a link to it when it comes out so you can see the cover. Anyone who is absolutely desperate to see what has been produced thus far can ping me and I'll email them to you, just don't send it to your friends. :)
The link, of course you can send to whomever you like. :)
School goes. had a midterm on the weekend. Fairly sure I passed. Golddame55 is having trouble finding people for her project but we've had some family members help (thank you and you know who you are :) ). Now that it isn't just Teachers that makes things a lot easier.
Randy and Jamie visited last week. It was really fun. There was lots of talking about things present, past and future. No ghosts were involved in this conversation. The nieces seemed to enjoy themselves.
I'll post a link to it when it comes out so you can see the cover. Anyone who is absolutely desperate to see what has been produced thus far can ping me and I'll email them to you, just don't send it to your friends. :)
The link, of course you can send to whomever you like. :)
School goes. had a midterm on the weekend. Fairly sure I passed. Golddame55 is having trouble finding people for her project but we've had some family members help (thank you and you know who you are :) ). Now that it isn't just Teachers that makes things a lot easier.
Randy and Jamie visited last week. It was really fun. There was lots of talking about things present, past and future. No ghosts were involved in this conversation. The nieces seemed to enjoy themselves.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Juggling
This is going to be a busy week.
Golddame55 has massive school work so I'm helping her by doing everything else like chores and the like so she doesn't have to. I've also got school work myself, two papers, a discussion topic and a midterm. Inglemia is going well but I've only got 4 more weeks to finish it. I'm behind on the novel but working on it, and finally we have family visiting Tuesday night through Saturday...and Golddame55's mother is here Sunday through Tuesday. :)
I'm also working on the outline for a major project with Ken, though I won't be starting it until the other novel is finished, but I need to do the map for that and country details this month. Might be having to do daily entries there just to even approach where the schedule should be.
Saw the Dark Knight last Friday night. STUNNING! I highly recommend it for anyone over 13. Also saw Meet the Robinsons on DVD. Very good in general.
Golddame55 has massive school work so I'm helping her by doing everything else like chores and the like so she doesn't have to. I've also got school work myself, two papers, a discussion topic and a midterm. Inglemia is going well but I've only got 4 more weeks to finish it. I'm behind on the novel but working on it, and finally we have family visiting Tuesday night through Saturday...and Golddame55's mother is here Sunday through Tuesday. :)
I'm also working on the outline for a major project with Ken, though I won't be starting it until the other novel is finished, but I need to do the map for that and country details this month. Might be having to do daily entries there just to even approach where the schedule should be.
Saw the Dark Knight last Friday night. STUNNING! I highly recommend it for anyone over 13. Also saw Meet the Robinsons on DVD. Very good in general.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
We Have Seen the Family, and They Is Us
This weekend we visited with Greg and Rachelle and Neices and Nephews and Julie and Parents. :)
And there was much rejoicing and much game playing, and much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth at accidentally saving your brother's game over your own.
Highlights of the Weekend:
*Fourth of July fireworks. Golddame55 had a bit of an asthma problem and had to leave Early. Greg had to take the youngest home a bit early due to overheating but it was generally a fun time.
*Sunday games which included Catch Phrase, Carcasone, Ingenious and Munchkin Cthulu. By far the most popular game appeared to be Munchkin Cthulu.
*Saturday night dinner at the Loop.
Other Activities and Happenings:
I enjoyed a week between classes for school. Managed to SOMEHOW get a B+ in that class, mainly from our great debate topic I think. This next class looks like even more joyful fun. :)
Working on "Fate of Inglemia." I've had a rather neat artist commissioned for it, and may post one or two peices up here or at least link to the cover when it is finished. It is probably not going to sell well, but I always wanted to have at least one project that I had at least a semi decent art budget for. Hithertonow I've generally relied on reusing someone else's art or the extreme and awesome talents of those who would give it for free. :)
Read first two Wild Cards books. Most awesome. I remember now why I like the series, but I'm not willing to 'just skip em' this time and must track down #3 at a used book store sometime this week.
And there was much rejoicing and much game playing, and much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth at accidentally saving your brother's game over your own.
Highlights of the Weekend:
*Fourth of July fireworks. Golddame55 had a bit of an asthma problem and had to leave Early. Greg had to take the youngest home a bit early due to overheating but it was generally a fun time.
*Sunday games which included Catch Phrase, Carcasone, Ingenious and Munchkin Cthulu. By far the most popular game appeared to be Munchkin Cthulu.
