Category: Life

  • Addendum to Elsewhere

    Sunday was a blast, as it always is when Mari (and Doug) and Lilith (and Geoffrey) and I get together. Mari’s account covers most of the bases, so I’m just going to add a couple of tidbits.

    The chair is indeed comfy. It also features a dizzying array of possible massage combinations, most of which I can’t imagine seriously using. (The alternating-sides mode is just wrong.)

    There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having your breakfast and lunch in one meal, provided it’s done tastily. I applaud Red Robin for offering a burger that includes a fried egg and several strips of bacon. Yum.

    I’ve discovered what could be a problem for my photojournalism goal: I’m loath to snap pictures of people around me, especially family and friends. I know how much I hate being in front of the camera, so I naturally tend not to want to inflict that on others. Mari came to the rescue, however. If you can call it that.

    We love the camera. The camera loves us. Yeah.

    To finish up, let me state for the record that cheesecake abdomens are weird. Tasty, but weird. Thank you.

  • RoboTussin

    So Wendi brought home some store-brand “Tussin” liquid cold medicine yesterday. Great idea, since we were totally out of such. I took a dose in the morning, took another dose right before taking my five-hour nap (during which I did not sleep) and I took one more right before going to bed at night.

    I did not sleep at all last night, nor in fact have I slept in the last 24 hours. I have, however, engaged in a lot of twitching, sweating, tossing and turning.

    “Honey, that Tussin stuff… it’s non-drowsy isn’t it?”

    “Oops.”

    I’m at the office today, yes. But I’m wobbly, woozy and generally in less than peak condition. Conversation with me may be Twilight Zone in quality. You’ve been warned.

    Tonight, no strange liquids. I am so tired.

  • Bah. Stupid cold.

    The cold that I’d thought was mild, that I thought I’d beaten, has decided to settle into my throat and lungs for another go-’round. Yippee, fun.

    I’ll be online intermittently through the day, because hey, what else am I going to do with my time? I’m sure as hell not watching daytime broadcast television.

    My only true worry today is that it’s the 24th. For the last two months on this date the Snap! Server has crashed. I’m hoping that I don’t get any panicky phone calls from the office.

    Stay tuned for some tidbits of randomness, including (*gasp*) my answers to the PPF

  • Tidbits on a sickday, and my PPF answers.

    I just wanted to rattle off some quick and silly tidbits, but first I’d better appease those who say that I need to answer my own silly survey. Fine then.

    Past – My first “serious” kiss took place outside Dad’s apartment as my very first girlfriend was about to leave for home. Ah, Megan Webb, where are you now? If I had to speculate, I’d say she married that Tim guy she dumped me for and probably lives in Longview somewhere. Yeah, that’s about it.

    Present – Romance, to me, is an unexpected warm-and-fuzzy. Impractical and silly, yes, but whatever it takes to put a smile on her face. That’s what drives me, folks; I have to make people smile. A therapist would probably go on about my need for validation, but to hell with therapy. I’m not that poorly adjusted, dammit.

    Future – What does one do with money but spend it? I can see her coming home, seeing giftwrapped presents placed strategically around the house, each one with her name on it. The practical gifts are first, like towels and tools and that griddle she’s been wanting for just about forever. Later come dolls and pictures, and last comes jewelry and some sort of big-bang present to end all presents. No, I don’t know what that would be. I’m a firm believer in inspiration when it comes to romantic giftgiving.

    To elaborate, I’ll tell you about Abigail. A few years back we had the Christmas blowout, which is to say we spent way, way more money than we had any right to. I was given a bit o’ cash with which to hunt down a good present for Wendi, and I wandered up and down the length of the mall. I could have picked out any number of things along the way, but I wanted inspiration.

    And then I noticed the Geppeddo doll kiosk. Wendi loves dolls, so I took a closer look at the available selections. All kinds of adorable doll designs caught my eye, but I wasn’t inspired… until I saw this one design.


    “A doll in a plain white wedding gown,” you ask, “when there were more colorful and intricate dolls on display?” Yes indeed. You see, Abigail there reminded me so much of how Wendi looked on our wedding day that I couldn’t not choose her as the perfect Christmas present.

    That’s what I mean by inspiration.

    Okay, some tidbits.

