Happy New 2005!

Dearest friends and faithful readers...and passers-by... and new readers...

2004 is behind us now, and we look to 2005 as a new beginning.

Have a safe, peaceful, and wondrous New Year.
Stay warm.

Love,
Bum

2004 in review, 2005 with initial thoughts

Usually, when I go for long drives,... or even short drives, and I don't have the CD player on, I stop and just think. About any and everything, really. I got to thinking about 2005, and how once a year, I try to improve on something, or rather, a good number of things about myself... learn a bit more and what not. I say more than one because realistically, if I stick with one, and not make it, it'll be disappointing. But with multiple objectives, I'm bound to get one or a few down.

2004, I did go out a bit more. And in the latter half, I've become a bit more random, and in doing so...stayed even more the same. Funny, but true. I've made new friends this year. They're really a great set of friends, and each individual has several characteristics that set them apart from the others, but when put together, an even more awesome combo. I've picked up some new habits...but also rekindled some old ones...not so good, as of late, i've been good again. Work has been fun and productive. I used to bitch and complain, almost to the point of being outspoken because our group at work has been known to pull miracles out of our asses and deliver, day in and day out, time and time again... and yet never get recognized for our efforts. However, other groups seemed to get the attention more. The main reason was we're day to day sustaining operations, while the others are more 'exciting'. This year, our group started getting more recognized, ... but the irony is, the one who complained the most ... got a good deal of the recognition... i.e. they know how to shut me up. ;) I've got this blog... never thought I'd be faithful to a journal of any sort, but so far, i'd been good to this one. What I can't or don't always voice out, I can type.

Spiritually, as much as i can be sacrilegious, i have had some enlightenment this year. Aside from experiencing another religion firsthand for a night, i've relied a good deal on faith. I believe that there is a line differentiating faith and religion.

Politically, the country was at odds with who to pick and why. I started the year being Pro GW. Yes, he was my governor. Yes, he was my President. But as the war waged on, I didn't know what was best. During a business trip in Switzerland, the officials I had lunch with asked, who would I vote for? I gave them my smile, and so they said to forget the fact that most Europeans were anti-GW. Well,... My response was this. With Kerry, would we be better off? With Bush, could we be worse off? In the end, I picked the one I felt had conviction. Brash, yes, but I'd rather stand by someone who would stand on what they believed in, not what they doubted. Sure, this will spark some differentiating views, and I'm not saying I'm right. But that's just what I believed. Let's see how it all unfolds in the coming years. .. and pray for a better world.

2004 was filled with great joy. I summarize it as "Content". I went and visited Europe for my birthday as well. The best birthday I've had in years. I hadn't looked forward to it since 1995... it was a wonderful feeling.

With a new year... 2005... I can only hope it will be as good or better than this year. We all do for our own reasons. I've got a few items as resolutions... like I said earlier. I'll be honest. I have yet to feel comfortable in my own skin. I mean, I can have fun and have no shame when it comes to some things, but with other situations, it's not always as easy. Not having a great self-esteem when it comes to personal life doesn't help, but each year, it has gotten better. I hope 2005 will help build on that.

So yeah, like...2005... i've got hopes and dreams for you, as with the previous years. Don't let me down, cuz I won't let you down. ..

Bring it.

Late out the Gate

Ok, so today was my holiday.
I thought I would wake up, get some errands done, go to work for a really quick bit, spend lunch with a coworker or two, and then head up to Katy. That would have meant getting up around 8 or 9am, etc etc.

I was somehow up around 7am, but decided it was my best interest to sleep in. Usually, when I sleep in, I just tack on an extra hour. Hmm. No. My brain said I lacked sleep, which I can't blame... but I woke up at 1pm. So yeah, I got up, took a shower, decided to clean my room up and a little around the house, watched a lil television, ate lunch, then decided to head on out to Katy by around 4:30.

It usually takes about an hour to get from here to Katy, even with construction. For some weird reason, there was some evil traffic every now and then, which, you have to wonder... no accidents, nothing that would or SHOULD cause folks to drive 20 mph slower than the speed limit... and yet they do. So after one of these such traffic anomalies... I get to I-10... and it takes 20 mins to move what I think was about 4 or so miles. The sign update on the road said it was a 30 min point-to-point, but I'm like...maybe that's a typo... nope...wasn't kidding.

