A blog about a girl who speaks her mind and talks about whatever she wants. So its a blog about everything, and absolutely nothing, all at the same time. . .
3.09.2008
3.08.2008
I Made Dinner the Other Night
I did something the other night that is totally blogworthy of somebody's personal blog and all of my blogginess!
I cooked Dinner! And it didn't involve putting a tv dinner into the microwave! And what's more, believe it or not, thought it looks like it belongs in a James Lileks Book, it was actually EDIBLE!
I have potential to be domesticated afterall! I can rely on something other then Microwaveable Burritoes, Top Roman and Can's of Chicken Noodle Soup! I can cook Hamburger Helper!
Yes, I am so proud. And yes, that wallpaper has got to go. . .
I cooked Dinner! And it didn't involve putting a tv dinner into the microwave! And what's more, believe it or not, thought it looks like it belongs in a James Lileks Book, it was actually EDIBLE!
I have potential to be domesticated afterall! I can rely on something other then Microwaveable Burritoes, Top Roman and Can's of Chicken Noodle Soup! I can cook Hamburger Helper!
Yes, I am so proud. And yes, that wallpaper has got to go. . .
SpeedLoading Are Us
Yes, I am a freakin' goofball.
And I can get quite keyed up when doing these sorts of things.
And people tell me I look like I'm 20. In this video they give me far to much credit. I look about twelve.
AKs and FS2000s
So we went firing a couple rifles the other day, and video taped it. I can be somewhat amusing to watch, but, well, the video can be a little boring at times as you watch me flinch a bit while firing the rifle (but I'm hitting targets! Unlike when I fired the handgun in the previous post, where I couldn't hit ANYTHING!
I don't think anybody can truly take me seriously.
That is a pretty sweet weapon though!
I didn't pose with Chuck (as in Norris) but it is a pretty fun rifle to shoot. And that sucker NEVER jams up, even though the FS2000 did. They were both pretty fun.
Dear World - I can't fire a Handgun
I suck! Suck suck suck suck SUCK!
Somebody count how many times I tell the camera I suck in this.
3.05.2008
TV Shows and Anime
There is a plethero of TV shows I never watched before I saw them on DVD. And once I watch a TV show on DVD, I seem to get hooked.
I may have mentioned this dilemma in the past, my being hooked on various TV Shows.
You see, it all started with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Buffy led to Angel.
I got hooked on Sliders, though they've only released three seasons and the show unfortunately went down hill after that.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new series that started in 2003, I've been collecting since late 2004, never watched in on TV, because its painful to watch on TV
There's Smallville, which has jumped the shark about a half dozen times.
Lost, hopelessly addictive.
Heroes, which echoes Lost on addictiveness.
Avatar the Last Airbender, which is faux anime and was the one excuse I went with in my usual quest of saying 'I hate anime'.
Battlestar Galactica, which Season 3 comes out on DVD in two short weeks.
Countless kiddie shows I haven't seen since I was in third grade and produced by both Disney and Warner Bros.
And now, apparently, Fullmetal Alchemist.
The problem with Fullmetal Alchemist is this is 100% Anime, and carries all of the annoying traits that make me loathe Anime so much. They've got the freeze frame action shots, the mouths that go randomly up and down and don't sync to the words, characters suddenly chibifying when they go into states of hyperactivity, the horrible voice acting of little girls that are obviously played by adult women pretending to be little girls (and those gratingly annoying 'little girl' laughs), and the horrible voice acting in general. See, I hate anime, I love Avatar because it pretends to be Anime without actually being Anime for the above reasons (well, it does chibify it's characters when they freak out).
But then I watched Fullmetal Alchemist. I endured the things I hate about Anime to watch an episode that included a four year old girl who was the obvious Mary-sue character with the gratingly annoying laugh that everyone is supposed to go 'ah, how cute' and I'm thinking 'die, die!'.
Well, low and behold, they pull a twist and kill her. It is so lovingly twisted that I suddenly realized, 'you know, despite the horrible voice acting and the little girls you want to slap, this is a pretty cool show!'
So I shopped around, found the cheapest deal on the next disc, and bought it.
If I get hooked on one more freakin' TV series that I have to buy on DVD, I might as well file for bankruptcy. Well, either that or find a job.
What the heck, Knox is only a couple of months away :)
I may have mentioned this dilemma in the past, my being hooked on various TV Shows.
You see, it all started with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Buffy led to Angel.
I got hooked on Sliders, though they've only released three seasons and the show unfortunately went down hill after that.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new series that started in 2003, I've been collecting since late 2004, never watched in on TV, because its painful to watch on TV
There's Smallville, which has jumped the shark about a half dozen times.
Lost, hopelessly addictive.
Heroes, which echoes Lost on addictiveness.
Avatar the Last Airbender, which is faux anime and was the one excuse I went with in my usual quest of saying 'I hate anime'.
Battlestar Galactica, which Season 3 comes out on DVD in two short weeks.
Countless kiddie shows I haven't seen since I was in third grade and produced by both Disney and Warner Bros.
And now, apparently, Fullmetal Alchemist.
The problem with Fullmetal Alchemist is this is 100% Anime, and carries all of the annoying traits that make me loathe Anime so much. They've got the freeze frame action shots, the mouths that go randomly up and down and don't sync to the words, characters suddenly chibifying when they go into states of hyperactivity, the horrible voice acting of little girls that are obviously played by adult women pretending to be little girls (and those gratingly annoying 'little girl' laughs), and the horrible voice acting in general. See, I hate anime, I love Avatar because it pretends to be Anime without actually being Anime for the above reasons (well, it does chibify it's characters when they freak out).
But then I watched Fullmetal Alchemist. I endured the things I hate about Anime to watch an episode that included a four year old girl who was the obvious Mary-sue character with the gratingly annoying laugh that everyone is supposed to go 'ah, how cute' and I'm thinking 'die, die!'.
Well, low and behold, they pull a twist and kill her. It is so lovingly twisted that I suddenly realized, 'you know, despite the horrible voice acting and the little girls you want to slap, this is a pretty cool show!'
So I shopped around, found the cheapest deal on the next disc, and bought it.
If I get hooked on one more freakin' TV series that I have to buy on DVD, I might as well file for bankruptcy. Well, either that or find a job.
What the heck, Knox is only a couple of months away :)
War Campaign Promises
Everyone knows I'm not a big fan of politicians, or politics, but during election years I tend to get into them, and this year is a big year for a whole lot of nothing, as it seems that no matter what, we're screwed.
So Hillary Clinton is making her way into winning the democratic nomination for President. At first I was in the ABC (anybody but Clinton) camp, until I learned that Barack Obama ain't much better and might as well be running as a communist.
We were talking during drill about one campaign promise both are touting that they can't keep. That would be the withdrawing from Iraq within 60 days in office, or at least that's Obama's promise.
What are people going to say when he doesn't back up that promise? Because if he pulls out, it's going to be slaughter over there and then they'll have a huge mess on their hands (of course, he'll blame it on Bush) and that four years will be all about trying to contain whatever happens as it escalates out of control. Pulling out of Iraq is the wrong answer. But if they find themselves unable to pull out of Iraq and talked into staying there, it will be a campaign promise they are unable to keep, and perhaps they'll get disenfranchised voters on that front when they don't pull out right away.
Pulling out of Iraq is a horrible campaign promise where you simply can't win. At least McCain has it right.
Yeah, I'm voting for McCain. And I'll be spending the time until the Presidential Election looking for reasons to vote for him, because as we all know, when you ride on a campaign of 'anybody but (enter name here, whether it be Bush or Clinton)', it doesn't win elections. I'm going to vote for somebody, not against somebody. And if I find that I can't find a good enough reason to vote for McCain, maybe I'll look at a suitable third party candidate.
But the thought of Hillary Clinton becoming my Commander in Chief makes my blood run cold.
So Hillary Clinton is making her way into winning the democratic nomination for President. At first I was in the ABC (anybody but Clinton) camp, until I learned that Barack Obama ain't much better and might as well be running as a communist.
We were talking during drill about one campaign promise both are touting that they can't keep. That would be the withdrawing from Iraq within 60 days in office, or at least that's Obama's promise.
What are people going to say when he doesn't back up that promise? Because if he pulls out, it's going to be slaughter over there and then they'll have a huge mess on their hands (of course, he'll blame it on Bush) and that four years will be all about trying to contain whatever happens as it escalates out of control. Pulling out of Iraq is the wrong answer. But if they find themselves unable to pull out of Iraq and talked into staying there, it will be a campaign promise they are unable to keep, and perhaps they'll get disenfranchised voters on that front when they don't pull out right away.
Pulling out of Iraq is a horrible campaign promise where you simply can't win. At least McCain has it right.
Yeah, I'm voting for McCain. And I'll be spending the time until the Presidential Election looking for reasons to vote for him, because as we all know, when you ride on a campaign of 'anybody but (enter name here, whether it be Bush or Clinton)', it doesn't win elections. I'm going to vote for somebody, not against somebody. And if I find that I can't find a good enough reason to vote for McCain, maybe I'll look at a suitable third party candidate.
But the thought of Hillary Clinton becoming my Commander in Chief makes my blood run cold.
2.26.2008
This is War
I got an email about three weeks ago.
I was given a copy of this documentary with a request to review it and write about it on my blog. I took a little longer then I meant to do so.
First off, I can agree that this is a film that is neither for nor against war, it's just a film about war, and about the soldiers that find themselves in the middle of it. It really is their story, their experiences, about their buddies in combat and the sense of brotherhood that comes with being a part of the military.
It follows an Oregon National Guard unit throughout their deployment in 2004 through Baghdad, filmed by the soldiers themselves from their view point. And it shows the soldiers being soldiers, putting a human face to our troops overseas, how the grunt on the ground thinks and feels about what is going on around him. It is frank and honest, sometimes very candid, soldiers video journaling their experiences right after it has happened, or in the middle of a mission.
Indeed, this is not anti-war propaganda like I've heard of other similar documentaries such as Stop Loss. This is a film that simply is what it is. I often look for good videos that I can potentially show trainees once I hit the trail, and this is a film that tells it like it is, from the soldiers themselves in the middle of combat. This is about lessons learned, and what to expect. Which is something I can take for granted, as I have yet to experience it myself.
I do heartily recommend viewing it for yourself, especially if you are curious about the war from the viewpoint of the soldiers themselves.
All proceeds go to help the Wounded Warriors Project. Click here to learn more and order
This Is War: Memories of Iraq is the feature length documentary that has everyone talking. Bold, brash and a little sick, This Is War takes viewers inside Iraq and reveals the story that can only be told by the men and the women living the deployment. Although featuring members of the Oregon National Guard 2/162, This Is War is really the story of all of America's warriors that have been deployed.
Already the winner of numerous awards (Best Documentary; Idaho International Film Festival, Florida Media Market and Sweet Onion Film Festivals) and accolades, This Is War is not a movie for the Left or the Right, it is simply a movie that showcases the reality, hopefulness, hopelessness, fear and joy in Iraq through the video and photos of the soldiers themselves, as they survive intense combat and the hunt for IEDs that define their mission.
Priced at $19.95, all sales of This Is War: Memories of Iraq help to support the Wounded Warrior Project, the National Combat History Archive and the Iraq/Afghanistan Oregon Memorial Fund.
I was given a copy of this documentary with a request to review it and write about it on my blog. I took a little longer then I meant to do so.
First off, I can agree that this is a film that is neither for nor against war, it's just a film about war, and about the soldiers that find themselves in the middle of it. It really is their story, their experiences, about their buddies in combat and the sense of brotherhood that comes with being a part of the military.
It follows an Oregon National Guard unit throughout their deployment in 2004 through Baghdad, filmed by the soldiers themselves from their view point. And it shows the soldiers being soldiers, putting a human face to our troops overseas, how the grunt on the ground thinks and feels about what is going on around him. It is frank and honest, sometimes very candid, soldiers video journaling their experiences right after it has happened, or in the middle of a mission.
Indeed, this is not anti-war propaganda like I've heard of other similar documentaries such as Stop Loss. This is a film that simply is what it is. I often look for good videos that I can potentially show trainees once I hit the trail, and this is a film that tells it like it is, from the soldiers themselves in the middle of combat. This is about lessons learned, and what to expect. Which is something I can take for granted, as I have yet to experience it myself.
I do heartily recommend viewing it for yourself, especially if you are curious about the war from the viewpoint of the soldiers themselves.
All proceeds go to help the Wounded Warriors Project. Click here to learn more and order
2.24.2008
Disclaimers
So, with all this crap hitting the fan in Kosovo, I've been noticing a bit more spikeage in my blog readership, mostly from people who are apparently googling info about Kosovo and finding my blog. A lot of them seem to think that I don't know what I'm talking about, but then again they are looking at a blog post that is two and a half years old. Apparently some people over there don't think I know what I'm talking about.
Well, one, this post is two and a half years old, I'm not a journalist, I'm a freakin' blogger, and my blog is about my observations and what I think. Sometimes I tell it like it is but I don't have the full story. I certainly don't have the full story here. And I don't know much of anything now since I've been out of the country since January 2006. I left Kosovo two years ago.
Meanwhile, because I had a spammer, I had to go delete that comment out of my comment bar and ran into somebody who basically ripped me a new one for giving out sensitive information in regards to my job while I was over there. Er, hello? I'm a Preventive Medicine Specialist, other then releasing numbers and telling people there is a huge outbreak of Hepatitus C, there is nothing remotely classified about my job. When I was in Kosovo, on a day to day basis, I was bored out of my mind because everything ran smoothly and there was really nothing to do. My job was keeping our soldiers healthy, and if you look up PM on the internet, it will tell you the same thing. I took pictures, yes, but I didn't show anything in government buildings and never talked about upcoming missions, rather discussed them in retrospect after they had passed. And a lot of the missions, like the Medcaps and Vetcaps, were missions that were advertised to the people of Kosovo because it was a mission to go out and win the hearts and minds of people. They want you to talk about that stuff.
Besides, I'm not much of a milblogger if you haven't noticed. Now my job deals with Basic Combat Training and there is nothing classified about that. Not that I'll post much pictures anyway.
Want to hear my life? I'm going to Ft Knox this summer to train soldiers for the Summer Surge, because most people go to Basic Training in the Summer because that's when school get's out! Holy crap that's common sense! I'm not telling you WHEN I'm going, just that I'll be in Knox this summer. Yay for me.
Bloody hell!
Well, one, this post is two and a half years old, I'm not a journalist, I'm a freakin' blogger, and my blog is about my observations and what I think. Sometimes I tell it like it is but I don't have the full story. I certainly don't have the full story here. And I don't know much of anything now since I've been out of the country since January 2006. I left Kosovo two years ago.