    • This makes three attempts to find the perfect “now-playing” feature, but I’m now using Currently Hearing to display my Winamp usage.
    • On a related note, I rearranged a few things on the site. I removed the “freshness date,” tucked the music display and blogchalk under the calendar, and so on. What do you think, sirs (and madams)?
    • Yes, I have an Amazon wishlist now. Think on it as the bastard offspring of wishful thinking and pure untainted evil.
    • I’ve made a couple of lame attempts at night photography with the camera, but so far I don’t have anything worth sharing. Don’t worry, I’m still playing with the thing. The Gallery will expand anon.
    • While the idea of spending March tweaking my novel has some appeal, I don’t think I’m going to participate in NaNoEdMo. Sorry. I’d much rather spend my time working on a new, better novel. And this time, I’m going to actually plan the damned thing in advance. For one thing, I’m going to read and re-read Holly Lisle’s Forward Motion and actually follow some of the advice found therein. Good stuff, that.
    • And last but not least… it’s almost 1:00pm and my phone hasn’t beeped at me. Here’s hoping the Snap! Server lasts the day. For that matter, here’s hoping I last the day.
  • Call me… d’Artagnan

    I may not beat Mari to this, but it’s worth a shot.

    So the six of us did all manage to see the show at Harvey’s tonight. I had enough chemicals in me to stave off pain in addition to addling my little grey cells. After slurping down our $3.00 glasses of ice (with a bit of Sprite for flavoring), Wendi and I waited with Mari, Doug, Lilith and Geoffrey for the chance to be seated right next to the exit door and close enough to the stage to guarantee being picked on at least once during the show.

    Lucky me. The first comic, James P. Connolly, was one of those who enjoys interacting with audience members, and there must’ve been something about me that appealed to his sense of… well, I’m not sure what it was exactly, though “sadism” comes to mind.

    “What’s your name?”
    “Carl.” (I wasn’t about to say “Care-Ell,” now was I?)
    “Nope. For the rest of the evening you shall be… d’Artagnan.”
    “Ooookay.”
    (later…)
    “What do you do for a living, d’Artagnan?”
    “Computer stuff.”
    “Stuff? You don’t have a job, do you?”
    “Yes I do.”
    “Okay. You get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, head out the front door and go… where?”
    “To a place with lots of computers.”


    Yes, I know. I could have talked up the fact that I work in radio. Much comedic mileage in there, for certain. I blame my stupidity on the Vicodin. At least, that’s my convenient excuse for today.

    Anyway, he came back to me (as it were) about a half dozen more times during his set, usually in reference to how someone else was cooler than me. Or for something like this:

    “…there’s one thing every guy wants from a woman. What is that, d’Artagnan?”
    “Only one thing?”
    “C’mon, what’s the one thing you want from a woman?”
    “Love.”
    “You are a spineless wuss!”
    ” (shrug) “


    Truth be told, it was quite a bit of fun. My only regret is that my brain wasn’t awake enough to try to throw the guy any curve balls to see what he’d do. He was certainly clever enough.

    My friends… my dear, dear friends… had quite a ball as I gamely fielded jabs and questions from Mr. Connolly. Mari insists that I’m no longer Her Internet Hero or Lil’s Number One (Internet) Fanboy.

    I am now… d’Artagnan.

    Please note that there are precisely six people on the planet to whom I will actually respond if called this, one of whom I’ll probably never meet again (thanks, James P. Connolly). If you are not one of those six people, don’t bother trying out my new nickname. I will ignore you. Nothing personal, you understand, it’s just that you had to be there.
    Harvey’s Comedy Club

  • Ow. Freaking Ow.

    I’ve mentioned recently that I’ve always hated my teeth. For the past week or so, though, a couple of my teeth have been hating me right back. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. My teeth are in surprisingly good shape considering their lousy alignment. It’s my gums that are a total mess, largely due to the way my teeth are misarranged.

    Wendi called to make an appointment with our usual dentist and was surprised to find that there was an opening this very day. Lucky me, wot? I was expecting it to be a quick exam followed by another appointment during which some work would get done.

    Oh, no. Doctor Packham took one look at the infected area and said, “Why don’t we just take care of that right now?” An hour, several anaesthetic injections and a fair dose of discomfort later, I’m cured. And in a growing amount of pain. (C’mon, Vicodin!) It’s funny that my teeth and gums are hurting like hell but my upper lip still won’t obey simple instructions. Well, not “funny ha ha” like a night at Harvey’s Comedy Club would be…

    Did I mention that tonight we’re all supposed to go to Harvey’s? Mari and Doug, Lilith and Geoffrey, Wendi and I. If the painkillers kick in and I regain control of my face in time, I will go. I’m going to be uncomfortable anyway, I might as well have a good laugh in the process. Besides, we put too much effort into inviting all our friends to bail out at the last minute just because I’m feeling a bit tender.

    The word you’re looking for is “masochist.” Thanks.