Well, I get there, and I see the Darths (no, that's not really their name, it's just a nickname) and Kerry. It'd been a month since I last saw them, especially Kerry, but it seemed longer than that. They knew about my job situation... either from talking with Kerry/KC or reading about it in the newspaper. I told them what options I had and offered a tour of the workplace since surprisingly, they'd never been. Anyway, it was nice to see them again. I dropped off their presents, and then we went out to grab some dinner...or 'lunch' for me, as Darth Father said. Dinner was yum. :) Can never go wrong with fajitas. Darth Ma had asked the current dating status, and I told her no change since we had our talk. Ah...she said she'd see about helping me out. I dunno how, but I wouldn't turn down any help. After dinner, we drove back to the Darths, watched up til halftime of the Texas Tech/Cal game, and then I headed out back home. It was really nice seeing her and them again.

Got home, decided to watch a movie, but couldn't decide between watching Dodgeball again (first time on DVD), Anchorman (but too lazy to get it), so I picked Happy Gilmore. I swear, that movie is still frickin hilarious. And Julie Bowen was a cutie in the movie.

Tomorrow, we have a lot to prepare for, for New Year's. But first, we're going to go to the museum and see the Dead Sea Scrolls still on exhibit, before they move it again. It'll be interesting, to say the very least. Well, tomorrow starts the big countdown til 2005... I can hardly wait.

2 til 2005

today, i brought the cake in to work... and it didn't really last that long.
work was dead again, for the most part since we're still down to the skeletal crew. It's always like that year in, year out. If it's not your immediate coworkers, it's the other folks who aren't there, so what can you really do, right?

But, to our credit, we didn't just goof the day away. We still managed to get some stuff done. I know I got some paperwork out of the way, and briefed one of my folks on where we were on a project.

Today, it was the last day for one of our co-ops. She's basically considered a member of the last class of Lockheed Co-ops since by next time... it would be under the new contract/company. Lunch was decided as Perry's pork chops. Wednesdays, Perry's has 5-finger pork chops as their special. What the fuck is a 5-finger pork chop? Well, you take your hand, flatten it out. See how tall 5-fingers high is? That's how tall their pork chops are. Just imagine, their dinner pork-chops are twice the size. Hope you're hungry.

Both the co-op and the new co-worker hadn't been, so we dragged them along too.
Lunch was fun. We talked about who knows what, as usual... but continued on talking about the Romancer's trip to California. I mentioned godkilling in an earlier post, and it referred to the Romancer's encounter with his woman's relatives and a trip out to In-and-Out Burgers. To me, if you fuckin' go to a place that sells hamburgers,...and is known for its hamburgers... you do NOT go there to get a frickin salad between two pieces of bread. i won't even acknowledge it as a veggie burger. Reason? In Hinduism, the cow is sacred. Holy cow. So while the Romancer was respectful, (which given the long story... he was too kind), he got the 'veggie sandwich' instead of the nice, juicy burger. And here we are...god killers. Someone else at the table mentioned Catholics do it too every weekend, but that hinduism has just gone fast food with godkilling.

Worst comment of all? Apparently, there were lots of cow statues, or whatever they are properly called, dispersed throughout the house. So my smartass self said after this was brought up... So it's like chick-fil-a? Save a Cow, Eat MoR CHIKK'N?

Ahh.... so lunch was interesting. Between sacred cows and strip clubs/gentlemen's clubs in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area... yeah.

The rest of the day... I figured it'd be best to start cleaning my desk area so when I got back next year...heh heh, (lame joke, never gets too old), the desk area will be all cleaned up. Not as much Lockheed-branded paraphernalia left on my desk. I hope the new company will take me on. Yeah, I know, we're all supposed to be shoe-ins... but that's what Lockheed said about this contract too, so...

I got my sword in the mail today. Way awesome. My set is now complete.
Also got another autograph in the mail... Sent from Barcelona. Jose Carreras. Way awesome!