Meanwhile, because I had a spammer, I had to go delete that comment out of my comment bar and ran into somebody who basically ripped me a new one for giving out sensitive information in regards to my job while I was over there. Er, hello? I'm a Preventive Medicine Specialist, other then releasing numbers and telling people there is a huge outbreak of Hepatitus C, there is nothing remotely classified about my job. When I was in Kosovo, on a day to day basis, I was bored out of my mind because everything ran smoothly and there was really nothing to do. My job was keeping our soldiers healthy, and if you look up PM on the internet, it will tell you the same thing. I took pictures, yes, but I didn't show anything in government buildings and never talked about upcoming missions, rather discussed them in retrospect after they had passed. And a lot of the missions, like the Medcaps and Vetcaps, were missions that were advertised to the people of Kosovo because it was a mission to go out and win the hearts and minds of people. They want you to talk about that stuff.
Besides, I'm not much of a milblogger if you haven't noticed. Now my job deals with Basic Combat Training and there is nothing classified about that. Not that I'll post much pictures anyway.
Want to hear my life? I'm going to Ft Knox this summer to train soldiers for the Summer Surge, because most people go to Basic Training in the Summer because that's when school get's out! Holy crap that's common sense! I'm not telling you WHEN I'm going, just that I'll be in Knox this summer. Yay for me.
Bloody hell!
2.22.2008
Another TV Show?
I've been motivated to get things done around here. Seeing as I'm not currently working and have a lot of free time, and I'm only taking one class this quarter that doesn't really require me to put a lot of time and effort to my studies. Yeah.
So anyway, I threw a load of laundry in and was looking at the pile of laundry waiting for me in the laundry room. I live in my house with my brother, so it's just me and him. How do two people create so much freakin' laundry anyway? And it wasn't so much the laundry that had to get washed, no, it's the laundry waiting to get folded. I had five totes full of laundry just waiting to be folded, and I've been knowing this was coming because I've been running low on underwear (tmi, yes I know).
So we took on the task of folding the laundry, we brought it upstairs so we could watch TV while we were folding it to give us something to do, and my brother suggested we throw in the first disc of Battlestar Galactica. I've been avoiding this because I get hooked on TV shows and it's really annoying when you have other things more constructive to do and yet you want to watch TV. Let's see, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sliders, Heroes, Smallville, Lost, Avatar the Last Airbender, TMNT, Robot Chicken, how many other TV shows on DVD can I get hooked on? Really?
Well, guess what? We threw in the first disc, watched the miniseries, and now I'm hooked.
Damn you, Jared, why did you have to get me hooked on ANOTHER freakin' TV Show?
I've only watched the first two discs so far, but I'll be working through the first two seasons over the next week. Because, well, I've got nothing better going on in my life right now.
Well, other then running. And I just learned that the PT test next week is going to kick my butt.
Organizing the Downstairs is going to be on our agenda tomorrow. Which means we have to clear some room in the garage for the chairs that are taking up to much space.
So anyway, I threw a load of laundry in and was looking at the pile of laundry waiting for me in the laundry room. I live in my house with my brother, so it's just me and him. How do two people create so much freakin' laundry anyway? And it wasn't so much the laundry that had to get washed, no, it's the laundry waiting to get folded. I had five totes full of laundry just waiting to be folded, and I've been knowing this was coming because I've been running low on underwear (tmi, yes I know).
So we took on the task of folding the laundry, we brought it upstairs so we could watch TV while we were folding it to give us something to do, and my brother suggested we throw in the first disc of Battlestar Galactica. I've been avoiding this because I get hooked on TV shows and it's really annoying when you have other things more constructive to do and yet you want to watch TV. Let's see, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sliders, Heroes, Smallville, Lost, Avatar the Last Airbender, TMNT, Robot Chicken, how many other TV shows on DVD can I get hooked on? Really?
Well, guess what? We threw in the first disc, watched the miniseries, and now I'm hooked.
Damn you, Jared, why did you have to get me hooked on ANOTHER freakin' TV Show?
I've only watched the first two discs so far, but I'll be working through the first two seasons over the next week. Because, well, I've got nothing better going on in my life right now.
Well, other then running. And I just learned that the PT test next week is going to kick my butt.
Organizing the Downstairs is going to be on our agenda tomorrow. Which means we have to clear some room in the garage for the chairs that are taking up to much space.
2.21.2008
Ramblings
Ok, I officially need to start looking for something *more* productive to do.
The snow is starting to melt and I've only taken advantage of the superb snow conditions twice this year. Call it me having a lack of income and wanting to conserve my money in anyway possible, which would be a good plan to live by even if I was working right now.
Overall I've just been taking advantage of my surplus of time by vedging around and getting projects that I've been meaning to do done. It has a lot of me drawing things and trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life.
In the productive side, I really need to start running more. The snow has been keeping me from doing this, but now that it is melted, I should really take advantage of the sun and go get some running in.
I have a PT test in a week and a half, I want to at least pass it in the 70's in each event if I can *hah!* Being a reservist sometimes sucks.
The snow is starting to melt and I've only taken advantage of the superb snow conditions twice this year. Call it me having a lack of income and wanting to conserve my money in anyway possible, which would be a good plan to live by even if I was working right now.
Overall I've just been taking advantage of my surplus of time by vedging around and getting projects that I've been meaning to do done. It has a lot of me drawing things and trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life.
In the productive side, I really need to start running more. The snow has been keeping me from doing this, but now that it is melted, I should really take advantage of the sun and go get some running in.
I have a PT test in a week and a half, I want to at least pass it in the 70's in each event if I can *hah!* Being a reservist sometimes sucks.
2.19.2008
Kosovo a Country?
So, over the weekend Kosovo decided to declare independence from Serbia.
Some people might have just glanced over this news as if it was nothing worth noting, considering we've been in Kosovo since 1999 and everyone is just bored with it.
But Kosovo suddenly becoming its own country is pretty big news, especially considering what it could mean for the Balkans, as Serbia doesn't want to release its hold on Kosovo yet and Russia has been very vocally opposed to Kosovo declaring independence without official UN support.
I guess they have a point, as they don't want people to get ideas that they can just break off from a larger nation and create their own country, but I don't think this could happen very often. The only reason Kosovo can declare independence is because NATO forces are there to keep the peace. But unless they can come up with some agreement with Serbia to allow them to remain their own soveriegn nation, NATO is going to be there for a long time, because as soon as we pull out, Serbia is just going to go right back in and take what they think is theirs.
I've said this for some time, there really is no peaceful resolution to Kosovo. Good thing the Kosovar Albanians love Americans. Although it would be kind of interesting to be there right now.
Some people might have just glanced over this news as if it was nothing worth noting, considering we've been in Kosovo since 1999 and everyone is just bored with it.
But Kosovo suddenly becoming its own country is pretty big news, especially considering what it could mean for the Balkans, as Serbia doesn't want to release its hold on Kosovo yet and Russia has been very vocally opposed to Kosovo declaring independence without official UN support.
I guess they have a point, as they don't want people to get ideas that they can just break off from a larger nation and create their own country, but I don't think this could happen very often. The only reason Kosovo can declare independence is because NATO forces are there to keep the peace. But unless they can come up with some agreement with Serbia to allow them to remain their own soveriegn nation, NATO is going to be there for a long time, because as soon as we pull out, Serbia is just going to go right back in and take what they think is theirs.
I've said this for some time, there really is no peaceful resolution to Kosovo. Good thing the Kosovar Albanians love Americans. Although it would be kind of interesting to be there right now.
Blog Updated!
Ok, so I took some time to revamp the blog. The rest of the website looks the same, but the blog is all nice and new looking, and completely different from before.
Oh, and I got my comments back. yay!
Please let me know if you experience any glitches with the sight, or if its just me.
Meanwhile, well, what do you think? Indeed, it's all about me.
Oh, and I got my comments back. yay!
Please let me know if you experience any glitches with the sight, or if its just me.
Meanwhile, well, what do you think? Indeed, it's all about me.
2.16.2008
Doh!
Alright, so somebody mentioned a little problem to me in regards to my blog, so I moved to one of the default templates for the time being, until I can figure out what is wrong.
Anybody being attacked by spamware or sent to multiple websites when they visit the site? I just want to make sure that everything is working properly.
The blog needs to be revamped anyway. All my stuff will come back online sometime this week.
Edit - the comment bar from this page is temporary. if you want to comment on a post, click on the post preview bar on the side panel and the original page will come up.
With an exception to this post and posts following of course.
Anybody being attacked by spamware or sent to multiple websites when they visit the site? I just want to make sure that everything is working properly.
The blog needs to be revamped anyway. All my stuff will come back online sometime this week.
Edit - the comment bar from this page is temporary. if you want to comment on a post, click on the post preview bar on the side panel and the original page will come up.
With an exception to this post and posts following of course.
2.13.2008
Election Worries
Why do I feel that no matter what happens, in November we're screwed?
For a while I was on the anybody but Hillary stump, but right now I'm feeling a bit of a chill from the whole Barack Obama camp, as though I still believe that Hillary is the worst thing that possibly could happen to this country, Obama ain't much better.
We'll be in a Socialist haven by January 2009. And Iraq will be in ruins by the middle of next year.
McCain won't be a whole lot better, but if he does get the Republican Nomination for President, I'll probably end up voting for him.
I'm worried where this country will be in four years.
For a while I was on the anybody but Hillary stump, but right now I'm feeling a bit of a chill from the whole Barack Obama camp, as though I still believe that Hillary is the worst thing that possibly could happen to this country, Obama ain't much better.
We'll be in a Socialist haven by January 2009. And Iraq will be in ruins by the middle of next year.
McCain won't be a whole lot better, but if he does get the Republican Nomination for President, I'll probably end up voting for him.
I'm worried where this country will be in four years.
Arts
More Arts
Other then the background, this is probably one of the most satisfying arts I've done in a while.
He actually originally had lightening wings, but they didn't come out right, so I took a file with them off.
Other then the background, this is probably one of the most satisfying arts I've done in a while.
He actually originally had lightening wings, but they didn't come out right, so I took a file with them off.
Marines vs Berkeley
In other news that's taking up , is the whole Marines in Berkeley, CA. This gives you an inkling on the whole Looney Left, to kick out an officer recruiting station from their hippy town. Apparently one nutjob was quoted as saying something along the lines of the marines being close to the high school, and how they didn't feel that the high school located blocks away was safe.
Actually, from what I understand, the recruiting station is located near the university, because it's target is college graduates, seeing as its an Officer Recruiting station.
Man, if I wanted to become an officer in the Marine Corps, I would personally drive myself down to Berkeley just so I could be recruited from their office.
The Marines appear to be professionals in this whole debacle, stating it's business as Usual.
Code Pink, on the other hand, are proving more and more to be crazy and idiotic lunatics that apparently think defacing government property is not a crime when they do it, so long as the city has their back.
Well, Senator Jim DeMint has proposed taking the earmarked pork set aside for Berkeley so they can have their organic school catering federally funded by proposing the Semper Fi Act of 2008, which I honestly think should go through, even if it doesn't end up going to the Marines, I would just like to see money like this not being wasted on stupid crap.
I think that's one thing I liked about McCain is his anti-pork stance.
Berkeley California could fall off the face of the planet and I doubt many people will miss it.
What is with people who think that the right of Free Speech is the right to be free of consequences of what they say? I don't get it.
Actually, from what I understand, the recruiting station is located near the university, because it's target is college graduates, seeing as its an Officer Recruiting station.
Man, if I wanted to become an officer in the Marine Corps, I would personally drive myself down to Berkeley just so I could be recruited from their office.
The Marines appear to be professionals in this whole debacle, stating it's business as Usual.
Code Pink, on the other hand, are proving more and more to be crazy and idiotic lunatics that apparently think defacing government property is not a crime when they do it, so long as the city has their back.
Well, Senator Jim DeMint has proposed taking the earmarked pork set aside for Berkeley so they can have their organic school catering federally funded by proposing the Semper Fi Act of 2008, which I honestly think should go through, even if it doesn't end up going to the Marines, I would just like to see money like this not being wasted on stupid crap.
I think that's one thing I liked about McCain is his anti-pork stance.
Berkeley California could fall off the face of the planet and I doubt many people will miss it.
What is with people who think that the right of Free Speech is the right to be free of consequences of what they say? I don't get it.
Anonymous and the War on CoS
There's been a lot going on in the world right now, some of which I'm not entirely sure I know much about.
Well, first there is the whole Anonymous war with the Church of Scientology, which they call Chanology, which is actually pretty fascinating as I never really understood what Scientology was all about. I have a couple of friends who are following this whole chanology thing and have been keeping me updated on the whole spiel, pretty interesting how an unorganized group with no obvious head has decided to take down an organization. I'm not a big fan of Scientology but the more I learn about it, the less I like the organization.
This video is about three weeks old, but its still pretty weird.
Not saying I'm a part of Anonymous or anything, I've got other things in my life, but I think I'm more on the side of Anonymous when you figure out some of the crap the CoS has done.
I should probably research this more.
Well, first there is the whole Anonymous war with the Church of Scientology, which they call Chanology, which is actually pretty fascinating as I never really understood what Scientology was all about. I have a couple of friends who are following this whole chanology thing and have been keeping me updated on the whole spiel, pretty interesting how an unorganized group with no obvious head has decided to take down an organization. I'm not a big fan of Scientology but the more I learn about it, the less I like the organization.
This video is about three weeks old, but its still pretty weird.
Not saying I'm a part of Anonymous or anything, I've got other things in my life, but I think I'm more on the side of Anonymous when you figure out some of the crap the CoS has done.
I should probably research this more.
2.11.2008
Drill
This weekend was a drill weekend.
We have a program with the National Guard where we give the soldiers a taste of what to expect when they get into Basic Training, for all trainees that are in the split option program or are just waiting to head off to basic.
I did give them a little taste of what to expect, but they had me train them on the AT4 this weekend, which is a weapon I haven't seen since Basic training, and we just kind of played with it then. We didn't even go over it in DSS. But the AT4 is idiot proof, the instructions are written right on it, but of course, give me something idiot proof, and I'll give you a bigger idiot.
Of course, they didn't want us to go nuts and full scale drill sergeant on these soldiers, as they didn't want to scare them off, but I did smoke a couple of them for accountability reasons (one had a key fall out of their pocket during PT, another left their canteen somewhere) just to give them a taste. I discovered I can't smoke somebody with Little Man in the Woods without cracking a laugh, so I'll wait later in the cycle to do that one.
Drill Sergeants don't smile in front of Privates for the first three weeks.
But yeah, I need to get refreshened on my army knowledge, which can be difficult when you don't drill for two months (we didn't drill in January) and I haven't played drill sergeant since beginning of November.
But there is a PT test next month. Yikes, gotta run!
Mobilization is still on for May. Knox is a go!
We have a program with the National Guard where we give the soldiers a taste of what to expect when they get into Basic Training, for all trainees that are in the split option program or are just waiting to head off to basic.
I did give them a little taste of what to expect, but they had me train them on the AT4 this weekend, which is a weapon I haven't seen since Basic training, and we just kind of played with it then. We didn't even go over it in DSS. But the AT4 is idiot proof, the instructions are written right on it, but of course, give me something idiot proof, and I'll give you a bigger idiot.