*Saturday night dinner at the Loop.
Other Activities and Happenings:
I enjoyed a week between classes for school. Managed to SOMEHOW get a B+ in that class, mainly from our great debate topic I think. This next class looks like even more joyful fun. :)
Working on "Fate of Inglemia." I've had a rather neat artist commissioned for it, and may post one or two peices up here or at least link to the cover when it is finished. It is probably not going to sell well, but I always wanted to have at least one project that I had at least a semi decent art budget for. Hithertonow I've generally relied on reusing someone else's art or the extreme and awesome talents of those who would give it for free. :)
Read first two Wild Cards books. Most awesome. I remember now why I like the series, but I'm not willing to 'just skip em' this time and must track down #3 at a used book store sometime this week.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Life in Motion
Well, the final of Death really was as bad as I thought it was. It was virtually impossible to study for everything given the sheer magnitude of what was available for the teacher to pull from on this test, especially given his delight at taking obscure portions of the text and using them against us. I focused on the higher concepts and the vocabulary (there were 150 words to memorize) in hopes that it would help me ferret out the final answer. I also gave the chapters a final read through before hand, and while it helped somewhat, I'm sure I certainly didn't ace this thing. But, if it was this hard for me then the odds are it was the same thing for most people as well.
We'll see.
It was easy to relax when we were finally done with it though. We saw on Netflix "From Beyond" (not a family movie) "Perfume: Story of a Murder" (not a family movie either.) We also watched the most recent Dr. Who, which is quite frankly brilliant. Shame they're taking a two year break but I understand why. Better to preserve the long term viability of the show.
We saw Wall-E as well. FANTASTIC movie. Arguably the best thing that Pixar has ever produced, though it is a tough toss up between that and Ratatoui.
Finished reading "The Player of Games" this week as well. Good book. Right now I'm rereading the Wild Card books which are a series of books about a world infected by an alien virus that gives people super powers. Fun stuff.
We'll see.
It was easy to relax when we were finally done with it though. We saw on Netflix "From Beyond" (not a family movie) "Perfume: Story of a Murder" (not a family movie either.) We also watched the most recent Dr. Who, which is quite frankly brilliant. Shame they're taking a two year break but I understand why. Better to preserve the long term viability of the show.
We saw Wall-E as well. FANTASTIC movie. Arguably the best thing that Pixar has ever produced, though it is a tough toss up between that and Ratatoui.
Finished reading "The Player of Games" this week as well. Good book. Right now I'm rereading the Wild Card books which are a series of books about a world infected by an alien virus that gives people super powers. Fun stuff.
Monday, June 23, 2008
I have been SoundKnowlified
For 16 hours over two days I learned more than I ever wanted to know about Sound in a film class taught by a rather cool guy who has done work for Kevin Smith as his head sound dude (on pretty much all of his movies.) Apparently, he's based out of Atlanta. But, after the rather disasterous experiences with the last two movies, I needed to prevent another Snap, Crackle and Pop special.
The drive on Thursday from the reunion went well but the last hour was hard. I came to realize that 12 diet cokes in 6 hours might not agree with me, since I normally don't consume hoards of caffine. The fact that I had gotten up at 5:30 in the morning didn't help.
When I got home, I found that the infamous Team Project that I thought was basically done wanted another two teleconferences. I basically went into open rebellion explaining that since they had scheduled these when I wasn't present when they scheduled these, I would be unable to attend. I was so upset that I didn't sleep and had to stay home sick, but I did complete my final part of the project and it came out rather well. I got two hours Friday morning so I almost didn't go to the Sound class, but golddame55 convinced me that it was a good idea.
Glad I went.
(For purposes of my own records)
The reunion went very well. Christy's planning was essentially perfect and the location was right next to a pastoral river. We played a few games, and went to sea world for most of Tuesday followed by an excellent meal at the Iron Cactus that night. Wednesday we went tubing down the river and had games that afternoon. There was a water fight in which I was a two pistoled terror. I have regained my faith in tiny little pistols, and am glad (for the most part) that I resisted the urge to bring a rain slicker, plastic riot shield, goggles and industrial power sprayer for said fight. All in all it lasted about 30 minutes and was lighthearted fun whereas my terminator like abomination would have...been thematically inappropriate. I would have enjoyed it, but I doubted anyone else would...not to mention that for a cost of roughly $150, it would not have really been worth it. :)
The drive on Thursday from the reunion went well but the last hour was hard. I came to realize that 12 diet cokes in 6 hours might not agree with me, since I normally don't consume hoards of caffine. The fact that I had gotten up at 5:30 in the morning didn't help.