Got home early today (as in, 5:40) (one can only clean one's desk area for so long). Snacked, lied down and caught the latter half of Loser, with Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari (mmMMmm Mena). Then decided to nap. Woke up afterwards to eat dinner and catch some of the news. It's 1am now, pretty much, and I'm wanting to hit the bed. I'm off tomorrow, and aside from errands and meeting a friend for lunch... it's just visiting Katy and seeing Kerry (hopefully) and the Darth parents. Well... that's all in today's summary.

Tales of the Romancer - Enter: The Python

Today, we all discussed Vance's issues with some folks in California.
We all agreed. He should have unleashed the python.

But, being respectful, he chose not to be a godkiller.
Long story. But it also ties to my previous statement.
I go to hell daily for the words that come out of my mouth cuz I play too much.
I'll explain in a bit. But for now...

Enter: the Python.

Tales of the Romancer - The Milli Vanilli Incident

There are always conspiracy theories.
Gir', you know it true.

Anyway, this was one of the original tales of the Romancer, but got neglected.

Lightning Strikes for

I say Father forgive me, for I know what I do.

12/27 in the books

Well, ok....not fully yet, but getting there.
Today was back to work day. We're down to a skeletal crew at the moment. But oddly enough, I did get some good work done today. I'm still anxious about the hiring process with the new company. As the day nears when they're supposed to start making job offers, I am getting a bit antsy. Everyone keeps saying they'd be stupid not to hire me, I usually dislike having unknowns beyond my control. So, I'm still crossing my fingers.

Jim and I went to Chick Fil A for lunch, and then stopped by Best Buy next door to see what was up. This is rare since we usually go on Tuesdays when new stuff comes out. yeah, we'll be back tomorrow, but what really made us turn around was the long line of folks there either for gift exchanges or for using their gift certificates and what not.

Hopefully tomorrow will be much better.

I checked the mail today. I got a nice shiny autographed picture from Charlie Daniels.
He did Devil Went Down to Georgia among other songs. Way cool.
I'm wondering if I should post some of my other autographs. Hmm. Any comments on that?

Today was pretty cool. Can't complain at all. I still haven't fully recovered from my cold, but at least I'm able to work and move about at 95%.

Where y'all from?

Ok, granted, some of the folks who stumble here are really just passing through...
637 from Nov 13 through Dec 27. The Guestmap only has 10 people.

Come on, y'all. Lemme know where's y'all are comin' from. Click on the Guestmap on the left side.

Counter - 635 and counting

This week's referrals....
Aside from the usual Next Blog...

I get a lot of referrals from Cedia.
Got a few from Rene's, usually from a note I posted on hers.
Got one from Dee.
Got one from an msn search for photoslut. Go figure.
Got one from a blogpatrol webcounter...no idea how.
Got another from a google search for 'So Yeah'
Got one from HG.
Got one from a yahoo search for Toys R Us Kid lyrics.

The freaky coincidence one(s):
Granted I posted about Frosty with a soviet hat... I saw one from the Russian Federation time zone.

Anyway, that's the week in review.

2004

New Year's Eve is just around the corner.
2005...

Where did 2004 go?
What in the world did I do in 2004?
I wish I started blogging earlier this year so I'd have some cheat sheets.

-Went to the Phils in February... saw some relatives then.
-Hit the 3.5 yr mark in March at work
-Finished out a number of projects at work
-Got named Lockheed Martin SEAT Contract Employee of the Month
(and several other cool award stuff for various projects)
-Been with the company for 4 yrs
-Got sent to Switzerland in late September for work.
-Made some new friends at work:
Megan, Mike, Jess (well, become better friends)
-Went to Spain, (brief stop in France), Italy, and Greece on my birthday in Oct.
-Found out we lost our contract in December
-Applied with the new company the following week

A lot has happened this year, both major and trivial.
I've learned a lot more about myself, and I'm loosened a bit out of my shell.
And no, 2004 didn't see me hooking up permanently with anyone,
but I've learned to have even more fun.

2005? I don't know what that will bring. At least it's not an election year.
I hope it will be a bit more peaceful.

on King Arthur

I saw King Arthur on Christmas Day.
It was a neat re-telling of the age old classic legend...
except this rendition took away the magic and lore of Merlin and Excalibur, and
tried to put in a 'historical' background. Basically it made Arthur half-Roman,
and talked about some highly skilled horseriders from a land called *Sarmatia.
I don't want to say any more about the movie, but it was a really different telling.
Not a bad movie at all...