Of course, they didn't want us to go nuts and full scale drill sergeant on these soldiers, as they didn't want to scare them off, but I did smoke a couple of them for accountability reasons (one had a key fall out of their pocket during PT, another left their canteen somewhere) just to give them a taste. I discovered I can't smoke somebody with Little Man in the Woods without cracking a laugh, so I'll wait later in the cycle to do that one.
Drill Sergeants don't smile in front of Privates for the first three weeks.
But yeah, I need to get refreshened on my army knowledge, which can be difficult when you don't drill for two months (we didn't drill in January) and I haven't played drill sergeant since beginning of November.
But there is a PT test next month. Yikes, gotta run!
Mobilization is still on for May. Knox is a go!
2.07.2008
Third Party Politics?
So. . .
I'm thinking this might be the year for a valid third party candidate to emerge from the wreckage of this primary season and become a viable candidate for President. I know a lot of people who are adamently opposed to Hillary, the GOP is on it's deathbed as a political party, they've burned too many bridges with the voters.
McCain is like 82 years old. If he wins the presidency to serve for two terms, he will be 91 or something. And he's too liberal in some of his politics, though I do like his stance on Pork Spending, but when you have conservatives like Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck saying they'll vote for Hillary over McCain, well, that's not promising. And I'd rather vote for a candidate that has no chance of winning the election rather then Hillary.
So, can a viable third party come out of the wood work to run for President? I hope so, if we want to get rid of this ridiculous two party system, this is the year to do it.
Otherwise, well, I was going to vote for Romney, but I guess I'll vote for Obama during the Primary, to get votes away from Hillary. I'd rather have Obama as President then Hillary, she's trying to come off as a moderate but anybody who does their research knows she's a socialist to her core, and a bit power hungry. And a closet lesbian.
No Hillary for me, thanks. I hate to think of what she'll do to my military if she gets in office. I shiver at the thought.
I'm thinking this might be the year for a valid third party candidate to emerge from the wreckage of this primary season and become a viable candidate for President. I know a lot of people who are adamently opposed to Hillary, the GOP is on it's deathbed as a political party, they've burned too many bridges with the voters.
McCain is like 82 years old. If he wins the presidency to serve for two terms, he will be 91 or something. And he's too liberal in some of his politics, though I do like his stance on Pork Spending, but when you have conservatives like Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck saying they'll vote for Hillary over McCain, well, that's not promising. And I'd rather vote for a candidate that has no chance of winning the election rather then Hillary.
So, can a viable third party come out of the wood work to run for President? I hope so, if we want to get rid of this ridiculous two party system, this is the year to do it.
Otherwise, well, I was going to vote for Romney, but I guess I'll vote for Obama during the Primary, to get votes away from Hillary. I'd rather have Obama as President then Hillary, she's trying to come off as a moderate but anybody who does their research knows she's a socialist to her core, and a bit power hungry. And a closet lesbian.
No Hillary for me, thanks. I hate to think of what she'll do to my military if she gets in office. I shiver at the thought.
Projects and Hobbies Keep Time Occupied
I keep getting myself set up on little projects. This week it appears that I just want to focus on getting my info on my harddrives organized. Last week I was ripping a bunch of old VHS home videos to digital and of course in December I was transferring my CDs to MP3s so I can listen to them on my iPod and my Zune.
Don't ask me why I bought a Zune, other then it was a great deal and I liked a digital player that I could watch movies on. My iPod is old and doesn't have that option.
I've also got a few projects artwise going on as well. I signed up for a few art exchanges to play around with, just to give myself a feel for doing it again.
Of course, I ran into a lot of old pictuers I hadn't seen in forever, including looking at a few off my recovered hard drive that I initially thought I had lost. Like this pic of my nephew Cody with Blaine.
I really miss having Ferrets, but I have to get my own place before I can get them again, and I have to be able to maintain them a little better, so I have to have my house more organized.
Which means I'll probably never own Ferrets again :( My house is a mess.
I think I just need something fuzzy and cute, like a dog or something.
In March we're planning a road trip down to Utah to see friends and family. It's been long overdue.
Meanwhile, I'm feeling pretty confident on where I will be at the end of this year, and it will include me having a real job that I can focus on, and not a retail gig that doesn't like employees confronting shoplifters. Next week I'm probably going to go to a temp agency and look for temp work just to get by for now until I know more about my deployment or if it's even going to happen.
Don't ask me why I bought a Zune, other then it was a great deal and I liked a digital player that I could watch movies on. My iPod is old and doesn't have that option.
I've also got a few projects artwise going on as well. I signed up for a few art exchanges to play around with, just to give myself a feel for doing it again.
Of course, I ran into a lot of old pictuers I hadn't seen in forever, including looking at a few off my recovered hard drive that I initially thought I had lost. Like this pic of my nephew Cody with Blaine.
I really miss having Ferrets, but I have to get my own place before I can get them again, and I have to be able to maintain them a little better, so I have to have my house more organized.
Which means I'll probably never own Ferrets again :( My house is a mess.
I think I just need something fuzzy and cute, like a dog or something.
In March we're planning a road trip down to Utah to see friends and family. It's been long overdue.
Meanwhile, I'm feeling pretty confident on where I will be at the end of this year, and it will include me having a real job that I can focus on, and not a retail gig that doesn't like employees confronting shoplifters. Next week I'm probably going to go to a temp agency and look for temp work just to get by for now until I know more about my deployment or if it's even going to happen.
2.04.2008
Endorsements
Well, apparently tomorrow is a big day in the political scheme of things. Across the country, people get to vote on who they want to run in the big race in November.
I'm backing Barack Obama for the Democrats and Mitt Romney for the Republicans.
I just realized I don't have any idea when the Washington State Primary is being held. Hmm. . .
Be sure to vote!
I'm backing Barack Obama for the Democrats and Mitt Romney for the Republicans.
I just realized I don't have any idea when the Washington State Primary is being held. Hmm. . .
Be sure to vote!
2.03.2008
Well, Onto Other Things
I was moody yesterday. Then I discovered it was probably because I'm not feeling well.
Heck, I'm generally just a moody person, and I take opportunities to cultivate my moodiness for the purposes of jumping all over people when I hit the trail. One day.
*sighs*
Meanwhile, I drew a Mosquito.
I'm doing a homework assignment on Mosquitoes and took the opportunity of having to insert a picture into my assignment as an excuse to draw. I'm going to take all of the excuses I can get, because I need to draw more.
Heck, I'm generally just a moody person, and I take opportunities to cultivate my moodiness for the purposes of jumping all over people when I hit the trail. One day.
*sighs*
Meanwhile, I drew a Mosquito.
I'm doing a homework assignment on Mosquitoes and took the opportunity of having to insert a picture into my assignment as an excuse to draw. I'm going to take all of the excuses I can get, because I need to draw more.
2.02.2008
Artists are Finicky Peoples
Alright, so I think I need to explain my little rant more in depth, to give you an idea of the mind of an artist.
Most real artists like critiques. They see it as a way to make themselves better, as long as the critique is constructive. Nobody likes to hear that their work sucks without it being explained why.
If you look at my gallery and tell me i'm a sucky artist, I'll go right back in your face and tell you you're an idiot, unless you can give me a reasonable excuse as to why you think my art sucks. If I don't know what is wrong with it, I can't change it, and as an artist, I often get to close to the work to see the obvious faults in it, or on the flip side, I'll see everything that is wrong with it.
Most often then not, I can rip to shreds any artwork you throw at me. You want it critiqued constructively? I bet I can find something wrong with it.
But let me go into it a little further. To tell you the honest truth, I don't see myself as much of an illustrator, I never have been. I've been working on the illustrator side of my art for a few years now, but honestly, I consider myself an artist.
My illustrations always have something wrong with them. heck, my art does too but usually not to the degree.
So I had a bunch of illustrators tell me my art is 'wonky' (which is a word I am going to use to describe everythign I see wrong with a peice from now on) without going into detail and me, being, well, me, I blew a gasket on them. Because you don't tell an artist they suck without giving them reasons as to why. Especially somebody who considers themselves an artist.
My illustrations are always from my head, but this latest episode made me realize that I need to work more on my art and away from my illustrations (which has, in fact, been killing my art to tell you the truth). So I'm going to start sketching more. I just need to draw more. I need to find pictures and draw what I see. It doesn't matter that it doesn't look like the person I'm drawing, just so long as it is a drawing.
I need to focus on how I'm going to illustrate my project anyway.
Most real artists like critiques. They see it as a way to make themselves better, as long as the critique is constructive. Nobody likes to hear that their work sucks without it being explained why.
If you look at my gallery and tell me i'm a sucky artist, I'll go right back in your face and tell you you're an idiot, unless you can give me a reasonable excuse as to why you think my art sucks. If I don't know what is wrong with it, I can't change it, and as an artist, I often get to close to the work to see the obvious faults in it, or on the flip side, I'll see everything that is wrong with it.
Most often then not, I can rip to shreds any artwork you throw at me. You want it critiqued constructively? I bet I can find something wrong with it.
But let me go into it a little further. To tell you the honest truth, I don't see myself as much of an illustrator, I never have been. I've been working on the illustrator side of my art for a few years now, but honestly, I consider myself an artist.
My illustrations always have something wrong with them. heck, my art does too but usually not to the degree.
So I had a bunch of illustrators tell me my art is 'wonky' (which is a word I am going to use to describe everythign I see wrong with a peice from now on) without going into detail and me, being, well, me, I blew a gasket on them. Because you don't tell an artist they suck without giving them reasons as to why. Especially somebody who considers themselves an artist.
My illustrations are always from my head, but this latest episode made me realize that I need to work more on my art and away from my illustrations (which has, in fact, been killing my art to tell you the truth). So I'm going to start sketching more. I just need to draw more. I need to find pictures and draw what I see. It doesn't matter that it doesn't look like the person I'm drawing, just so long as it is a drawing.
I need to focus on how I'm going to illustrate my project anyway.
I'm A Little Annoyed
Ok, I have to say something, because I'm a cranky person and I can't stand it when people tell me I suck at something without having a good reason as to state why.
See, when I draw anthropomorphic characters (basically anything non human with human qualities) I generally draw them a little cartoonish, and granted when it comes to art this is not my strong suit. At all. Even though its basically the only thing I draw anymore because I don't draw as much as I used too.
I am also usually very good at taking constructive criticism with my art, because I am an artist and sometimes when a person is too close to a piece, they don't see the problems with it. So as long as the criticism is constructive, I take it well.
So I joined this art exchange, thinking I'm bored and I want to draw more and I like drawing other people's characters because it gives me a fresh look on things as I tend to get caught up in little rifts where I draw the same thing over again. I gave them a link to my two galleries online, one on this website and one over at DeviantArt.
I got this email in the mail saying I had been declined for a sketch exchange. Here is their exact wording in fact.
This is the piece they critiqued.
So basically, because I use foreshortening in a lot of my art so the legs don't look exactly the same, I got dismissed. Is this on me as an artist? Or is this on them as art critiques? Because as far as I'm concerned, this is a perfect example of foreshortening. You are looking at two legs from different angles, of course they are not going to look the same. This looks like an example of a Digigrade Biped to me (digigrade meaning walking on toes, not flat footed, all of my anthros are digigrade unless stated otherwise.)
I replied with a comment that wasn't so nice that I won't link to because, well, it will most likely get deleted, but I mean, come on?
Because my reply will most likely get deleted, I'll post what I wrote to them here.
Ok, Yes, the annoyance is apparent, but really, come on!
Give me your opinion, do you think I have a decent argument or do I suck at anthros? Or are you just a non-artistic type that goes 'hehe, puppy!'
EDIT - So my rant got some attention, they didn't delete the post after all, but I calmed down considerably when I got a constructive critique back. Mind you, I don't delete this stuff, so if you want to see how this goes, please visit the LJ.
I just don't know what to get from 'wonky'.
Constructive Criticism is always game for me.
See, when I draw anthropomorphic characters (basically anything non human with human qualities) I generally draw them a little cartoonish, and granted when it comes to art this is not my strong suit. At all. Even though its basically the only thing I draw anymore because I don't draw as much as I used too.
I am also usually very good at taking constructive criticism with my art, because I am an artist and sometimes when a person is too close to a piece, they don't see the problems with it. So as long as the criticism is constructive, I take it well.
So I joined this art exchange, thinking I'm bored and I want to draw more and I like drawing other people's characters because it gives me a fresh look on things as I tend to get caught up in little rifts where I draw the same thing over again. I gave them a link to my two galleries online, one on this website and one over at DeviantArt.
I got this email in the mail saying I had been declined for a sketch exchange. Here is their exact wording in fact.
Mods voted: You have some interesting stuff, but we feel you could use a bit more practice before you join us. Feel free to try again in the future though! :)
Comments were: Anatomy's a little wonky, such as this piece: The legs look dramatically different from each other. She needs a little more work on getting her anatomy to look natural as far as her anthros go.
This is the piece they critiqued.
So basically, because I use foreshortening in a lot of my art so the legs don't look exactly the same, I got dismissed. Is this on me as an artist? Or is this on them as art critiques? Because as far as I'm concerned, this is a perfect example of foreshortening. You are looking at two legs from different angles, of course they are not going to look the same. This looks like an example of a Digigrade Biped to me (digigrade meaning walking on toes, not flat footed, all of my anthros are digigrade unless stated otherwise.)
I replied with a comment that wasn't so nice that I won't link to because, well, it will most likely get deleted, but I mean, come on?
Because my reply will most likely get deleted, I'll post what I wrote to them here.
Um, do you guys know the definition of Foreshortening?
The freakin' right leg is at an angle facing the audience, if you were to actually look at the left leg, you might actually see that there is nothing wrong with this. But oh wait, that's right, this is a freakin' SKETCH exchange. This may not be a traditional anthro because it doesn't show as much human in it, but it doesn't mean its wrong.
Oh, and I know how to draw anatomy, thanks for the heads up on telling me that I don't know what the hell I'm doing.
PS - for a sketch exchange, I would probably complete my art a little more so that it doesn't need to be completed in Photoshop, because believe it or not I CAN draw.
Thanks for everything, but I think I'll pass and not bother with this stupid exchange in the future.
PPS - The rejected art piece is freakin' two years old. Since you said I apparently need to practice my anatomy, I'll let you know I've had plenty, thanks.
Ok, Yes, the annoyance is apparent, but really, come on!
Give me your opinion, do you think I have a decent argument or do I suck at anthros? Or are you just a non-artistic type that goes 'hehe, puppy!'
EDIT - So my rant got some attention, they didn't delete the post after all, but I calmed down considerably when I got a constructive critique back. Mind you, I don't delete this stuff, so if you want to see how this goes, please visit the LJ.
I just don't know what to get from 'wonky'.
Constructive Criticism is always game for me.
2.01.2008
Gotta Have the Frosted Flakes!
A long time ago, way back in the 1970's, my dad and his friend Bob got together and filmed this little video for a College Thesis Project.