When I got home, I found that the infamous Team Project that I thought was basically done wanted another two teleconferences. I basically went into open rebellion explaining that since they had scheduled these when I wasn't present when they scheduled these, I would be unable to attend. I was so upset that I didn't sleep and had to stay home sick, but I did complete my final part of the project and it came out rather well. I got two hours Friday morning so I almost didn't go to the Sound class, but golddame55 convinced me that it was a good idea.
Glad I went.
(For purposes of my own records)
The reunion went very well. Christy's planning was essentially perfect and the location was right next to a pastoral river. We played a few games, and went to sea world for most of Tuesday followed by an excellent meal at the Iron Cactus that night. Wednesday we went tubing down the river and had games that afternoon. There was a water fight in which I was a two pistoled terror. I have regained my faith in tiny little pistols, and am glad (for the most part) that I resisted the urge to bring a rain slicker, plastic riot shield, goggles and industrial power sprayer for said fight. All in all it lasted about 30 minutes and was lighthearted fun whereas my terminator like abomination would have...been thematically inappropriate. I would have enjoyed it, but I doubted anyone else would...not to mention that for a cost of roughly $150, it would not have really been worth it. :)
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Happenings
We saw Kung Fu Panda on Friday. I highly recommend it. It is most excellent.
While I took a brief break for a while, I'm now working on three short stories. One of which I work on through an online writing group which has thus far proved quite helpful. I also have plans to work on a novel with a friend of mine who is going to have a gap in his employment. I'll post more details here as they become more concrete. I still have plans to write the fantasy novel in November and December. The Saturday after the reunion I'll be taking a two day class on sound so hopefully the next movie will turn out better sound wise than the last one did.
The mid term did not go well but thus far I've managed to keep my head above water. Because 40% of the grade is graded by other students, I think they're assuming that it will be high to compensate. Hopefully I will get a high grade there. We'll see.
We visited Mom, Skip and Grandma on Sunday. We watched "The Mist"....pretty good but pretty scary. Not a 'for kids' movie..and elements of the ending were mildly annoying but then, it would have been better than a 'they drive off into the Mist' ambiguous ending of the novella...and I LIKE Stephen King, though to be honest, I mainly like his non horror stuff.
While I took a brief break for a while, I'm now working on three short stories. One of which I work on through an online writing group which has thus far proved quite helpful. I also have plans to work on a novel with a friend of mine who is going to have a gap in his employment. I'll post more details here as they become more concrete. I still have plans to write the fantasy novel in November and December. The Saturday after the reunion I'll be taking a two day class on sound so hopefully the next movie will turn out better sound wise than the last one did.
The mid term did not go well but thus far I've managed to keep my head above water. Because 40% of the grade is graded by other students, I think they're assuming that it will be high to compensate. Hopefully I will get a high grade there. We'll see.
We visited Mom, Skip and Grandma on Sunday. We watched "The Mist"....pretty good but pretty scary. Not a 'for kids' movie..and elements of the ending were mildly annoying but then, it would have been better than a 'they drive off into the Mist' ambiguous ending of the novella...and I LIKE Stephen King, though to be honest, I mainly like his non horror stuff.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Life in general
Well lets see....this Sunday I went to something called "The Daily Project" which is basically a film maker's club. I'm not going to make any more until I get my sound skills down, but I'm going to help other people make their's in the meantime. Made a few cool contacts there.
Took my International Business midterm as well and it was BRUTAL. It was open book but I had 90 minutes to answer 50 questions and I used every last SECOND. To put that in perspective, I have finished about 30 minutes early on all of my other tests and used the remaining time to check or confirm my answers and that was making sure I checked my notes very thoroughly the first time. Still no idea what the score was.
Gave mom a copy of my novel. Novel 3 is coming along well, I plan to start writing it in November and December. Jennifer and I ate at "Loop Pizza" which is a great pizza place. Don't think they are national though. Last night we saw "Flags of our Fathers" which was pretty cool but sad. We did not treat the guys in that photo well, even if they were accidental heroes.