It was a pretty cool movie, and one of the cool quotes I picked up, which was left in the alternate ending was:

Fate is shared by no one.

How true. We have our own fate, but they do sometimes cross with others'.

Most important about this movie? It had Keira Knightley. Keira Knightley as a native Briton
Keira Knightley with blue facepaint. Keira Knightley with a bow and arrow.
Ah.... a wonderful movie.

*Sarmatia , ancient district between the Vistula River and the Caspian Sea, occupied by the Sarmatians [Lat. Sarmatae] from the 3d cent. B.C. through the 2d cent. A.D. The term is vague and is also used to refer to the territory along the Danube and across the Carpathians where the Sarmatians. were later driven by the Huns. The Sarmatians, who until c.200 B.C. lived E of the Don River, spoke an Indo-Iranian language and were a nomadic pastoral people related to the Scythians whom they displaced in the Don region. The main divisions were the Rhoxolani, the Iazyges, and the Alans or Alani. They came into conflict with the Romans but later allied themselves with Rome, acting as buffers against the Germans. They were scattered or assimilated with the Germans by the 3d cent. A.D.

Greater Good

I visited a website today, and she had a really cool idea.
After asking Katharine for permission, she was all happy and approved.

I'm talking about greatergood.com.

But even if you don't want to make a purchase, the following links, when visited, get donations.
All you have to do is click. It shouldn't open up ungodly numbers of pop-up ads, if at all.
When you go to the site, there's a button that you can click.

Animal Rescue
Breast Cancer
End Hunger
Save the Rainforest
Help a Child

These are supported by CharityUSA.com.

A Snowman and his Snowdog

After church, the snow that had once blanketed our front lawns had all but gone.
The snowmen that we built were all that were left as reminders of this memorable holiday season.

I thought Frosty could use a friend, aside from Snowpimp, so I mustered whatever snow was left and had given him Snowpuppy.

It's now 12:42am, 12/26, and I looked out the window.
Frosty's still outside with snowpuppy.

I guess I did a good job. By tomorrow, I'm guessing that Frosty and Snowdog will be gone.

Well, it was fun. Merry Christmas, Frosty.

:)

Let there be Snowpimp

Ok, so yeah, i figured Santa Frosty would want some company, so...
he got Snowpimp. Snowpimp is in serious need of some snowbling, but it's all good.

of War and Peace

Last night, outside was so peaceful.
Tranquil. All you could hear was the wind and the snow falling.

The next morning... all out war.
Neighbor against neighbor.
Kids and adults and adults in their second childhood..
It was on!

Russian Snowman

So yeah, like...i decided it's time for pictures...
and decided to have fun. Frosty was already a Santa Snowman...
What else could I do? Of course... a soviet snowman.

soviet snowman and KGBum.

Frosty the Snowman

What can I say? I'm a kid at heart. When ya get snow, ya make a snowman.
It's part of the rules. Well, here's my first ever snowman. Aside from the mini-snowman from last night.
But today, there was more snow.

After I'd finished making Frosty, two of the kids across the street watched and smiled at Frosty, and tried making their own snowman, but couldn't, so they were giving up. Mom said they needed some help, so I asked if they did. Well, yeah, so I ended up helping them make their own snowman. I said, I'll help you if you promise to give him a smiley face and all that. They nodded and smiled. Some ten minutes later, they too had a snowman.

:)

Calvin in Winter

I can honestly say I've never built a snowman before.
Granted, it's never really snowed like this before.
Sure, I get asked if I'd ever seen it prior to this year, and I honestly answer yes,...
just not in Texas. Last time I saw it in Texas was back in 1989...15 yrs ago.

Back on the island, it was just enough to say, ah,...cold white stuff...
but today....

I woke up at 8:25... Some of the neighbors' kids had already been up and playing in the snow, and I had looked out the window and smiled. It wasn't a dream, and there was still snow to be found.

So, I put on some warm clothes and looked about. I scrunched up some snow in my hands...smirked, noticed I made some tracks... then went about stomping out my name in the snow. And then it hit me.
I smiled.... I could build a snowman.... So, remember how Calvin made his snowmen in the stories...I went to work. The neighbor kids watched as I rolled up one big snowman part to the next. "How long'd it take you?"
"All that? I'd say ten minutes" "Wow", they'd say in amazement.