I've been ripping VHS tapes to the computer and thought I would YouTube it. Enjoy :)
I've been ripping VHS tapes to the computer and thought I would YouTube it. Enjoy :)
1.31.2008
Occupying My Time
I may have mentioned that I have been let go from my civilian employer (but I have been meaning to quit so no loss there), my *six month* deployment has been pushed back a couple of months, and I cut my class load back to one class on Adobe InDesign which is about Digital Layout.
I have a lot of free time on my hands.
The thing is, I really enjoy working my creative side, so I thought about this and decided that I would utilize my creative side toward something that could eventually be productive and make me money.
I want to write a book.
And not just any type of book (I've written a gob of unpublishable crap that sits on my hard drive) I want to write a Children's Book.
When I was in first grade or something, I wrote a book about Animals doing fun things. The art in it can be described as cute, as I was quite a little artist at the time. And I've always wanted to go back and rewrite it and get this idea published.
So I was reassessing this little picture book I had planned when I was about seven years old and thinking to myself 'how can I make this idea work for print?' It occurred to me that I wanted to be the artist, but with some creative help, I could probably work on putting this book to verse.
I just hope that the idea is original enough that I'm not infringing on somebody else's creative genius. But the thing is, I had the idea for this book for something like twenty years now.
I think its doable. I just have to figure out the medium I want to work it toward.
I have a lot of free time on my hands.
The thing is, I really enjoy working my creative side, so I thought about this and decided that I would utilize my creative side toward something that could eventually be productive and make me money.
I want to write a book.
And not just any type of book (I've written a gob of unpublishable crap that sits on my hard drive) I want to write a Children's Book.
When I was in first grade or something, I wrote a book about Animals doing fun things. The art in it can be described as cute, as I was quite a little artist at the time. And I've always wanted to go back and rewrite it and get this idea published.
So I was reassessing this little picture book I had planned when I was about seven years old and thinking to myself 'how can I make this idea work for print?' It occurred to me that I wanted to be the artist, but with some creative help, I could probably work on putting this book to verse.
I just hope that the idea is original enough that I'm not infringing on somebody else's creative genius. But the thing is, I had the idea for this book for something like twenty years now.
I think its doable. I just have to figure out the medium I want to work it toward.
1.30.2008
Guide for New Parents
Courtesy of DadCentric
There is a right way and a wrong way to parent.
To view more (and laugh yourself hoarse) go here.
There is a right way and a wrong way to parent.
To view more (and laugh yourself hoarse) go here.
1.29.2008
Soundtrack Moved
So, I moved my Soundtrack, to the top of the page. Now I noticed with Firefox the music doesn't play until you scroll it into view, but when you use internet explorer then it goes right into play. So, I moved it to the top and altered it a little so it takes a little less room (but for some reason, you can't scroll all the way to the bottom of the playlist but oh well)
I like the soundtrack, but it gets in the way of my videos, and somebody did mention (I only had one complaint, yay!) that they didn't like listening to my music and would rather listen to their own so you can listen to my music or shut it off with great convenience. Unfortunately, it sits at the top of my blog and clutters it. Bleh!
I think I might like a smaller playlist, so I might have to go about searching for one so it takes up less room, or I can put it in the sidebar. Anybody have any recommendations?
Or should I just get rid of the thing?
Edit - Ok, I hid it for now. I'm going to figure out something else to do with that thing.
I like the soundtrack, but it gets in the way of my videos, and somebody did mention (I only had one complaint, yay!) that they didn't like listening to my music and would rather listen to their own so you can listen to my music or shut it off with great convenience. Unfortunately, it sits at the top of my blog and clutters it. Bleh!
I think I might like a smaller playlist, so I might have to go about searching for one so it takes up less room, or I can put it in the sidebar. Anybody have any recommendations?
Or should I just get rid of the thing?
Edit - Ok, I hid it for now. I'm going to figure out something else to do with that thing.
Kiwi
Yes, this is old, and I'm just getting on the ball, but I thought I would share it anyway.
If you want to see a particularly poignant version, view it to Gary Jules' version of Mad World.
I need to come up with a cartoon and animate it. But I have to get better at modeling first.
If you want to see a particularly poignant version, view it to Gary Jules' version of Mad World.
I need to come up with a cartoon and animate it. But I have to get better at modeling first.
Team Obama!
How can I convince people to NOT vote for Hillary Clinton? Do we honestly want this woman as our next president?
Granted, I'm not a big fan of any of the democrats, but this woman is the last person I want to see as President. She is a conniving politician and I don't know what she's saying to get people to vote for her, but I will never trust Hillary.
I do admit that Barack Obama likely doesn't have enough experience for the Presidency, and is a bit on the socialist side for my likings (Hey, he's a liberal, I'm a conservative) but I would much rather see him win the Presidency then Hillary.
So I'm going to campaign for Obama with my Liberal Friends, because I don't think I can convince them to vote for a Republican. Team Obama all the way!
Granted, I'm not a big fan of any of the democrats, but this woman is the last person I want to see as President. She is a conniving politician and I don't know what she's saying to get people to vote for her, but I will never trust Hillary.
I do admit that Barack Obama likely doesn't have enough experience for the Presidency, and is a bit on the socialist side for my likings (Hey, he's a liberal, I'm a conservative) but I would much rather see him win the Presidency then Hillary.
So I'm going to campaign for Obama with my Liberal Friends, because I don't think I can convince them to vote for a Republican. Team Obama all the way!
Tagged - Strange But True
Ok, so I got tagged to write 7 strange but true things about myself by Joe over at the Bunker Blog.
To be honest, I don't think there is really a whole lot of strange but true things to write about myself that I haven't already written about. But what the heck, here it goes. For those of you who have followed me for some time, you might already know these things.
Strange But True - 7 Things About Me
So there you have it, a few strange but true things about me, and now that I look at it, its not altogether strange. Maybe I should think about it a little more, but I can't figure out anything.
I don't tag, so if you want to do this and post in on your blog, be my guest. But, er, maybe you can come up with some stranger factoids about you then I can. I can't think of anything right now.
To be honest, I don't think there is really a whole lot of strange but true things to write about myself that I haven't already written about. But what the heck, here it goes. For those of you who have followed me for some time, you might already know these things.
- I can throw a pot with my feet. I know, strange, and something I've mentioned before.
- For a while, I considered my sexual orientation as Anti-Sexual (and discovered that there are other people out there with this view). I never really considered myself as a child of being a girl or wanting to be a boy (I was a huge tomboy, btw) but rather, I just wanted to be me. I didn't want to be viewed as anything and I hated it when my parents forced me to dress up in girly clothes to go to church. It's kind of weird in that I tend to demonize sex a lot in my writing as I tend to view all aspects of the topic. I'm curious about it, yes, but I'm more curious about why people do it. I guess in a way I am still a Anti-Sexual, but I view myself as Straight even though I have an attraction to both sexes. But its more in an artistic way, I see the beauty of the human body, I just don't want to have sex with it. Is that strange about me? I think so. Maybe that's the reason why I tend to refuse to date? It didn't stop my brother in law from calling me a Repressed Lesbian however.
- I have a very well functioning Gaydar. There are a few good friends I knew in High School that I had suspicions about but were straight at the time and have later come out as being Gay. More then one friend in this fashion. In fact, when people come out of the closet, it usually doesn't shock me.
- I didn't realize I enjoyed writing until my Senior Year in High School. I never wrote before this time, but since I discovered I liked to write, I haven't stopped. My early writing is very painful to read, because my inexperience is very apparent, but I've written probably around the neighborhood of at least 20,000 pages worth of stories. I don't let anybody read them however, for a variety of reasons. See bullet 2.
- I have experienced Memory Loss. Not a lot of people can claim this (unless they are a character on television), but I can genuinely say that I have had Amnesia. I remembered who I was, but I had no clue about the date, what I had done, and why I was completely out of my mind. I freaked out pretty bad. Not a lot of fun, but interesting to think about. I had often wondered in my youth what memory loss would be like. Now I know.
- I am dysthemic, meaning I suffer from chronic depression. I've come to just accept this about me as a fact of life really, it was a problem when I was younger but since I've grown older and matured a lot, its not a debilitating factor like it could be. As you can see, I'm still pretty frank and honest about myself. For a long time I thought I was probably bipolar because I can get into some crazy moods, I have mentioned that I can act drunk without getting drunk, because I can get really uninhibited. However, these highs are actually not common enough to classify me as Bipolar. So I was diagnosed as a Dysthemic when I was in Kosovo.
- i have maintained a webcomic off and on for about six years. I think this in itself qualifies as strange, as most webcomics have a lifespan of about a month. If they get the first post off the ground.
So there you have it, a few strange but true things about me, and now that I look at it, its not altogether strange. Maybe I should think about it a little more, but I can't figure out anything.
I don't tag, so if you want to do this and post in on your blog, be my guest. But, er, maybe you can come up with some stranger factoids about you then I can. I can't think of anything right now.
Snowed In
Today had been interesting, in the absolutely nothing going on in my life sort of way. I was thinking 'gosh, since I'm not working, I should have all of this free time and my creativity should just go nuts and I should be getting all of this stuff done!'
Um, no. Yes, I have put myself on a budget because I have money in the bank, but I got to make it last until I get a new job or go to Ft Knox, and I've still got living expenses. So I've got a few projects I'm working on.
I thought about going out and renting a movie or something, but something else got in the way.
It's called about a foot and a half of snow. I shoveled the driveway with the help of the kid across the street (we started talking about the army, he has the perfect private mentality and plans on joining as soon as he turns 17) but I just gave up when it came to digging my car out of the snow. It just won't stop snowing around here, I'm thinking about trying to go up to the mountain if my car can handle it and taking advantage of the conditions, but, well, I am on a budget right now.
So I did the next best thing. I decided to get my creative juices flowing by doing some art. I don't do enough art these days.
And when I mean art, I mean fine art, not illustration which is what I tend to do more then anything now a days.
I actually found this exercise to help loosen up the creative juices, you grab your MP3 player, put it on random, and draw a picture in the amount of time it takes you to listen to the song. THe song is supposed to help you come up with an idea of what to draw, but I discovered since I haven't been in figure drawing for about five years, my drawings gone to crap when it comes to gestures. I don't think I got a single good drawing out of the mix, at least, nothing worth posting.
But it is a little exercise I plan on doing again soon.
Once I got myself loosened up a bit, I decided to dig out some of my paints and a canvas and paint. I didn't have any idea going into the painting, so I just threw paint on the canvas as an idea started to take hold.
Um, this was kind of where it was heading, and I was just staring at it as I was painting it and thinking 'what is this mess?' It wasn't doing anything I wanted it to so I came up with this brazilliant idea and flipped the canvas over.
Um, it's still nothing fancy. I'm letting the paint dry while I stare at it and decide what I'm going to stick in it. When I paint, I tend to be a little bit on the expressionalistic abstract side, so I have to create a focus for the painting and shove it right in there, probably within the first third of the painting because if it is dead center, it is going to be BORING. Not that this is anything exciting anyway, because I still have no freaking clue as to what I'm going to do with this painting. I think I'm going to put a figure wading in the water with the nuclear sky in the background, but the figure will have to be in bizzarro land colors in order to make this work.
No, it is not done. It might go the way of my last painting, which I hated how it was going so much I covered the canvas in Gesso and am awaiting the opportunity to strike so I can cover it with more paint. Not going to happen anytime soon.
I really need to get back into my art. Maybe I'll put a post where I ask my readers to give me ideas, or something. Because I haven't got a creative flow going and it's driving me stark raving mad!
And I'm snowed in . . . *sighs* Damn that Global Warming
Um, no. Yes, I have put myself on a budget because I have money in the bank, but I got to make it last until I get a new job or go to Ft Knox, and I've still got living expenses. So I've got a few projects I'm working on.
I thought about going out and renting a movie or something, but something else got in the way.
It's called about a foot and a half of snow. I shoveled the driveway with the help of the kid across the street (we started talking about the army, he has the perfect private mentality and plans on joining as soon as he turns 17) but I just gave up when it came to digging my car out of the snow. It just won't stop snowing around here, I'm thinking about trying to go up to the mountain if my car can handle it and taking advantage of the conditions, but, well, I am on a budget right now.
So I did the next best thing. I decided to get my creative juices flowing by doing some art. I don't do enough art these days.
And when I mean art, I mean fine art, not illustration which is what I tend to do more then anything now a days.
I actually found this exercise to help loosen up the creative juices, you grab your MP3 player, put it on random, and draw a picture in the amount of time it takes you to listen to the song. THe song is supposed to help you come up with an idea of what to draw, but I discovered since I haven't been in figure drawing for about five years, my drawings gone to crap when it comes to gestures. I don't think I got a single good drawing out of the mix, at least, nothing worth posting.
But it is a little exercise I plan on doing again soon.
Once I got myself loosened up a bit, I decided to dig out some of my paints and a canvas and paint. I didn't have any idea going into the painting, so I just threw paint on the canvas as an idea started to take hold.
Um, this was kind of where it was heading, and I was just staring at it as I was painting it and thinking 'what is this mess?' It wasn't doing anything I wanted it to so I came up with this brazilliant idea and flipped the canvas over.
Um, it's still nothing fancy. I'm letting the paint dry while I stare at it and decide what I'm going to stick in it. When I paint, I tend to be a little bit on the expressionalistic abstract side, so I have to create a focus for the painting and shove it right in there, probably within the first third of the painting because if it is dead center, it is going to be BORING. Not that this is anything exciting anyway, because I still have no freaking clue as to what I'm going to do with this painting. I think I'm going to put a figure wading in the water with the nuclear sky in the background, but the figure will have to be in bizzarro land colors in order to make this work.
No, it is not done. It might go the way of my last painting, which I hated how it was going so much I covered the canvas in Gesso and am awaiting the opportunity to strike so I can cover it with more paint. Not going to happen anytime soon.
I really need to get back into my art. Maybe I'll put a post where I ask my readers to give me ideas, or something. Because I haven't got a creative flow going and it's driving me stark raving mad!
And I'm snowed in . . . *sighs* Damn that Global Warming
1.27.2008
A Piece of Nastalgia for You
Little known fact about me, when I was about 8 years old, I was in violin lessons. And unlike most kids at that age, I actually loved the Violin and enjoyed playing it. I wasn't really that good though.
So me, being the techno geek that I am with all of the toys for doing this kind of stuff, I was set out to do a project for my family that I've been meaning to do, which includes transfering all of our old vhs tapes to digital.
So, back in the winter of 1988, my family filmed a christmas video for my grandparents in California. My dad, who I love dearly by the way, is a complete dork in it and keeps mentioning Metamorphosis and uses a lot of big words while the rest of us shyly look on and get embarrassed when we are in front of the camera.
Me? I'm quite adorable. And also show evidence of being the youngest in a family of eight, and as such, well, I'm a bit of a brat. There is a rendition of me throwing a fit because dad asked me what we were going to sing to the grandparents, I wanted to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and my sister shouted out "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" first.