Took my International Business midterm as well and it was BRUTAL. It was open book but I had 90 minutes to answer 50 questions and I used every last SECOND. To put that in perspective, I have finished about 30 minutes early on all of my other tests and used the remaining time to check or confirm my answers and that was making sure I checked my notes very thoroughly the first time. Still no idea what the score was.
Gave mom a copy of my novel. Novel 3 is coming along well, I plan to start writing it in November and December. Jennifer and I ate at "Loop Pizza" which is a great pizza place. Don't think they are national though. Last night we saw "Flags of our Fathers" which was pretty cool but sad. We did not treat the guys in that photo well, even if they were accidental heroes.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Weekly Happenings
We got a king sized mattress. Can't remember where, but it is most nifty. We need to get the bed frame though.
Much cleaning and studying this weekend. Monday Mom, Skip, Grandma and I droomed up to Augusta to help shuffle stuff back, like a pump organ. Pump Organ=The Heavy but it was fun :)
Sunday we all went up to visit wisdomgirl/sadsog and Todd and it was most keenerific. We rewatched the incredibles. I like that movie.
We also saw Indiana IV. I liked it but for 30 seconds at the end where they showed something they shouldn't. Still worth seeing though.
Novel 2 is done. Mom and Ken will be reading and I'll post updates as I go. Anyone else wants to review an early copy and make suggestions, ping me.
Much cleaning and studying this weekend. Monday Mom, Skip, Grandma and I droomed up to Augusta to help shuffle stuff back, like a pump organ. Pump Organ=The Heavy but it was fun :)
Sunday we all went up to visit wisdomgirl/sadsog and Todd and it was most keenerific. We rewatched the incredibles. I like that movie.
We also saw Indiana IV. I liked it but for 30 seconds at the end where they showed something they shouldn't. Still worth seeing though.
Novel 2 is done. Mom and Ken will be reading and I'll post updates as I go. Anyone else wants to review an early copy and make suggestions, ping me.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Photos
Here are the photos from our vacation
http://picasaweb.google.com/golddame5.5/2ndHoneymoonBirthdayVacation?authkey=-s1dt1ym34o
Photos from the wedding.
http://picasaweb.google.com/golddame5.5/OurWedding?authkey=anoGjTCrgBo
I'll be removing the link in a week or so.
http://picasaweb.google.com/golddame5.5/2ndHoneymoonBirthdayVacation?authkey=-s1dt1ym34o
Photos from the wedding.
http://picasaweb.google.com/golddame5.5/OurWedding?authkey=anoGjTCrgBo
I'll be removing the link in a week or so.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Dueling Morons is Done
The independent film I was working on is finally done. Julie did an absolutely fantastic job editing it, but the sound and camera are still just too primitive to submit it to film festivals. Still, I learned a lot from this, and should have the hardware to put something much better together later this year.
I'm chalking it up as a learning experience.
At any rate, here is the film. You'll probably want to turn your sound up.
I'm chalking it up as a learning experience.
At any rate, here is the film. You'll probably want to turn your sound up.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Happenings this week
We saw 'Speed Racer' over the weekend. I can understand why some critics didn't like it, but we both did. I personally felt about 5-6 minutes could have been edited out of it, but for the most part it was the right tone and pace and depth. Its one of those movies that you'll either love or you'll hate. But it certainly doesn't look like it is going to go well.
We hung out with Mom, Skip and Grandma Lawson last night. Jennifer had the idea of getting them massages for Mother's Day and they were very appreciative. The power went out so we had fun lighting candles and the like. No one wanted to play 'So I'm Going on An Expedition to Africa'...I wonder why. :)
Writing is going well. Nearly done with the second novel. I spent a good chunk of Saturday playing Eve Online and made a rather nice cargo run through ridiculously dangerous space. Last Tuesday night we finished a D&D game based on the movie '300' that we'd been playing for a year. It went quite well.
We hung out with Mom, Skip and Grandma Lawson last night. Jennifer had the idea of getting them massages for Mother's Day and they were very appreciative. The power went out so we had fun lighting candles and the like. No one wanted to play 'So I'm Going on An Expedition to Africa'...I wonder why. :)
Writing is going well. Nearly done with the second novel. I spent a good chunk of Saturday playing Eve Online and made a rather nice cargo run through ridiculously dangerous space. Last Tuesday night we finished a D&D game based on the movie '300' that we'd been playing for a year. It went quite well.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
And we're back
Saturday night we saw "The Dublin City Working Man's Band" at Slatterly's Tavern. It was pretty cool. We bought two CD's and I might see if I can do the music thing and put up a few of their songs on here, assuming I don't get shot by the RIAA for doing so.