What can I say? I was on a mission. And then...after snowman was all put together... it was time for some pictures.

Silent Night

All is calm, all is bright...
Before I went to sleep last night, I decided to look outside.
What was once a sea of grass had become a lush carpet of snow.
Not like the north, but still.... enough to make this a memorable Christmas.

I looked outside at how nice and quiet it was.
It was still snowing...

An insomniac in peace.
A silent, snowy night.

Dreaming of a White Christmas - Brrrr

Last time it snowed anything significant in the county, it was 1989.
I was sick and could only watch from the window as the others got to play outside.
15 years later, it's winter time again... and again, I've been sick. This week, in fact.
I'll be damned if I don't go outside and play with the snow...
So, I donned a t-shirt, the warm longsleeve shirt thingie, another long sleeved shirt, and the new trusty #8,
put on a headwarmer then the Santa hat...add a pair of gloves... and I was rollin'!

Not a blizzard, but I had fun catching snowflakes. :)

Dreaming of a White Christmas - The Snowball

Growing up, whenever ya heard of snow and snowmen, the snowball wasn't too far away. Well, I couldn't miss the opportunity of making a snowball. Ended up making several. Man, did I say this was awesome?

I *heart* this Christmas. And mother nature timed it just right to arrive on Christmas Eve! How cool is that?

Dreaming of a White Christmas - The Snowman

I grew up reading Calvin and Hobbes. Anyone familiar with Bill Watterson's character knows that during the winter season, Calvin makes fiendishly funny snowmen and mini snowmen. Granted, I don't want to scare the neighbors off, I settled for making a mini Texas Snowman.

This was taken around 10pm when the snow began to fall again, but this time, leaving behind more snow.
By tomorrow, we're looking at a full carpet of snow. I'm looking out the window now, and the ground is completely covered.

This is way, way awesome! :)

Dreaming of a White Christmas - The Snowangel

Tonight is Christmas Eve.
In a few minutes, it will be the beginning of Christmas Day in Houston, Texas.

This morning, like I said, a few snowflakes could be seen, but nothing to write home about. Around 11am, it started to rain. Around 3pm, it started to sleet / hail cuz lil BB sized precipitation fell.

Earlier, our neighbor dropped off some cookies, and there ya have it.
Snow. That was around 6:30 or 6:45pm. It kept on snowing until about 7:30pm non-stop... and then picked up again sometime around 10pm. It's an hour and a half later, and it's still snowing.

Did I say it was Texas? Even moreso, Houston?

Well, as much as we joke about it, some of us actually do long for a White Christmas down here.
Our new neighbors from Connecticut are used to it, but are pleasantly surprised. Our new neighbors from Florida are surprised as well. We had a mini snowball fight and gathered what snow we could early on.

A snowangel came down and brought us a lil bit of white christmas joy. :)

Christmas Eve Day... Entry 05

Shoppers Log. Christmas Date 24.12.2004.5

Mission accomplished.
I have successfully returned to basecamp and have begun wrapping presents again.

Sooner or later, I will break to make some grilled cheese sandwiches.
mmMmmmm...and maybe some soup too.

<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

Christmas Eve Day... Entry 04

Shoppers Log. Christmas Date 24.12.2004.4

Insertion Point. Target. Objective complete.

Moved stealthily to EB Games where I singlehandedly applied negotiations with their operators and returned the three items. Having passed through, I then proceeded to put Brothers in Arms on XBOX on reserve and will await it in February, 2005.

The Darths were relatively easy. After consulting with KC yesterday, it seemed they liked to eat out. Hopefully, this will satisfy them.

Finally, while at Target, I had tried to confirm the location of the USPS, but was given a misdirection by the cute operative there. I'm always a sucker for cute faces, and she was no exception. She sent me to the one past the bridge, a short 5 minute drive from Target. However, when I arrived at the USPS, they said, yep, there's another one on the side that I was already at, and was just 3 mins away, just not as easily marked.

I shall make note of this next time. However, the folks I did meet at the USPS I went to today were animated and very friendly. My type of people. It was worth the trip. Mission accomplished. I headed for home.