So, what did I do? I threw a fit.
But that video is out of season. In the meantime, enjoy a piece of yours truly playing a violin. You might want to turn down the sound, because it is quite painful to listen too.
And it took next to pulling teeth to get my mother to dress me like this. Because I usually had my hair back and wore a t-shirt and jeans with the knees ripped out of them.
So me, being the techno geek that I am with all of the toys for doing this kind of stuff, I was set out to do a project for my family that I've been meaning to do, which includes transfering all of our old vhs tapes to digital.
So, back in the winter of 1988, my family filmed a christmas video for my grandparents in California. My dad, who I love dearly by the way, is a complete dork in it and keeps mentioning Metamorphosis and uses a lot of big words while the rest of us shyly look on and get embarrassed when we are in front of the camera.
Me? I'm quite adorable. And also show evidence of being the youngest in a family of eight, and as such, well, I'm a bit of a brat. There is a rendition of me throwing a fit because dad asked me what we were going to sing to the grandparents, I wanted to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and my sister shouted out "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" first.
So, what did I do? I threw a fit.
But that video is out of season. In the meantime, enjoy a piece of yours truly playing a violin. You might want to turn down the sound, because it is quite painful to listen too.
And it took next to pulling teeth to get my mother to dress me like this. Because I usually had my hair back and wore a t-shirt and jeans with the knees ripped out of them.
Miss Utah should have been Miss America
I don't have TLC, so I wasn't able to watch the Miss America Competition (which I haven't watched in years) but I kind of wanted to see because of a certain SGT Jill Stevens running as Miss Utah. I wanted to watch in support of a fellow soldier running a pageant in an unorthodox manner, and who apparently stuck to her beliefs.
Well, apparently Miss Utah wasn't selected as the final sixteen contestants, but she made the finals because she was voted as America's Choice. Well, she did make the cover of Soldier Magazine, so she had plenty of publicity being a Combat Veteran running in a beauty pageant.
Due to declining ratings, TLC promised change in this year's pageant, but Miss Utah, who is LDS, chose to wear a one piece swimsuit in the swimsuit competition, which is supposedly to demonstrate fitness. Stevens is a 12 time marathon runner and can probably max the male PT test, but because she decided to display modesty instead of her belly button, she didn't make it to the final twelve.
In true military fashion, she dropped upon elimination and did a set of push ups, to the cheers of the crowd, which included members of her National Guard Unit.
A traditional Barbie Doll Beauty Queen ended up winning the pageant, but every article about the pageant seems to mention America's Choice and plenty of people have seem to be in agreement that if the pageant was after real change, they missed their opportunity by disagreeing with the rest of America. Jill Stevens offered a real sense of change to the pageant. She demonstrated moral courage, integrity, and a sense of fun and humor. She is serving America in a role that is still under some contention in the US, as an American Soldier that shows great love for the military. She is a great role model to our youth today, but did she honestly get kicked out of the competition because she chose a one piece bathing suit in favor of a bikini? Or is there a little political influence in the pageant that thought that they couldn't have a soldier serve as Miss America?
So, SGT Stevens, though you will unlikely read this, you did have my vote for Miss America, and if I ever find my way on the battle field, I would be honored to serve with you.
Well, apparently Miss Utah wasn't selected as the final sixteen contestants, but she made the finals because she was voted as America's Choice. Well, she did make the cover of Soldier Magazine, so she had plenty of publicity being a Combat Veteran running in a beauty pageant.
Due to declining ratings, TLC promised change in this year's pageant, but Miss Utah, who is LDS, chose to wear a one piece swimsuit in the swimsuit competition, which is supposedly to demonstrate fitness. Stevens is a 12 time marathon runner and can probably max the male PT test, but because she decided to display modesty instead of her belly button, she didn't make it to the final twelve.
In true military fashion, she dropped upon elimination and did a set of push ups, to the cheers of the crowd, which included members of her National Guard Unit.
A traditional Barbie Doll Beauty Queen ended up winning the pageant, but every article about the pageant seems to mention America's Choice and plenty of people have seem to be in agreement that if the pageant was after real change, they missed their opportunity by disagreeing with the rest of America. Jill Stevens offered a real sense of change to the pageant. She demonstrated moral courage, integrity, and a sense of fun and humor. She is serving America in a role that is still under some contention in the US, as an American Soldier that shows great love for the military. She is a great role model to our youth today, but did she honestly get kicked out of the competition because she chose a one piece bathing suit in favor of a bikini? Or is there a little political influence in the pageant that thought that they couldn't have a soldier serve as Miss America?
So, SGT Stevens, though you will unlikely read this, you did have my vote for Miss America, and if I ever find my way on the battle field, I would be honored to serve with you.
1.26.2008
The Status of Today's Society
Society is going to hell. This has been the case for some time now, and I must say that business is helping it get there.
I have to say that by and large, I am an honest person. I try not to lie, I try to give it to you straight. When i was younger, I couldn't understand theft and why people would steal from another person. It didn't make sense to me, because I was kind of sensitive in that I never wanted to hurt anybodies feelings.
Well, obviously THAT'S changed, as I don't care what you think now, I'll do something despite what people say about me, but I always try to do what's right. And one thing I can't stand is a dishonest person getting away with something.
People today are selfish. Everyone is out for themselves and to hell with doing what's right in getting there. But looking at Business, they are doing nothing to prevent people from shoplifting these days. I have been in a store countless times and I can see how freakin' easy it would be to lift a high dollar item. I could be a shoplifting pro if I wanted too, because i've worked retail so much that I know what to look for, and what you can get away with. And in this day an age, you can get away with stealing $100 worth in CDs and have the cashier give you a 'have a nice day' and not do anything about it.
Why do stores not do more to help keep customers honest? I have noticed it more and more that it is more important to keep a person as a customer rather then prosecute a shoplifter in fear of losing their business when they are not getting any business from the shoplifter anyway. The shoplifter is robbing you blind. Have a nice day.
But it seems like it might be against business to prosecute shoplifters because laws these days are more in favor of the shoplifters then the businesses. You just accused me of putting this cd in my pocket? Do you have proof of this? It is fully one hundred percent substantiated? Hah, you didn't get me on camera, I'm going to take you to court for defamation despite the fact that indeed, I stole the CD. But the court is going to back me because you don't have enough proof.
So if you have an employee, such as me for instance, that can't stand shop lifters and want to see the whole lot of them burn in hell, when I get on the case of one and save my employer money by doing a little research to discover that indeed, this product was stolen, guess what happens?
The Employee gets fired and the shoplifter walks away, scott free. Even though, the employee can verify that the product the shoplifter returned was not product properly purchased.
So, the lesson that business is teaching us today kids, is that they care more for keeping you happy then keeping you honest. You see a CD that you like but you don't have the money to purchase it? Just grab that CD off the shelf outside of the camera and employee's view, walk up to the counter and ask to return it. When you can't produce the receipt, and you won't get cash back, tell them you changed your mind and they'll let you walk right out of the store with the product you tried to 'return'.
Indeed, that would be my former employer's policy. Me? I find that bloody ridiculous.
I have to say that by and large, I am an honest person. I try not to lie, I try to give it to you straight. When i was younger, I couldn't understand theft and why people would steal from another person. It didn't make sense to me, because I was kind of sensitive in that I never wanted to hurt anybodies feelings.
Well, obviously THAT'S changed, as I don't care what you think now, I'll do something despite what people say about me, but I always try to do what's right. And one thing I can't stand is a dishonest person getting away with something.
People today are selfish. Everyone is out for themselves and to hell with doing what's right in getting there. But looking at Business, they are doing nothing to prevent people from shoplifting these days. I have been in a store countless times and I can see how freakin' easy it would be to lift a high dollar item. I could be a shoplifting pro if I wanted too, because i've worked retail so much that I know what to look for, and what you can get away with. And in this day an age, you can get away with stealing $100 worth in CDs and have the cashier give you a 'have a nice day' and not do anything about it.
Why do stores not do more to help keep customers honest? I have noticed it more and more that it is more important to keep a person as a customer rather then prosecute a shoplifter in fear of losing their business when they are not getting any business from the shoplifter anyway. The shoplifter is robbing you blind. Have a nice day.
But it seems like it might be against business to prosecute shoplifters because laws these days are more in favor of the shoplifters then the businesses. You just accused me of putting this cd in my pocket? Do you have proof of this? It is fully one hundred percent substantiated? Hah, you didn't get me on camera, I'm going to take you to court for defamation despite the fact that indeed, I stole the CD. But the court is going to back me because you don't have enough proof.
So if you have an employee, such as me for instance, that can't stand shop lifters and want to see the whole lot of them burn in hell, when I get on the case of one and save my employer money by doing a little research to discover that indeed, this product was stolen, guess what happens?
The Employee gets fired and the shoplifter walks away, scott free. Even though, the employee can verify that the product the shoplifter returned was not product properly purchased.
So, the lesson that business is teaching us today kids, is that they care more for keeping you happy then keeping you honest. You see a CD that you like but you don't have the money to purchase it? Just grab that CD off the shelf outside of the camera and employee's view, walk up to the counter and ask to return it. When you can't produce the receipt, and you won't get cash back, tell them you changed your mind and they'll let you walk right out of the store with the product you tried to 'return'.
Indeed, that would be my former employer's policy. Me? I find that bloody ridiculous.
Miss America Pageant
Miss America is on tonight. I'm rooting for Miss Utah.
She's a combat veteran authorized to wear a tiara in uniform. I mean, what is there NOT to like?
She's a combat veteran authorized to wear a tiara in uniform. I mean, what is there NOT to like?
1.25.2008
Honesty Policy
I had an incident at work that rose all sorts of red flags for me. See, I've been working in the retail business for a long time, and so I've kind of clued into the warning signs of what would be known as thieves.
I may have mentioned once or twice that I hate thieves. In that I can't stand them. If everyone was honest, we wouldn't have the ate up world we do, but there are a lot of dishonest people who are only out for themselves.
So we had this customer do a return that I can pretty much say with great certainty was stolen. In fact, I should go back and ask to look at the cameras as this customer went through our store and see if I can see her pick up the stolen product. But, alas, in this day and age, most stores are more concerned with the mantra of 'the customer is always right' rather then 'we prosecute shoplifters.'
January is a sucky month to look for a job. But I need to get out of retail anyway.
I may have mentioned once or twice that I hate thieves. In that I can't stand them. If everyone was honest, we wouldn't have the ate up world we do, but there are a lot of dishonest people who are only out for themselves.
So we had this customer do a return that I can pretty much say with great certainty was stolen. In fact, I should go back and ask to look at the cameras as this customer went through our store and see if I can see her pick up the stolen product. But, alas, in this day and age, most stores are more concerned with the mantra of 'the customer is always right' rather then 'we prosecute shoplifters.'
January is a sucky month to look for a job. But I need to get out of retail anyway.
1.18.2008
Life Never Goes as Planned
So I dropped two courses, so no blog research paper for me. I was kind of looking forward to doing it, but I was just assessing my probable plans in the next two months and it didn't look wise. One class looked manageable so Digital Layout it is. Actually I like this class and if I have familiarization with Indesign, I know I can get a job. Actually, with the software knowledge I have, I can get a job working with computers which is actually pretty cool. Like a newspaper or magazine place, or maybe even a gaming company somewhere in Utah.
But before I search for a job that doesn't entail stripping magazines, I have to get past this little mobilization I keep hearing about. The one that ends in Knox.
Well, I've heard the latest, and its not necessarily bad, but its not good news. The mob date has been pushed back by two months.
In other words, I didn't have to drop the two classes I thought would drive me stark raving mad.
Actually, they probably would have. Eh, no regrets from dropping out here.
But before I search for a job that doesn't entail stripping magazines, I have to get past this little mobilization I keep hearing about. The one that ends in Knox.
Well, I've heard the latest, and its not necessarily bad, but its not good news. The mob date has been pushed back by two months.
In other words, I didn't have to drop the two classes I thought would drive me stark raving mad.
Actually, they probably would have. Eh, no regrets from dropping out here.
1.15.2008
Peak Oil
This is a fascinating site that may spell doom and gloom for some, but in reality this is a very large problem. Just surf this site for a while and think about where your life will be in five to ten years.
Fascinating stuff, oil's not getting any cheaper by any means. Irony is that alternative fuels tend to need, yes, crude oil.
I've always wanted to get some property in the country and make it self sufficient. You know, have a garden, solar power, maybe some horses and goats, so that when we go back a hundred years because we have no power, I will be alright. How much are solar panels anyway, and how effective are they?
That's something I need to research.
Hattip: Julie
Fascinating stuff, oil's not getting any cheaper by any means. Irony is that alternative fuels tend to need, yes, crude oil.
I've always wanted to get some property in the country and make it self sufficient. You know, have a garden, solar power, maybe some horses and goats, so that when we go back a hundred years because we have no power, I will be alright. How much are solar panels anyway, and how effective are they?
That's something I need to research.
Hattip: Julie
Photo Shoot and Photoshop
I've wanted to sit down and do a photoshoot for some time, taking some fun pictures and just play around with them. Well, I did have better things to do but I decided to just go with it.
I wanted to take pictures of me outside my comfort zone, get all dressed up and funked out and do something with the hair and makeup and all that jazz. My sister has a talent for it so she asked if I wanted to get some pictures and I was all 'heck yeah!'
But half of the fun after the photoshoot is manipulating the pictures later. I decided to do something a little different with each one. All of these pictures are taken with a simple snap and shoot camera.
Photoshop is a beautiful, beautiful thing.
This was actually the last picture we took, but it's one of my favorites. I like the punk rocker feel to it. Manipulation was simple. Wiped out all color by desaturizing the pic, then messed with the levels to bring the whites and the blacks out.
For this pic, I made an exact replica of it over the original and gave that a soft light tag. Then between the two layers I placed another that was a dark purple to give it the purple hue cast to it.
This is the punk rocker chick with to much eye makeup look, but I really think this was the only picture to come out without me looking like a crack whore. Two layers, like the previous file, the top file is in cutout and put on Multiply so the bottom layer comes through to give it its color.
I really liked this image and just wanted it to look really bright. I auto-colored it to take the blue cast given by the camera out and then went to the Match Color windo and put everything at maxed out. It's helpful to have a lot of color in the picture to begin with to let this pop out.
I can't for the life of me remember what I did to get this affect. But it wasn't hard and with plenty of playing around in the gloriousness that is photoshop, it isn't that hard to produce. It had some filters involved though, this I know.
I just wanted to whitewash this one out to bring out my very angsty eyeballs that I'm quite known for. Two identicle layers, the top one is on Overlay and using the curve tool, I tweeked it until I got the look I wanted.
The punk rocker outfit, in an action pose that I really liked so I took it and played a bunch until I got it to look like this. There are actually four layers involved, the bottom layer is the original untouched picture, there is a grayscale pic in the layer on top of that that is set at 30% opacity, a color fill filtered in with color dodge at 70% opacity, and the top image is me messing with the selective color, and then putting it at a soft light filter at 80% opacity. It just sounds a lot more difficult then it really is.