Sunday we came back. We saw "Jumper" on the plane ('bleh'). The flight went well. The hour we spent in the airport whilst the monkey's figured out what to do to get the baggage carosel unstuck was not. Understand, it is not the fact that it broke down that I found annoying but the fact that they kept 'fixing' it then walking away for ten minutes because they thought it was working again until they came back and 'fixed' it again.
We spent part of Sunday and part of Monday coming home. It is very good to be back. :) The Dog was certainly good to see us (we picked him up from some friends who were seeing him).
Sunday we came back. We saw "Jumper" on the plane ('bleh'). The flight went well. The hour we spent in the airport whilst the monkey's figured out what to do to get the baggage carosel unstuck was not. Understand, it is not the fact that it broke down that I found annoying but the fact that they kept 'fixing' it then walking away for ten minutes because they thought it was working again until they came back and 'fixed' it again.
We spent part of Sunday and part of Monday coming home. It is very good to be back. :) The Dog was certainly good to see us (we picked him up from some friends who were seeing him).
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Our Journey Continues
The beaty museum was pretty cool. It had a lot of ancient scriptures and the like in it. I found the Buddhist stuff particularly interesting, though they had a wide variety of all of all religions except Judaism because apparently it was fairly difficult for the millionare who donated them to Ireland to collect.
The Book of Kells is an ancient illustrated representation of the gospels which is often thought of the epitome of Irish Celtic art, and also as the paragon of medieval art. It certainly is impressive. I think the thing the thing that impressed me the most was the fact that the Lapulis Lazuli was imported from a single mine all the way from Afghanistan. The idea that these extensive trade networks back then is pretty amazing.
Iron Man was good. The plot was a bit thin, but it was still enjoyable. It had a healthy amount of explosions. There were a few fascinating things about seeing a movie in Ireland. One, you can buy beer and spirits at the movie theater and drink it there. Not amazingly surprising. However, what was interesting was the fact that their movie seats are assigned, just like our seat whilst going to a play was assigned. There were no 'pre movie slides'. There were also, so far as I saw, no ads for Irish movies before Iron Man, and only a small handful in the entire theater. They were almost all American movies.
Today we spent most of the day in the Irish National Museum. They had an impressive display of all kinds of Irish historical artifacts, including ancient ones, viking ones, and of course Celtic. The most impressive items on display are four virtually perfectly preserved partial human corpses that were found in a bog. You could even see the fingerprints on the skin or the hair. Indeed, with two of the four, the hair was better preserved better than some items. They also had a rather large celtic dug out canoe.
The Book of Kells is an ancient illustrated representation of the gospels which is often thought of the epitome of Irish Celtic art, and also as the paragon of medieval art. It certainly is impressive. I think the thing the thing that impressed me the most was the fact that the Lapulis Lazuli was imported from a single mine all the way from Afghanistan. The idea that these extensive trade networks back then is pretty amazing.
Iron Man was good. The plot was a bit thin, but it was still enjoyable. It had a healthy amount of explosions. There were a few fascinating things about seeing a movie in Ireland. One, you can buy beer and spirits at the movie theater and drink it there. Not amazingly surprising. However, what was interesting was the fact that their movie seats are assigned, just like our seat whilst going to a play was assigned. There were no 'pre movie slides'. There were also, so far as I saw, no ads for Irish movies before Iron Man, and only a small handful in the entire theater. They were almost all American movies.
Today we spent most of the day in the Irish National Museum. They had an impressive display of all kinds of Irish historical artifacts, including ancient ones, viking ones, and of course Celtic. The most impressive items on display are four virtually perfectly preserved partial human corpses that were found in a bog. You could even see the fingerprints on the skin or the hair. Indeed, with two of the four, the hair was better preserved better than some items. They also had a rather large celtic dug out canoe.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Galway to Dublin
Wednesday we took the train to Dublin and got a hotel at a lovely bed and breakfast called the Leesom Inn. If they'd had any rooms left we would definitely have stayed there but there is a banking holiday this weekend, so all of the cheaper rooms are booked up. Still, we got a pretty good deal with the Jury's Inn at Christchurch (where we will be staying until we leave). That was the same place we stayed in Galway and it turns out there is a chain of them.