I considered making a stop at Sonic, or Chick Fil A, or Wendy's, but opted to see what was at basecamp.


<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

Christmas Eve Day... Entry 03

Shoppers Log. Christmas Date 24.12.2004.3

I have put on today's uniform, consisting of a white t-shirt, a black long sleeved whatever you call these things shirt, but it keeps ya the hell warm, but not long john material... hell if i know, we use it in space... and a hockey jersey. The new black corduroys will be field tested, and will be matched by black leather.
A warm head cap will top things off.

I am prepared to engage the environment. However, I received three communiques, one from my friend Cath, one from my GrandUncle in California, and another from my Mom.

It is now past 1200 hours. All is set. I shall embark on my mission...

Insertion Point: Target. Must purchase an item there so I can complete the Cath Collins initiative.
Secondary Target: EB Games. I had junk in the garage thaty I didn't need, so I shall return them and get credit for it.
Tertiary Target: The Darths have not been crossed off the list yet. Their operatives, Kerry and KC have been taken cared of. Quite nicely, I think.


<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>

Fourth checkpoint: USPS. After doing some research, there are several points of entry... one that's 15 mins drive, another that is nearby... roughly 5 mins from my current location...basecamp. Have never visited this checkpoint...

After these objectives are met, I can return to basecamp and complete Xmas wrapping.

Christmas Eve Day... Entry 02

Shoppers Log. Christmas Date 24.12.2004.2

I finished viewing an episode of Law and Order, as well as watching an international Monster Bike building competition. The joys of having a split-screen TV.

Chocolate cookie rations have dwindled to crumbs. I must survive the rest of the day if I am to complete my mission. I shall recon and scrounge around the kitchen and pantry to see what nourishment will last.

I have decided to finally get out of the pajamas and go shower and get myself ready for the day's mission. Somehow, I have always found that hot showers do wonders whenever I'm sick.


<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

Christmas Eve Day... Entry 01

Shoppers Log. Christmas Date 24.12.2004.1

Today, it is expected to snow.
And snow it has. But nothing to write home about.
Just a few snoeflakes here and there.

Though I fear that the ones I have seen are caused by stress of shopping, and wrapping...
when I stepped out, the others (my neighbors) admitted to spotting some too.

It seems I have a few more things to get before calling my current mission a success.
I shall embark on that journey shortly. But first, I shall turn on the television and see what's on, and eat chocolate chip cookies for breakfast...in pajamas.

I still have some illness, but I must push on...

Chocolatetown Special Cake recipe

Read the entire post before starting.

Ingredients
1/2 cup HERSHEY's Cocoa
1/2 cup boiling water
2/3 cup shortening (I use your usual vegetable/canola oil)
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups buttermilk or sour milk (See below)

Buttermilk recipe
I don't always have buttermilk available, so what the recipe said, and also what I have used is mixing 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of white vinegar and adding it to milk to get about 1 1/3 cups works.


Heat oven to 350'F. Grease and flour your two 9-inch round baking pans.
In a small bowl, stir the cocoa with the boiling water until it is smooth, then set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat your shortening, sugar, vanilla until it is light and fluffy.
Add the eggs. Beat the mixture well.

Stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the shortening mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Blend in the cocoa mixture. Beat well.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pans to a wire rack or someplace to cool completely. Afterwards, add chocolae frosting and decorations.

Just for decorations
For frosting, I've usually opted for going with a Duncan Hines chocolate frosting. But for decorations, I would make some chocolate leaves like you would get at some restaurant or something. It's really easy to do. I say that because I have some lemon trees...

Wash and dry some lemon leaves.
Melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Brush the leaves with the melted semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Place leaves in freezer.

You might want to do this first so that by the time the cake is done, you have leaves ready and waiting.
This is my favorite cake to bake from scratch. Everyone I've baked for seems to like it. It's very moist and comparable to some really nice restaurant desserts.

The one and only 12/21/04 and 12/22/04

ok, so 12/20, I started feeling the effects of being sick cuz I haven't been sleeping early. No surprise there. The stress I say I don't have due to the contract announcements is still there. And finally, the immune system also took a hit cuz of the cold weather lately.