I love those boots. That top isn't as flattering as I originally thought however, its actually to big for me.
Another visit to that punk rocker chick, I wanted the look that it was a black and white image with color added as an afterthought, or rather the color was really toned down. I took a double layer and made the top gray scale with a Multiply filter and took the bottom layer through the hue/saturation and desaturated the color a little bit. I also messed around with teh levels, to bring out the blacks and the whites.
This effect is actually quite simple. Take it through gradient map and pick your colors. Viola, this is what comes out. It helps to have very pronounced lights, darks, and minimum midrange for this to really be effective with the pic.
I really like working with multiple levels, the top level is done with an artistic filter of sketch pencil and put on color burn over an untouched picture. It helps to auto color both before you begin.
This picture looked zen to me, and I wanted to put it to some nice bright cheerful colors. Yes, I took the picture, desaturated teh color out of it so it was in grayscale, messed with the levels to bring out the blacks and whites, and then put a gradient under it. You could have done a hundred and one things with the image under it, but this was a default gradient and if I wanted to, I could have messed with it a little more to get a better color combination. Hmm, maybe I'll try something else another time.
I've got a gob more pictures, and I think I'll try some different things with them. But the one thing I've discovered about Photoshop is that you just have to mess with it, try things and see if they work or if they don't. Sometimes they do, sometimes its a disaster, but that's why you back up your files and just go to town. I loveloveloveloveLOVE this software because there is so much you can do with it. I hope you enjoyed my loony pictures, and if you don't understand what I said to get the affects, I guess ignore my little commentary. I'll probably put up some more later.
I wanted to take pictures of me outside my comfort zone, get all dressed up and funked out and do something with the hair and makeup and all that jazz. My sister has a talent for it so she asked if I wanted to get some pictures and I was all 'heck yeah!'
But half of the fun after the photoshoot is manipulating the pictures later. I decided to do something a little different with each one. All of these pictures are taken with a simple snap and shoot camera.
Photoshop is a beautiful, beautiful thing.
This was actually the last picture we took, but it's one of my favorites. I like the punk rocker feel to it. Manipulation was simple. Wiped out all color by desaturizing the pic, then messed with the levels to bring the whites and the blacks out.
For this pic, I made an exact replica of it over the original and gave that a soft light tag. Then between the two layers I placed another that was a dark purple to give it the purple hue cast to it.
This is the punk rocker chick with to much eye makeup look, but I really think this was the only picture to come out without me looking like a crack whore. Two layers, like the previous file, the top file is in cutout and put on Multiply so the bottom layer comes through to give it its color.
I really liked this image and just wanted it to look really bright. I auto-colored it to take the blue cast given by the camera out and then went to the Match Color windo and put everything at maxed out. It's helpful to have a lot of color in the picture to begin with to let this pop out.
I can't for the life of me remember what I did to get this affect. But it wasn't hard and with plenty of playing around in the gloriousness that is photoshop, it isn't that hard to produce. It had some filters involved though, this I know.
I just wanted to whitewash this one out to bring out my very angsty eyeballs that I'm quite known for. Two identicle layers, the top one is on Overlay and using the curve tool, I tweeked it until I got the look I wanted.
The punk rocker outfit, in an action pose that I really liked so I took it and played a bunch until I got it to look like this. There are actually four layers involved, the bottom layer is the original untouched picture, there is a grayscale pic in the layer on top of that that is set at 30% opacity, a color fill filtered in with color dodge at 70% opacity, and the top image is me messing with the selective color, and then putting it at a soft light filter at 80% opacity. It just sounds a lot more difficult then it really is.
I love those boots. That top isn't as flattering as I originally thought however, its actually to big for me.
Another visit to that punk rocker chick, I wanted the look that it was a black and white image with color added as an afterthought, or rather the color was really toned down. I took a double layer and made the top gray scale with a Multiply filter and took the bottom layer through the hue/saturation and desaturated the color a little bit. I also messed around with teh levels, to bring out the blacks and the whites.
This effect is actually quite simple. Take it through gradient map and pick your colors. Viola, this is what comes out. It helps to have very pronounced lights, darks, and minimum midrange for this to really be effective with the pic.
I really like working with multiple levels, the top level is done with an artistic filter of sketch pencil and put on color burn over an untouched picture. It helps to auto color both before you begin.
This picture looked zen to me, and I wanted to put it to some nice bright cheerful colors. Yes, I took the picture, desaturated teh color out of it so it was in grayscale, messed with the levels to bring out the blacks and whites, and then put a gradient under it. You could have done a hundred and one things with the image under it, but this was a default gradient and if I wanted to, I could have messed with it a little more to get a better color combination. Hmm, maybe I'll try something else another time.
I've got a gob more pictures, and I think I'll try some different things with them. But the one thing I've discovered about Photoshop is that you just have to mess with it, try things and see if they work or if they don't. Sometimes they do, sometimes its a disaster, but that's why you back up your files and just go to town. I loveloveloveloveLOVE this software because there is so much you can do with it. I hope you enjoyed my loony pictures, and if you don't understand what I said to get the affects, I guess ignore my little commentary. I'll probably put up some more later.
Latest School Woes
I've run into a dilemma with school these days. Well, aside from the book issue, which has been resolved, sort of, but I think I wanted to give myself an excuse to drop out subconsciously.
Last term I did, I realized that this wasn't really the direction I wanted to go. I love working with the software and everything, but it is something I want to do on my own terms, and this term is going to suck.
For one, I'm taking two classes which are heavy writing intensive, one a research paper that will demand a lot of my time.
I'm supposed to go to Fort Knox sometime in the next few months, and I'm supposed to be there for somewhere around six months, give or take. This is still up in the air, as I don't have orders yet and I am very much well aware that the army can do whatever it wants when it comes to what it needs to do with me. Knox isn't guaranteed, heck, I won't believe it is set until I have set boots on ground. And even then its not certain. They can still say 'hey, we don't need you' and send me home. The army is like that. And this might happen because they are sending me, a female drill sergeant, to an all male basic training post. I'm not counting on anything right now.
As soon as I get my orders, I'm going to take a road trip to get to my destination, mainly to see friends and family along the way and there is no way I'm going there without a car. I went to DSS without a car and it sucked royally.
If the orders say what I think they will say, this is going to mess with my school pretty bad. I'm going to be on the road the last two weeks of school, trying to finaggle homework (to include a majorly huge research paper) and visiting people and, oh, did I mention I need to move out of my brother's house next month? He's getting married while I'm in Knox (good news, I'll probably be able to swing a few days off to come home to attend the wedding) but I'm guessing that the newly weds won't want a roommate hogging up the bedroom next door. This isn't a very big house, and I want to be in my own place when I get back anyway. So I have to plan a road trip, move out, prepare for Knox (meaning I need to really start trying to run as soon as the ground outside lets me), and did I mention I still have a job that I need to work?
As much as I would like to, looking at my homework, and my complete and utter lack of motivation for doing it, I think it might be best for me to drop out of school for now. Or dumb it down to one class instead. I'm going to talk to my adviser tomorrow and see what I can do, but right now I think it would be very wise not to be taking a full load right now. I want to be able to continue to go to school while I'm in Knox as well, but I know I'll be down to maybe a class while I'm there.
I don't know, I'm just seeing the potential problem here and the fact that I would rather not pile my plate completely full and find myself ready to pull my hair out of my head when it is all said and done.
Yeah, that's it.
Last term I did, I realized that this wasn't really the direction I wanted to go. I love working with the software and everything, but it is something I want to do on my own terms, and this term is going to suck.
For one, I'm taking two classes which are heavy writing intensive, one a research paper that will demand a lot of my time.
I'm supposed to go to Fort Knox sometime in the next few months, and I'm supposed to be there for somewhere around six months, give or take. This is still up in the air, as I don't have orders yet and I am very much well aware that the army can do whatever it wants when it comes to what it needs to do with me. Knox isn't guaranteed, heck, I won't believe it is set until I have set boots on ground. And even then its not certain. They can still say 'hey, we don't need you' and send me home. The army is like that. And this might happen because they are sending me, a female drill sergeant, to an all male basic training post. I'm not counting on anything right now.
As soon as I get my orders, I'm going to take a road trip to get to my destination, mainly to see friends and family along the way and there is no way I'm going there without a car. I went to DSS without a car and it sucked royally.
If the orders say what I think they will say, this is going to mess with my school pretty bad. I'm going to be on the road the last two weeks of school, trying to finaggle homework (to include a majorly huge research paper) and visiting people and, oh, did I mention I need to move out of my brother's house next month? He's getting married while I'm in Knox (good news, I'll probably be able to swing a few days off to come home to attend the wedding) but I'm guessing that the newly weds won't want a roommate hogging up the bedroom next door. This isn't a very big house, and I want to be in my own place when I get back anyway. So I have to plan a road trip, move out, prepare for Knox (meaning I need to really start trying to run as soon as the ground outside lets me), and did I mention I still have a job that I need to work?
As much as I would like to, looking at my homework, and my complete and utter lack of motivation for doing it, I think it might be best for me to drop out of school for now. Or dumb it down to one class instead. I'm going to talk to my adviser tomorrow and see what I can do, but right now I think it would be very wise not to be taking a full load right now. I want to be able to continue to go to school while I'm in Knox as well, but I know I'll be down to maybe a class while I'm there.
I don't know, I'm just seeing the potential problem here and the fact that I would rather not pile my plate completely full and find myself ready to pull my hair out of my head when it is all said and done.
Yeah, that's it.
1.14.2008
Anal Retentive? You Betcha!
Ok, so I finally got my books in for class this quarter, except they made an error. And I'm pretty certain they made an error because when I ordered the books I made sure I was ordering them for the right class.
So I got a Geometry book instead. I don't need a f*%@#& Geometry book, I need my research methodologies book, and although I can probably get by this week without it, I will need it by next week and so I will need them to ship it to me ASAP so I can get it without having to worry about it.
However, I'm pretty certain this is their error, not mine, and because college is expensive enough, I'm not going to pay anymore then I have to considering I have to pay to ship this book back to them. So I drafted an email.
Oh, and yes, the invoice they sent me in the mail did mention the Geometry book, but once again, pretty certain that when I ordered the books, I ordered the book I needed and not a geometry book.
My Tactful yet very Persistent Email.
Think they will get the hint? Or is it not threatening enough?
So I got a Geometry book instead. I don't need a f*%@#& Geometry book, I need my research methodologies book, and although I can probably get by this week without it, I will need it by next week and so I will need them to ship it to me ASAP so I can get it without having to worry about it.
However, I'm pretty certain this is their error, not mine, and because college is expensive enough, I'm not going to pay anymore then I have to considering I have to pay to ship this book back to them. So I drafted an email.
Oh, and yes, the invoice they sent me in the mail did mention the Geometry book, but once again, pretty certain that when I ordered the books, I ordered the book I needed and not a geometry book.
My Tactful yet very Persistent Email.
I'm sorry, I didn't pay attention to the invoice, and didn't notice until I recieved my books, but I am 99.999% (meaning pretty damn) certain I had ordered RESEARCH METHODS PKG WESTWOOD - ISBN# 0618556400 but I recieved the book for the Geometry class I dropped out of instead. I need this book pronto, like yesterdary, and I'm not asking to be charged for the overnight shipping on the book you mistakenly did not give me, since if you had given it to me like you should have, I would have recieved it on time. I will be sure in the future to check the invoice closely and make sure that I recieve the books I specifically requested, but now I would like to have the one I need. Any help on your part to resolve this issue would be most appreciated, and I will send back the Geometry Book for the class I dropped out of ASAP. But since I have to send it back on MY dime when I did not order it, and you sent it to me anyway, I would like to NOT BE CHARGED for the shipping on the book that I do need. If you are unable to resolve this issue satisfactorily, I can resolve this issue by taking my business to another school. Because this kind of stuff bugs the crap out of me. A hasty reply will be appreciated. I'll be home pretty much all day tomorrow (Tuesday). Thanks PS - Just to clarify that once again, pretty certain that this is your error and not mine. |
Think they will get the hint? Or is it not threatening enough?
Soundtrack Added! Yay!
Ok, if your sound is on and your browser supports it, you will probably hear some music in a moment. Now, I can understand if you, like me, get a little annoyed when you visit a website and music suddenly pops out of nowhere. Well, I suggest you do one of four things if you hear it.
A) Sit back and enjoy, I tried to pick songs that were low key and soothing (or depressing) but none should be obnoxious I would hope.
2) Scroll down and hit the pause button. The player is on the bottom of the page.
III) Turn the sound off your computer so you don't have to listen to it if you choose not too.
f. Close the website after voicing your displeasure in my music tastes in the comment bar of my blog. I will probably ignore your complaint however.
Life is better when a soundtrack is added. I'll put songs I like on it at random.
A) Sit back and enjoy, I tried to pick songs that were low key and soothing (or depressing) but none should be obnoxious I would hope.
2) Scroll down and hit the pause button. The player is on the bottom of the page.
III) Turn the sound off your computer so you don't have to listen to it if you choose not too.
f. Close the website after voicing your displeasure in my music tastes in the comment bar of my blog. I will probably ignore your complaint however.
Life is better when a soundtrack is added. I'll put songs I like on it at random.
1.13.2008
Researching Blogging
So, I've figured out what I want to research for my research paper. I'm going to do a paper on Blogging. I might see if I can get some quotes from some bigger bloggers (if they have the time to respond, which I might not be able to get) but because everybody has a blog these days, I can probably find somebody to quote as a source.
To make this a sociology issue, I thought maybe I would bring into terms about how people use blogs to keep people up to date on their lives and how they use them for a variety of topics such as news sources, a one person editorial, journals, or whatever else. I think I can get enough sources that it might make a worth while topic. I'll post my findings when I turn in my research paper too.
Of course, I have to specify that indeed it is my findings. They are pretty big into making sure you cite your sources and all that jazz.
Meanwhile, I noticed that I tend to write a lot. The snow is melting, I think I'm going to try going for a run sometime this week. Hopefully I don't slip and crack my head open on the ice.
To make this a sociology issue, I thought maybe I would bring into terms about how people use blogs to keep people up to date on their lives and how they use them for a variety of topics such as news sources, a one person editorial, journals, or whatever else. I think I can get enough sources that it might make a worth while topic. I'll post my findings when I turn in my research paper too.
Of course, I have to specify that indeed it is my findings. They are pretty big into making sure you cite your sources and all that jazz.
Meanwhile, I noticed that I tend to write a lot. The snow is melting, I think I'm going to try going for a run sometime this week. Hopefully I don't slip and crack my head open on the ice.
1.12.2008
Rambling
Life continues, sort of.
I've been spending the last few days watching Season 3 of Lost, Drawing, Sleeping and working on homework. I need to work on homework more often.
I've also been working at work, but fortunately they have been pretty small shifts that aren't that big of a deal.