Yesterday we went on a tour of the Hill of Tara and several of the local sites around Dublin. Our tour guide was quite knowledgable and told us quite a bit of useful information. There was an old book shop that was next to the visitor's center for the Hill where I bought a book of poems and short stories from 1835. It looks moderately interesting though to be honest the main reason I bought it was because it was just old and I liked the idea of owning something that old. Short of a rock someone gave me from the valley of Armageddon, that is by far the oldest thing that I own.
Yesterday was Jennifer's birthday. After the tour (which Jennifer has been wanting to do her whole life and is the main reason we came) we went to the Abbey theater to see "Buriel at Thebes" which is a very cool modern reinterpreation of "Antigone". We enjoyed it a great deal. We also stopped by a local pub and saw some traditional irish dancing and stuff. Then we went home.
Today we plan to see the Chester Beatty Museum, the Book of Kells and a few other things. We are also going to see Iron Man tonight. Yes, we could see it in the states, but A)We want to see it B)Everything except pub crawling and more dancing is going to be closed at that time tonight anyway.
All for now.
Yesterday we went on a tour of the Hill of Tara and several of the local sites around Dublin. Our tour guide was quite knowledgable and told us quite a bit of useful information. There was an old book shop that was next to the visitor's center for the Hill where I bought a book of poems and short stories from 1835. It looks moderately interesting though to be honest the main reason I bought it was because it was just old and I liked the idea of owning something that old. Short of a rock someone gave me from the valley of Armageddon, that is by far the oldest thing that I own.
Yesterday was Jennifer's birthday. After the tour (which Jennifer has been wanting to do her whole life and is the main reason we came) we went to the Abbey theater to see "Buriel at Thebes" which is a very cool modern reinterpreation of "Antigone". We enjoyed it a great deal. We also stopped by a local pub and saw some traditional irish dancing and stuff. Then we went home.
Today we plan to see the Chester Beatty Museum, the Book of Kells and a few other things. We are also going to see Iron Man tonight. Yes, we could see it in the states, but A)We want to see it B)Everything except pub crawling and more dancing is going to be closed at that time tonight anyway.
All for now.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
More From Ireland
I am sorry if I am not commenting on your blogs, since I pay the minute for the internet here I have to greatly focus my time here.
For the last two days we have gone on two tours of Galway. The first was to a section of sheep country called Conmarrah and the second to the Cliffs of Moreh. Both tour guides were quite exceptional and we enjoyed listening to them. It has rained a lot so we've purchased two umbrellas and a slicker. Despite the rain, there has also been a great deal of sunshine, particularly when we saw the cliffs. Don't worry, we took lots of pictures and I'll be posting them here soon.
The food is really good. It involves lots of carrots, potatos and occasionally Pasta. I'm certainly not complaining here! Though things are a bit expensive. At 1.7 Euros to the Dollar, the prices for most things in Euros is the same as it is in the states, but with the conversion rate its almost twice as expensive. I end up paying for almost everything with the credit card because it has the best exchange rate.
One of the coolest places we've visited was the jeweler that we got Jennifer's wedding/engagement ring from. They had a small museum and we got a sterling silver harp necklace for her, which she likes a great deal. We're hoping to catch some dancing tonight. All for now.
For the last two days we have gone on two tours of Galway. The first was to a section of sheep country called Conmarrah and the second to the Cliffs of Moreh. Both tour guides were quite exceptional and we enjoyed listening to them. It has rained a lot so we've purchased two umbrellas and a slicker. Despite the rain, there has also been a great deal of sunshine, particularly when we saw the cliffs. Don't worry, we took lots of pictures and I'll be posting them here soon.
The food is really good. It involves lots of carrots, potatos and occasionally Pasta. I'm certainly not complaining here! Though things are a bit expensive. At 1.7 Euros to the Dollar, the prices for most things in Euros is the same as it is in the states, but with the conversion rate its almost twice as expensive. I end up paying for almost everything with the credit card because it has the best exchange rate.