Fuck. I missed out on the Hooters Calendar girls. Last year, I missed out cuz I said, Fuck it, I'll wait til next year. This year, I missed out cuz I wasn't feeling well. I left work, got home, and just before leaving with a camera, I said, if I leave, I'm gonna be worse off... so I went to sleep. Woke up enough to take meds, eat some soup, change, toothbrush, and back to sleep again.

Woke up the next morning (12/21), early, actually. Called in sick. Took my meds. Went back to sleep. Checked work email (WHY THE HELL DO I DO THAT?), sent some work email. Went back to sleep. Woke up, took meds. Pondered breakfast. Weakly smiled at the fact that granted I was sick, it does feel cool to wake up, spend the day in pajamas or whatever just like Rene described once in her blog, and then raided the kitchen and ate some cookies. Decided to lie down and watch Riddick. Yeah, i saw it in the theater and liked it, but i hadn't watched my dvd of it yet, so.... Considering I let Jim borrow it just after I bought it... i wanted to watch it too, damnit. So I did. Then I ate lunch. late, but still. Checked work email again. Sent a few work emails. Then sent my application to the new company. Yadda Yadda Yadda. Later that night, Vance had called but I missed it cuz I was too far away from my phone. He let Good Megan leave me a voicemail. Ah...good Megan. :)

12/22... woke up, Gave myself the mindset that I -was- going to work today... that i -was- going to submit those DCNs... that they -would- be approved TODAY, motherfucker, regardless... and somehow, managed to do just that. That was my main mission at work today. Ah, complete success. Today was also our two current co-ops' going-away luncheon. These two were very hard workers, and I am very proud of them. Before one left today, I was called aside and given a nice small bag, and we both smiled. In it, she gave me a nice coffee mug thingie, with the words:

"If you lead a good life, say your prayers, and go to church, when you die, you will go to TEXAS"

ah, she knows me too well. And her card was way cool. She said it was wonderful getting to know me, that I was helpful, and that she doubted she'd ever meet anyone with the same good taste in music. *warm smiles*

As for Sweet Megan (no, not Good Megan of BW3, but the one from work), I *heart* the s'mores maker. Ok, so I grinned evilly cuz of the fact it uses a sterno and I have a pyro streak in me. Just ask anyone who's seen my torch of a lighter. Shit, I should take a picture of it one day when it's full of butane. Anyway, *smiles* I *love* the s'mores maker. Now I just need to get some ingredients and sterno thingie, and awwww yeah.... it SHALL be on. or as we would tease Pepe... it WOULD be on.

Ok, so it's like 12:30 and I'm gonna TRY to sleep before 1am. For the 3rd straight night. Oh yeah...today, picked up King Arthur, Shaun of the Dead, The Punisher, The Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again, and The Professional on DVD. Couldn't help it on the last three...they were on sale at Best Buy today. Hopefully, I'll get to watch "3" on DVD in its entirety this weekend.

At a Loss

I do not know what they want.
I do not know what they need.

One, I have half a present ready.
By half, I mean, i have one item, but I want to add on one more item, but I have no idea what.
Again, I revert to, no idea what they want or need.

The other, a stroke of genius hit me today,
and I'm sure, as it is a brand of choice, it will be ok to give.
I SHOULD take pictures, but Lord knows they sometimes read this site.

Maybe I should take pictures now...then post them up later.
Hmm.

Either way, I'm at a loss for what to get.
I have errands to do tomorrow. Aside from waiting for incoming furniture, I'm gonna
drop Pepe off at the airport. I hope he REMEMBERS that I am taking him to the airport.
I'll give him a call a good few hours before just to remind him. After that, any and all last minute shopping WILL be done.

Tales of the Bum - Beer and Loathing in Rice Village

Discovery Channel: The Tex-asian. Subspecies of The Asian. Originally indigenous to Asia, but have spread throughout the world. This specific subspecies can be found in Texas.

It is said that an asian gives off signs of being tipsy or drunk by changing color.
However, unlike other species, it's not to mask itself into its environment, but to let eveyone know, HEY, I HAD SOMETHIN' TO DRINK! (A mating call? heh, who knows?)

For those of you who have no knowledge of Weebl and Bob, look to the left scroll bar. There's a scrolling link to their cartoons. They have a friend called Pirate Ninja Chris. He's one of my heroes. He's a mushroom. He's a pirate. He's a ninja... a deadly combination.