So I haven't been doing much of anything lately, so my sisters talked me into going to see Juno with them. Cute movie, funny, I laughed. I think I'll end up buying it. Though the moral lesson isn't always the best, I think in the end she does the right thing. Probably one of my new favorite movies to come out last year. I need to update my movie post.
My brother plays Call of Duty 4, a lot. The multiplayer online deathmatches are interesting to watch, because the entire time I'm critiquing it because it is obvious why you get killed so much in this game, because everybody flags everybody else (of course, fratricide is optional), there is absolutely no MOUT techniques used and people rush into fire zones all the time. Oh, and nobody really cares if they die or not because they'll just respawn. Overall for a video game it is pretty realistic, i hear the campaign mode follows more rules of war but I can see using this game as an example to privates of WHY we don't do certain things. Like flag our battle buddies.
Overall I'm feeling better though. I need to get on my homework now however.
I've been spending the last few days watching Season 3 of Lost, Drawing, Sleeping and working on homework. I need to work on homework more often.
I've also been working at work, but fortunately they have been pretty small shifts that aren't that big of a deal.
So I haven't been doing much of anything lately, so my sisters talked me into going to see Juno with them. Cute movie, funny, I laughed. I think I'll end up buying it. Though the moral lesson isn't always the best, I think in the end she does the right thing. Probably one of my new favorite movies to come out last year. I need to update my movie post.
My brother plays Call of Duty 4, a lot. The multiplayer online deathmatches are interesting to watch, because the entire time I'm critiquing it because it is obvious why you get killed so much in this game, because everybody flags everybody else (of course, fratricide is optional), there is absolutely no MOUT techniques used and people rush into fire zones all the time. Oh, and nobody really cares if they die or not because they'll just respawn. Overall for a video game it is pretty realistic, i hear the campaign mode follows more rules of war but I can see using this game as an example to privates of WHY we don't do certain things. Like flag our battle buddies.
Overall I'm feeling better though. I need to get on my homework now however.
1.10.2008
Blogging is Fun
I've got a bunch of cousins and family members that blog now, telling others about their lives and their families, and here I am, single, in school, and right now probably the most boring person on the planet.
It's bizarre to think that I've been blogging for six years now, and when I started this thing was not that big of a deal. In fact, it will take me a while to get all of my archives up but that is one of my goals before I hit the Trail (the trail being Drill Sergeantese for training soldiers).
Well, anyway, like I mentioned before, right now I'm feeling a little under the weather, and one thing I've noticed is how little I post pictures of anything these days. But I don't really have the camera I want (my sister Arah has a great camera and its along the lines of something I would like to eventually get for myself.)
But whatever the case, here is some pics of me, in all of my glory, taking pictures of myself with my first digital camera, which is awesome for these kinds of shots because it has a flip up viewfinder so you can position yourself exactly in the frame as you want to see it. However, it doesn't zoom out as nicely as I would like, but it does take great (although relatively small by today's standards) pictures.
I admit, i do love the winter, and the snowboarding greatness it allows me to take part in, but the thing I do not love about the winter is what it does to my skin. I have the world's worst skin, and I never help matters with it. When I get regular son, it seems to do alright, but when I'm indoors a lot, like I have been, and not being able to exercise and run like I want to on account of all the snow outside, I look pasty and pale and 'bleh', gross.
But the camera does snap pretty good pics of you being all vain and taking pictures of yourself.
I took this right as the phone rang, and I glanced over. So it's a semi candid shot. Hmm. . .
"Hi, uh-huh. Yeah. Oh, don't mind me, I'm just snapping shots of how pale and sickly I look right now while I'm talking to you. I'm listening. . ."
Actually, these pictures kind of betray how I feel. Other then the fact that I look like I have no blood circulating in my face, it white washes the redness under my nose and the fact that my face is peck marked to no end.
Gotta love photography sometimes.
It's bizarre to think that I've been blogging for six years now, and when I started this thing was not that big of a deal. In fact, it will take me a while to get all of my archives up but that is one of my goals before I hit the Trail (the trail being Drill Sergeantese for training soldiers).
Well, anyway, like I mentioned before, right now I'm feeling a little under the weather, and one thing I've noticed is how little I post pictures of anything these days. But I don't really have the camera I want (my sister Arah has a great camera and its along the lines of something I would like to eventually get for myself.)
But whatever the case, here is some pics of me, in all of my glory, taking pictures of myself with my first digital camera, which is awesome for these kinds of shots because it has a flip up viewfinder so you can position yourself exactly in the frame as you want to see it. However, it doesn't zoom out as nicely as I would like, but it does take great (although relatively small by today's standards) pictures.
I admit, i do love the winter, and the snowboarding greatness it allows me to take part in, but the thing I do not love about the winter is what it does to my skin. I have the world's worst skin, and I never help matters with it. When I get regular son, it seems to do alright, but when I'm indoors a lot, like I have been, and not being able to exercise and run like I want to on account of all the snow outside, I look pasty and pale and 'bleh', gross.
But the camera does snap pretty good pics of you being all vain and taking pictures of yourself.
I took this right as the phone rang, and I glanced over. So it's a semi candid shot. Hmm. . .
"Hi, uh-huh. Yeah. Oh, don't mind me, I'm just snapping shots of how pale and sickly I look right now while I'm talking to you. I'm listening. . ."
Actually, these pictures kind of betray how I feel. Other then the fact that I look like I have no blood circulating in my face, it white washes the redness under my nose and the fact that my face is peck marked to no end.
Gotta love photography sometimes.
School's Back in Session
So, its been kind of busy what with school starting back up and all. I'm in Management Functions (this class is going to suck), Survey of Research Methodologies (this class is really going to suck) and Digital Layout (I might survive this one). So all in all, this term is not one I look forward too. Bleh.
For Research Methodologies, I have to figure out a topic I want to write about for a Research Paper. I bet I could do one on blogging, lot's of good info there, but I'm not sure exactly. It has to be a topic I can take a stance on.
I was thinking out of the general topics to do one on are:
Women in the Military
Gun Control
Addiction to: (a list of items that people gain addictions to like Pornography, Alcohol, Drugs, Gambling, etc, but I need to focus on one)
Teen Pregnancy and Sex Education
Old and New Issues on the Internet (blogging comes in here)
Influence of Mass Media on Our Lives
We have a select amount of topics that we have to research, and these are the ones that gained my attention. I have to be able to find ten sources to cite for a 12 - 15 page paper. Research papers don't really bother me, its just that this is coming at the beginning of a mobilization, so if I can stay on top of things in school, I should be fine but no guarantees, especially considering this specific class doesn't allow me to work ahead. Bleh. Again.
So, I'm focusing on what I want to do for this class, waiting for my books to come in for my other classes, and I just caught the crud that's been going around. Fortunately I only work a short four hour magazine shift tomorrow and I got the weekend off to recuperate. Unfortunately, well, it's dumped about a foot and a half of snow in town and I'm sure the mountains are going to be fan-freakin'-tastic and I'm caught up indoors with a flippin' cold. I think I need to just try to find some time to relax and chill, drink lot's of Emergen-C and work on homework.
And my comic as well. Yeah, I'm updating it again. Unfortunately I can't remember my password so I have to FTP the files in. Triple Bleh.
For Research Methodologies, I have to figure out a topic I want to write about for a Research Paper. I bet I could do one on blogging, lot's of good info there, but I'm not sure exactly. It has to be a topic I can take a stance on.
I was thinking out of the general topics to do one on are:
Women in the Military
Gun Control
Addiction to: (a list of items that people gain addictions to like Pornography, Alcohol, Drugs, Gambling, etc, but I need to focus on one)
Teen Pregnancy and Sex Education
Old and New Issues on the Internet (blogging comes in here)
Influence of Mass Media on Our Lives
We have a select amount of topics that we have to research, and these are the ones that gained my attention. I have to be able to find ten sources to cite for a 12 - 15 page paper. Research papers don't really bother me, its just that this is coming at the beginning of a mobilization, so if I can stay on top of things in school, I should be fine but no guarantees, especially considering this specific class doesn't allow me to work ahead. Bleh. Again.
So, I'm focusing on what I want to do for this class, waiting for my books to come in for my other classes, and I just caught the crud that's been going around. Fortunately I only work a short four hour magazine shift tomorrow and I got the weekend off to recuperate. Unfortunately, well, it's dumped about a foot and a half of snow in town and I'm sure the mountains are going to be fan-freakin'-tastic and I'm caught up indoors with a flippin' cold. I think I need to just try to find some time to relax and chill, drink lot's of Emergen-C and work on homework.
And my comic as well. Yeah, I'm updating it again. Unfortunately I can't remember my password so I have to FTP the files in. Triple Bleh.
1.07.2008
Who's Your Candidate?
So with the primaries in full swing, election year is coming upon us *shivers*
I got sent a link to an interesting questionare that will help you discover who your ideal candidate is. Here's my results.
82% John McCain
74% Mitt Romney
73% Mike Huckabee
72% Tom Tancredo
70% Fred Thompson
62% Rudy Giuliani
53% Hillary Clinton
52% Bill Richardson
49% John Edwards
49% Chris Dodd
48% Barack Obama
46% Ron Paul
43% Joe Biden
29% Mike Gravel
22% Dennis Kucinich
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
Hmm, McCain looks to be my ideal candidate for the most part, though I find it interesting that Hilary of all people is coming up as my top Democrat *gag!*. I don't trust her and think many of her policies that has her playing as a moderate is a ruse to get her elected.
I'd rather have Barack Obama get elected over her, though honestly I don't agree with his policies as he's a bit on the socialist side. He's predicted to be our next president, I guess I like him as a person, he's got excellent charisma, but he's quite young. I think there are a lot of people who are excited about the thought of finally electing a viable minority which is one of the reasons why it seems like Obama and Clinton are the heavy hitters on the democratic side, but that's about as a good a reason to vote for somebody like the fact that Mitt Romney happens to be a Mormon is the soul reason NOT to vote for him.
I guess for me religion might play a piece in things, but I'm not going to vote for Romney because he shares my faith, I want to vote for him because I agree with his policies and think he will make a good president, but it looks like I'll be voting for the Republican anyway, whoever that may be, rather then the Democrat. Of course, Blue State Washington, it probably won't make much of a difference. We aren't exactly a swing state.
I got sent a link to an interesting questionare that will help you discover who your ideal candidate is. Here's my results.
82% John McCain
74% Mitt Romney
73% Mike Huckabee
72% Tom Tancredo
70% Fred Thompson
62% Rudy Giuliani
53% Hillary Clinton
52% Bill Richardson
49% John Edwards
49% Chris Dodd
48% Barack Obama
46% Ron Paul
43% Joe Biden
29% Mike Gravel
22% Dennis Kucinich
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
Hmm, McCain looks to be my ideal candidate for the most part, though I find it interesting that Hilary of all people is coming up as my top Democrat *gag!*. I don't trust her and think many of her policies that has her playing as a moderate is a ruse to get her elected.
I'd rather have Barack Obama get elected over her, though honestly I don't agree with his policies as he's a bit on the socialist side. He's predicted to be our next president, I guess I like him as a person, he's got excellent charisma, but he's quite young. I think there are a lot of people who are excited about the thought of finally electing a viable minority which is one of the reasons why it seems like Obama and Clinton are the heavy hitters on the democratic side, but that's about as a good a reason to vote for somebody like the fact that Mitt Romney happens to be a Mormon is the soul reason NOT to vote for him.
I guess for me religion might play a piece in things, but I'm not going to vote for Romney because he shares my faith, I want to vote for him because I agree with his policies and think he will make a good president, but it looks like I'll be voting for the Republican anyway, whoever that may be, rather then the Democrat. Of course, Blue State Washington, it probably won't make much of a difference. We aren't exactly a swing state.
1.06.2008
Snowboarding!
I've gained a snowboarding buddy from my unit. He actually just came in last month and since we both snowboard and I'm always looking for somebody to go with, we decided to hit the mountains together. Yay.
Whatever the case, me being the insanely independent person that I am, I usually try to take my own car with me whenever I go somewhere. My car is my security blanket. But he talked me into meeting him at his place and going up together in his truck. Becuase conditions were icy and it's a good way to save on gas money.
So I drive over to his house, problem is there is like a foot of snow on the ground and he lives kind of out in the country a bit. I just see tracks leading up to his house and think "hmm, that must be the driveway."
Instead, I ended up in a ditch, with no way to go forward or backward. My car is great in the snow, but it can only do so much when I plow it in a ditch.
Fortunately a truck and a tow rope were handy and my car was pulled out safely.
Conditions were fantastic, and the snow on the road kept the crowds away. We hit Silver Mountain this time around and boarded hard, by the end of the day my thighs were killing me.
Yes, great exercise, awesome conditions, and a snowboarding partner that is not somebody I'm teaching to ride for the first time.
Things are good!
Whatever the case, me being the insanely independent person that I am, I usually try to take my own car with me whenever I go somewhere. My car is my security blanket. But he talked me into meeting him at his place and going up together in his truck. Becuase conditions were icy and it's a good way to save on gas money.
So I drive over to his house, problem is there is like a foot of snow on the ground and he lives kind of out in the country a bit. I just see tracks leading up to his house and think "hmm, that must be the driveway."
Instead, I ended up in a ditch, with no way to go forward or backward. My car is great in the snow, but it can only do so much when I plow it in a ditch.
Fortunately a truck and a tow rope were handy and my car was pulled out safely.
Conditions were fantastic, and the snow on the road kept the crowds away. We hit Silver Mountain this time around and boarded hard, by the end of the day my thighs were killing me.
Yes, great exercise, awesome conditions, and a snowboarding partner that is not somebody I'm teaching to ride for the first time.
Things are good!
1.01.2008
The Resolutions Post
Happy New Year!
Every year I make Resolutions, just something to keep in mind of what I want to get done this year. Let's see how I did shall we?
Looking back, I didn't make a whole lot of resolutions for 2007. But with the old comes the new, so these are my goals this year.
That should keep me busy. As always, resolutions may be altered over the next few days as I give myself time to think about them.
Every year I make Resolutions, just something to keep in mind of what I want to get done this year. Let's see how I did shall we?
- Earn My Hat
And in earn my hat, I mean my green curve australian bush drill sergeant hat. If anybody has read this blog in the last six months knows, mission accomplished. :)- Have all six modules down before I leave for Drill Sergeant School.
Heh, I had three and a half? Not all lost. Looks like I didn't even need to get them down like I thought I would. I still have Position of Attention Ver Batum. - -Better be in better shape then current over the next two and a half months.
This was assuming I was leaving for Drill Sergeant School in March. . . I broke my foot, you can't really get into great shape when you have a gimp foot.
- Have all six modules down before I leave for Drill Sergeant School.
- Make E6/ Staff Sergeant
I've got my rocker, and it fills good! Pay check's nice too. - Make a decision with School. (stay with current school? Find a new one?)