One of the coolest places we've visited was the jeweler that we got Jennifer's wedding/engagement ring from. They had a small museum and we got a sterling silver harp necklace for her, which she likes a great deal. We're hoping to catch some dancing tonight. All for now.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Another day in Ireland
After my last entry we had dinner at a nice restaurant called Busker Brown's. It seemed a bit like the irish equivalent of TGI Fridays. Still, the food was good. I had Irish Beef Lasagna and Jennifer had Obrejin and Butter Nut Squash. At any rate, then we came home and watched TV (Batman III to be exact. Woohoo welcome to Ireland :) ). Jennifer did shop whilst I adjusted to Jet Lag (for some reason she was able to sleep on the plane...and the train...and for a bit in the hotel.) There were no rooms in the initial hotel so we stayed in a party bed and breakfast. They had a live band which was interesting. I had a small sip of Guiness...which, sadly, tasted utterly vile. Jennifer liked it. Then again, she already did. The keyboard is sticking so I'm going to make this fairly short. We had breakfast and its raining right now so we wanted to take a bit of a break. Oh, one other cool thing, we stopped off at Thomas's jewlrey. Besides having a cool name, they are the place that made/makes the wedding ring "Cladaugh" that we got for our wedding.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Ireland
Rule #1 to being happy using the internet in Ireland...the @ key is not shift+2. That cost me 4-5 minutes of frustration at my password not working. We're in a cafe so I'll keep this somewhat short and to the point.
Ireland rocks! Sleep rocks harder! I stayed awake all night because Jennifer had to sleep and I was paranoid of what would happen to her if the plane crashed in the water and she'd drown. Sure it is stupid, but the first thing you learn in Dungeons and Dragons is "ALWAYS KEEP A WATCH!"
Hey the flip side is that it will help me cope with Jet lag that much quicker. We got in at 7am and took the train straight to Galway. Ireland is very pretty and rural country. However, they don't often tell you how...islandish it is. It really is about 1/2 the size of the State of Georgia. It took three hours by train to get from one side to the other...ok, more like the whole state of georgia plus a nobbly bit on top that is Northern Ireland. (We are not going to Northern Ireland.)
We ate cool Irish food at a restaurant called Tara's.
We will check into the hotel soon. More to come.
Ireland rocks! Sleep rocks harder! I stayed awake all night because Jennifer had to sleep and I was paranoid of what would happen to her if the plane crashed in the water and she'd drown. Sure it is stupid, but the first thing you learn in Dungeons and Dragons is "ALWAYS KEEP A WATCH!"
Hey the flip side is that it will help me cope with Jet lag that much quicker. We got in at 7am and took the train straight to Galway. Ireland is very pretty and rural country. However, they don't often tell you how...islandish it is. It really is about 1/2 the size of the State of Georgia. It took three hours by train to get from one side to the other...ok, more like the whole state of georgia plus a nobbly bit on top that is Northern Ireland. (We are not going to Northern Ireland.)
We ate cool Irish food at a restaurant called Tara's.
We will check into the hotel soon. More to come.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Welcome to the internet
We're in the airport, so we can update you on our vacation as we go. Our flight leaves shortly. To anyone making comments on my most live journal entry (you might not like it so I don't recommend going there if you're sensitive on certain topics) I can't access that site from here so I can't unscreen the comments. Might be able to do so from Ireland.
We left yesterday at around 7pm and spent five hours on the road. Got up in the morning and finished the trip. We're flying out of Washington D.C. The security stuff was suprisingly smooth (guess they try to be more efficient here than in Atlanta or something). Regardless, we're in the terminal waiting to go. More details to follow (either from Ireland or after.)
We left yesterday at around 7pm and spent five hours on the road. Got up in the morning and finished the trip. We're flying out of Washington D.C. The security stuff was suprisingly smooth (guess they try to be more efficient here than in Atlanta or something). Regardless, we're in the terminal waiting to go. More details to follow (either from Ireland or after.)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Preparation For Debarkation
Today is the day that we go to the land of Leprechauns. We're going to drive to D.C. and fly from there tomorrow night. We'll get in Ireland at around 7AM and get back in the states at 3pm on Sunday the following week. Whilst Jennifer has performed extensive planning thus far, we have no reservations and no major expectations (though our generic plan is to head to Gallway (where we got her engagement ring from) and then meander back to Dublin for the Beltain celebration on May 1 (which also happens to be her birthday.)