Yarr. Well, avast, here is a scene from The Highlander where a lesser pirate ninja mushroom tries to take on such an animal as a tipsy asian. The details are gory. Needless to say, the pirate ninja mushroom of no identity did not survive.

Lesson: Asians turn red when they're tipsy. They're also fun to point at and laugh at/with. And take pictures of. Only if they are familiar to you. As with this picture. :) hee hee hee.

Tales of the Tiger - What the Tiger Wants.

The tiger gets.

We're "her boys"
She's "our princess".
She's like "my kid sister".

She might purr like a kitten, but watch out when she roars.

Tales of the Ern - Storytelling

"What do I do? What do I do?"
The hand motions are hilarious.
The Tiger and I are laughing, no matter how many times we hear the story.
Ern is cool for many reasons... one of which is storytelling.

I learned a few tricks while on travel on how to fold napkins. One of which was the candle.
Well, it evoked a good old story... hence the picture...

Ah, thank goodness for cameras.

Tales of the Latin Lover

LL Cool J. Everyone who's in the know would normally say,
that stands for Ladies Love Cool James.

True. That WOULD be so true. Except here... It's Latin Lover Cool Jose.

I am an admitted photoslut. It's contagious. I asked this cute chic to take a pic with the good ol' buddy. Of course he'll kill me that I published this. But then again, he ALWAYS says, "daaaa, BUM! I'm'a kill dat motherfokker"

Anyways, the smile on his face after the pic was priceless.

Three... Musketeers...or not.

Add:
1 part Will who would not put the cell down and might give Gene Simmons a run for his money.
1 part Colin who had redeyes in this picture and towered over everyone.
1 part Bum with a fuckin' big ass obnoxious belt buckle, and a tilted Xmas hat giveaway for attending the game.

Stir.
Add ice (cuz it was fucking cold that night)

Serves: 1 picture.

Hockey Night

Saturday night.
Three old college buddies. One old roommate of one of the college buddies.
Drinks that were had, for the most part.
And we're all having fun.

Give the camera to one of the attendants.
Wait a long ass time for the attendant to take the picture.
Almost drop the female best friend over from waiting so long.

And you get... this picture.
Good times, good times.

Tales of the Romancer - King of the World

It's been a long time since we all went beerling. But for all what's worth, Vance is a good guy.
And even though he always tells me. "Let's take this outside", and one of these days, I'll probably say, "Ok, I'll see you downstairs outside" and watch him go outside while I stay inside...

I digress. He and a few others went to BW3s last night as is almost customary for a Tuesday. I was out sick.
He got Good Megan to leave me a voicemail.

That was an awesome Xmas gift, even though he doesn't realize it was one. Shit, it wamred me enough to make me able to go to work. Or something.

Tales of the Bum - Hotties

The 6th definition of Heaven, according to Webster's... as well the American Heritage Dictionary, says that heaven is a place or state of supreme happiness.

Years ago, while on a trip abroad, I saw a sign that said Heaven is not a place, but a state of mind.

The picture above is one of my definitions of Heaven. A latina chic, and a redhead. And me.

A break - Two lit up deer go moving outside

My hairdresser/stylist Louis says he's gonna put up a Snowman Hunter to shoot my Deer.
I laughed. One eats, the other scans. At the bottom, there's a non-lit up angel sorta giving more food to the eating deer.

Merry Ho-Ho's.

Tales of the Bum - Chilly

Ok, so yeah... Chilly is not a chic. At least...not with the costume on. But Chilly kicks ass.
He once stood next to the opposing team's area and pretended to piss on them.

Chilly kicks ass.

If you're gonna be bad...

1st period. 9 and a half minutes remaining.
3 fights. And here, the three not-so-wise, got-my-ass-kicked-by-an-Aeros-player men sit in the penalty box.

He who breaks the law, must be punished.
Back to the House of Pain
-house of pain cd
penalty

Tales of the Bum - Strike Force

As for the ... I have no idea what to call them. They usually get the crowd to yell, they throw out t-shirts and what not... They're called Strike Force. And here's my fave Strike Force member.

Ahhh..... c'est la vie