Monday, April 21, 2008
Fun But Busy Weekend
Well we spent most of Saturday cleaning up the house like mad. It came down to the final stretch but we have three rooms unpacked and quite clean. We were able to get the food cooked and all the preparations made for our "How to Host a Murder Mystery" called "Murder Under the Bigtop." We were all circus performers and had to guess who had conducted the murder. My character was Sven Garlic and I had a ventriliquist dummy (a sock) and I talked in a fake Swedish accent. As you might imagine...I had fun. :) Jennifer was "Buster Gut the Strongman" and, though she enjoyed it, did not have quite the insane character as Sven. :) Next time we'll find something else that she'll like more. :)
On Friday we saw "Forbidden Kingdom". It rocked! :) The Jet Li vs Jackie Chan fight scene alone was worth it. Also ran into some of our friends at random which was nice.
Sunday we saw Okief at the museum. Except it wasn't a comprehensive look at her career, rather her works and six other female's works from this guy called Siglitz who basically helped make her career. Still, seeing their influence on Okeif's stuff was interesting.
Sunday night we had a reading for my epic poem and it went over quite well. I'll keep you posted as to future developments there. Jennifer spent a good chunk of the night working on a political video for youtube but we had to give up at 2am because our editing software doesn't work. :/
On Friday we saw "Forbidden Kingdom". It rocked! :) The Jet Li vs Jackie Chan fight scene alone was worth it. Also ran into some of our friends at random which was nice.
Sunday we saw Okief at the museum. Except it wasn't a comprehensive look at her career, rather her works and six other female's works from this guy called Siglitz who basically helped make her career. Still, seeing their influence on Okeif's stuff was interesting.
Sunday night we had a reading for my epic poem and it went over quite well. I'll keep you posted as to future developments there. Jennifer spent a good chunk of the night working on a political video for youtube but we had to give up at 2am because our editing software doesn't work. :/
Monday, April 14, 2008
We have a table!
Thanks to Galb. we now have a table! It's pretty cool and it formerly belonged to his mother. Jennifer was very anxious to put it together when we go the last pieces. We're holding a Murder Mystery party this Saturday with some friends. Work is going well, though Jennifer will be quite busy this week with work and both of us will be getting things ready.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Update
Well, I think a longer update as to how we are doing is long over due. As I mentioned, we have moved. And we’re both in school. We moved because Golddame55 will have to go entirely free of meds whilst we’re trying to have children, but she’d like to work during at least part of that, which meant shortening her commute as much as possible. It also has the side fringe benefit of making a 90 minute commute 45 minutes for me at this point.
We’re slowly unpacking. We have a lot of work to do, but right now we’re focusing on the kitchen, dining room and living room, because we have a triple date planned on the 19th involving a Murder Mystery (http://www.host-party.com) I’ll let you know how that goes.
Sadsog is currently donating her considerable editing skills towards helping with my film project for last year called, “Dueling Morons.” A friend of mine is putting together a website for Red Anvil Productions, and helped me find a friend of his who is doing the web design pretty cheap. She’s amazing. I’ll include the link when its finished.
Gaming is going well. Last night I played Civilization with Greg and one of his friends. We’re beating the computer to a ridiculous degree, but I don’t feel bad, because the computer usually mops the floor quite hard with us. I’m also on a game called Eve Online, which is quite fun. My character, Talasak, has been around about a year and is finally starting to hold his own, somewhat. I’m also involved in a few role playing game campaigns, including “World of Creeg” which is a mishmash of 300 and the Odyssey. My character in that is a Warlock by the name of Vex. The other two are, “The Birth of Magic” where a bunch of peasants suddenly have magical super powers and “RoleMaster” where my character is an assassin for the good of the state (ala “Remo Williams”.) Describing my character for “The Birth of Magic” would be beyond the scope or reading level of this blog. J
At any rate, hope all goes well. More will come. I hope to update at least once a week.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The blog is unlocked!
It is unlocked finally. I will slowly begin to try to include interesting or relevant details. :) We're still unpacking.
More details to follow.
More details to follow.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Jennifer
Has accomplished a pretty impressive feat with schooling. Today she is taking an exam for a class that was down to the wire. In fact, we had to move whilst she was finishing the last elements of a major project and six essays. It was quite impressive. We're definitely looking forward to a nice rest, though that won't last too long. We're going to Ireland at the end of April, and after that she'll be off medication, which means her free time will be vastly reduced due to sleep. But we have to do that if we're going to have kids.
As such, at this point, we're looking at two at most.
As such, at this point, we're looking at two at most.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
The Move
Well it took a week to get the water turned on, and to get heat, and we've still got one or two more trips (after about 6-7 at this point) but our official move is now done. We like our new house and are looking forward to trying to have children when we get back from Ireland in April.
More to follow.
More to follow.
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