I'm kind of on a mixed decision with this. I'm staying with my current school, but I don't know if I'll complete this degree or not. I like some aspects of it, but I don't know if I'm getting the education that will make me competitive in my job field. So yeah, its a bit of a wash. - Get Back Into Painting (repeat resolution)
It looks like it will go into my resolutions for this year as well. *sighs* - Pay off all current debt (car, best buy card main ones) with an exception of student loans.
Still got my student loans, but all of my credit cards have been paid off this year. I do have an outstanding balance on my Best Buy Card again (I just bought a new laptop) but if I pay it off in six months, no interest. This is doable. But dang those student loans. Necessary evil. - Roadtrip. California and Utah primary destination.
It didn't happen. I think a road trip this year is very likely, but California will not be a destination. - Get a better sleep schedule (one where I'm not as prone to sleeping in so late.)
I still have my slothful moments, but overall I do a lot better about getting up when I need to get up and going to bed at decent times. But overall, I've done a lot better on this then this time last year. Work has been helping with consistent scheduling as well. - Keep ferrets from having to go to the vet for Earplug removals and things of that nature.
Blaine had a few moments there this year where I had to take him in to get checked out, but he did well in staying away from earplugs and other blockage items. However, considering I don't own ferrets anymore (would like to own some again in the future, if the opportunity arises) but seeing that I don't own any ferrets, this is a completed resolution, right?
Looking back, I didn't make a whole lot of resolutions for 2007. But with the old comes the new, so these are my goals this year.
- Paint more (I told you, it would be back)
- Max APFT (this is completely and 100% doable)
- Make at Least 70 points in each event on the male standard (I'll be training males at Knox, I want to be able to do anything and everything I ask them to do)
- Accomplish every task on the Confidence Course
- Earn a pair of wings (Air Assault, Airborne, whatever, I'm not picky, and Campbell is just two hours away)
- Buy a Handgun
- Effectively Juggle at least one college class with a mobilization at all times.
- RoadTrip (almost certain to happen this year!)
- Effectively grab an edge and land it on a snowboard.
- Jump out of a perfectly good airplane (Maybe already stated, but if I don't get Airborne, I still want to go skydiving. Or Bungee Jumping at least. Something crazy like that)
- Keep a semi regular update on comic. (This might die during mob, we'll see)
- Keep Election Year political talk semi civil minded. Unless Hillary is involved of course.
- Vote for the Winning Candidate.
- Don't go stark raving insane.
That should keep me busy. As always, resolutions may be altered over the next few days as I give myself time to think about them.
12.31.2007
2007 Year in Review
01. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
Traveled to Fort Jackson and yelled at Privates for two weeks. Never did that before.
I also rode a horse on the beach. I've never done that either, and always wanted too.
02. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I always make resolutions, or rather goals I would like to see accomplished. It gives me some direction. I did ok I think.
03. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, my sister and a few of my cousins.
04. Did anyone close to you die?
My sister's daughter Olivia, we only knew her for a few short hours but it was enough time to bond.
05. What countries did you visit?
No world traveling done this year.
06. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Lack of injuries.
07. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
October 16, which was the day I graduated Drill Sergeant School
08. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Probably graduating Drill Sergeant School.
09. What was your biggest failure?
Hmm, I don't think I really had a lot of failures this year. I did pretty Ok, so I guess one failure was not getting my 90s in each event on the PT test to get Commandant's List at DSS.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I break something every year. This year I broke my foot. I also had a pinched psyatic nerve. That thing sucks.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I spoiled myself this year. I bought a Wii, a DS, and a new Laptop.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
I'll say my sister, it's been said before by many but she is a rock and an inspiration to me.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
I wouldn't call my reaction appalled or depressed, rather more like a psychotic rage at times, but it comes with the territory when you deal with Privates. Nah, I had good soldiers, so I don't think I really had issues with anybody this year. One of my coworkers gets on my nerves, but I usually brush him off and it pisses him off.
No wait, I got one! My stupid laptop and it's desire to crash and burn on me, and taking about a dozen different writings I had been working on with it (I got it back though! Yay!)
14. Where did most of your money go?
Um, hmm. I paid off my car this year, got all my bills paid off, rent, a Wii. Actually, for a while I was making enough money to get by and have a little fun on the side so I wasn't hurting at all this year. I probably should have more money in the bank then I do but I'm doing alright.
It didn't help that I had to take care of my foot out of pocket. Little piddly expenses here and there. No ferrets though.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Drill Sergeant School. I just wanted to get this done and over with and it is so gratifying to get out of Drill Sergeant Prepatory Program.
16. What songs will always remind you of 2007?
They Tried to make me go to Rehab and I said No, No, NO!
17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
I think I'm happier. I'm pretty content right now where I'm at in life.
ii. Thinner or fatter?
Thinner. I feel pretty good right now, though I have a little more toning up to do.
iii. Richer or poorer?
Hmm, about the same. Maybe even richer because I don't have the debt (er, unless you count student loans) that i did last year.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
I wish I got more comics up then I did, I pretty much abandoned it this year. But the computer dying kind of killed it. I also wish I could have not broken my foot so I could have done more athletic activities earlier this year so I wasn't a fat cow going into drill sergeant school.
Oh, I should have played more video games. I still haven't beaten Legend of Zelda; Twilight Princess.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Sat around on my butt with a broken foot.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
The same way I did last year. With the family, watching movies, singing Karaoke and playing white elephant games. It's becoming tradition.
22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I am incapable of falling in love. Unless you count material possessions, which I don't think this applies.
23. How many one night stands?
24. What were your favourite TV programs?
Heroes, Lost, and Avatar the Last Airbender
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't have any animosity against anybody this year that I didn't have last year.
26. What was the best book you read?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I don't read a lot, I know. I write more then I read.
Gastroanomolies by James Lileks is a good read too.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Regina Spector.
28. What did you want and get?
I got my Wii, I wanted to go horseback riding on the beach at a full out run and got that, and if I wanted something bad enough, I just went and bought it.
29. What did you want and not get?
I spoiled myself this year and got something if I wanted it. However, my wants have remained fairly modest in that I didn't go into any huge spending sprees. I would still like to own a horse though.
I had to get rid of my little fuzzbutts before I went to DSS. I was disappointed to have to see them go, I was quite attached to them.
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
You know, there was a bunch of fun films this year but nothing stood out so far that was absolutely outstanding to me. Still, I loved Enchanted and Hot Fuzz (see previous blog post on this topic)
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I got a turkey dinner. I turned 27. Oh, and a couple of CDs and some other little things. I bought myself a Nintendo DS and a new Laptop.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Going to DSS in March instead of August, you know, not having broken my foot would have been fabulous.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
Kami Style. Comfortable. Casual. T-shirt over long sleeve shirt.
34. What kept you sane?
I'm not sane. But not having to worry about money helps.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did youfancy the most?
I don't really follow celebrities that much.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Er, um, huh? I guess anti Hillary issues. I can't stand her.
37. Who did you miss?
It would have been nice to see my sister's family some more, and I keep meaning to head down south to see some of my friends that I haven't seen in years.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
I met some pretty cool people at DSS and BNCOC, and my short time on the trail. I can't say one specific person however.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
You learn more by doing things then actually learning about it in school. Case in point, Drill Sergeant School.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Hey hey, You you, I Don't Like Your Girlfriend!
(ok, not really, I hate this song)
Traveled to Fort Jackson and yelled at Privates for two weeks. Never did that before.
I also rode a horse on the beach. I've never done that either, and always wanted too.
02. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I always make resolutions, or rather goals I would like to see accomplished. It gives me some direction. I did ok I think.
03. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, my sister and a few of my cousins.
04. Did anyone close to you die?
My sister's daughter Olivia, we only knew her for a few short hours but it was enough time to bond.
05. What countries did you visit?
No world traveling done this year.
06. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Lack of injuries.
07. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
October 16, which was the day I graduated Drill Sergeant School
08. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Probably graduating Drill Sergeant School.
09. What was your biggest failure?
Hmm, I don't think I really had a lot of failures this year. I did pretty Ok, so I guess one failure was not getting my 90s in each event on the PT test to get Commandant's List at DSS.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I break something every year. This year I broke my foot. I also had a pinched psyatic nerve. That thing sucks.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I spoiled myself this year. I bought a Wii, a DS, and a new Laptop.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
I'll say my sister, it's been said before by many but she is a rock and an inspiration to me.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
I wouldn't call my reaction appalled or depressed, rather more like a psychotic rage at times, but it comes with the territory when you deal with Privates. Nah, I had good soldiers, so I don't think I really had issues with anybody this year. One of my coworkers gets on my nerves, but I usually brush him off and it pisses him off.
No wait, I got one! My stupid laptop and it's desire to crash and burn on me, and taking about a dozen different writings I had been working on with it (I got it back though! Yay!)
14. Where did most of your money go?
Um, hmm. I paid off my car this year, got all my bills paid off, rent, a Wii. Actually, for a while I was making enough money to get by and have a little fun on the side so I wasn't hurting at all this year. I probably should have more money in the bank then I do but I'm doing alright.
It didn't help that I had to take care of my foot out of pocket. Little piddly expenses here and there. No ferrets though.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Drill Sergeant School. I just wanted to get this done and over with and it is so gratifying to get out of Drill Sergeant Prepatory Program.
16. What songs will always remind you of 2007?
They Tried to make me go to Rehab and I said No, No, NO!
17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
I think I'm happier. I'm pretty content right now where I'm at in life.
ii. Thinner or fatter?
Thinner. I feel pretty good right now, though I have a little more toning up to do.
iii. Richer or poorer?
Hmm, about the same. Maybe even richer because I don't have the debt (er, unless you count student loans) that i did last year.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
I wish I got more comics up then I did, I pretty much abandoned it this year. But the computer dying kind of killed it. I also wish I could have not broken my foot so I could have done more athletic activities earlier this year so I wasn't a fat cow going into drill sergeant school.
Oh, I should have played more video games. I still haven't beaten Legend of Zelda; Twilight Princess.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Sat around on my butt with a broken foot.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
The same way I did last year. With the family, watching movies, singing Karaoke and playing white elephant games. It's becoming tradition.
22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I am incapable of falling in love. Unless you count material possessions, which I don't think this applies.
24. What were your favourite TV programs?
Heroes, Lost, and Avatar the Last Airbender
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't have any animosity against anybody this year that I didn't have last year.
26. What was the best book you read?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I don't read a lot, I know. I write more then I read.
Gastroanomolies by James Lileks is a good read too.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Regina Spector.
28. What did you want and get?
I got my Wii, I wanted to go horseback riding on the beach at a full out run and got that, and if I wanted something bad enough, I just went and bought it.
29. What did you want and not get?
I spoiled myself this year and got something if I wanted it. However, my wants have remained fairly modest in that I didn't go into any huge spending sprees. I would still like to own a horse though.
I had to get rid of my little fuzzbutts before I went to DSS. I was disappointed to have to see them go, I was quite attached to them.
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
You know, there was a bunch of fun films this year but nothing stood out so far that was absolutely outstanding to me. Still, I loved Enchanted and Hot Fuzz (see previous blog post on this topic)
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I got a turkey dinner. I turned 27. Oh, and a couple of CDs and some other little things. I bought myself a Nintendo DS and a new Laptop.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Going to DSS in March instead of August, you know, not having broken my foot would have been fabulous.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
Kami Style. Comfortable. Casual. T-shirt over long sleeve shirt.
34. What kept you sane?
I'm not sane. But not having to worry about money helps.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you
I don't really follow celebrities that much.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Er, um, huh? I guess anti Hillary issues. I can't stand her.
37. Who did you miss?
It would have been nice to see my sister's family some more, and I keep meaning to head down south to see some of my friends that I haven't seen in years.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
I met some pretty cool people at DSS and BNCOC, and my short time on the trail. I can't say one specific person however.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
You learn more by doing things then actually learning about it in school. Case in point, Drill Sergeant School.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Hey hey, You you, I Don't Like Your Girlfriend!
(ok, not really, I hate this song)
New Year Traditions
Well, last night we celebrated our yearly tradition of eating steak one night early (because the steak house in question is closed on Mondays). I had a nice chunk of Medium Rare Porterhouse that I ate about half of and saved the rest for today (still pretty darn scrumptious!)
You know the expensive steak restaurants that you only endulge in every once in a blue moon because if you ate there regularly you would be broke and about the size of the cow you were eating.
Having Sunday night off was a nice change, and going out with the whole fam damily is always nice, some premium bonding time speant eating lots and lots of meat.
Another one of our little traditions that I've known for as long as I can remember is the New Years Baby. We would stick our shoe by the door and when we woke up New Year's Day the shoe would be full of all sorts of goodies brought by the baby (usually a couple candy bars, a magazine, a staple goodie has become a magazine.)
It's just one of those fun things you do as a family that you look forward to sharing with your own children. Should I ever have any. Well, in the meantime, i'll enjoy the nieces and nephews and watch them take part in the celebration this New Years.
You know the expensive steak restaurants that you only endulge in every once in a blue moon because if you ate there regularly you would be broke and about the size of the cow you were eating.
Having Sunday night off was a nice change, and going out with the whole fam damily is always nice, some premium bonding time speant eating lots and lots of meat.
Another one of our little traditions that I've known for as long as I can remember is the New Years Baby. We would stick our shoe by the door and when we woke up New Year's Day the shoe would be full of all sorts of goodies brought by the baby (usually a couple candy bars, a magazine, a staple goodie has become a magazine.)
It's just one of those fun things you do as a family that you look forward to sharing with your own children. Should I ever have any. Well, in the meantime, i'll enjoy the nieces and nephews and watch them take part in the celebration this New Years.
12.30.2007
Tag
Yay, a random Meme. I actually wasn't tagged, but maybe I was? I don't know. Let's see how well I can answer this.
5 things I was doing 10 years ago
1. I was a Junior in High School.
2. I kept statistics for the Varsity Basketball Team.
3. I was a bit of a loser (hmm, some things don't change)
4. I was taking Pottery.
5. I pole vaulted on the Track Team (spring time, but still, just shy ten years). didn't do that well, but I tried.
5 things on my to-do list today
1. Order books for School
2. Finish up Comic
3. Pay Rent for Next Month
4. Do Laundry
5. Eat Dinner with Family
Snacks I enjoy
1. Chocolate Covered Raisins
2. Sushi
3. Cheerios, with Raisins
4. Quasidillas (sp???)
5. Chips and dip
Things I would do if I were a billionaire
1. Own my own airplane and get a pilots license
2. Have lots of property with horses and all that jazz.
3. Travel. A lot.
4. Go to school for enrichment purposes and learn how to do anything I want to learn
5. Photograph, do art, and never work retail again.
3 Bad habits
1. I pick at things. You know, old paint on the park bench, peeling wallpaper, fingernail polish, things like that.
2. Procrastinator of the worst degree, I'm bad at returning emails, phone calls or anything like that.
3. I talk to myself, and have for as long as I can remember. I never said I'm sane.
5 Places I've lived
1. Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo
2. Winemucca, NV
3. Vernal. UT
4. Woodland, CA
5. San Antonio, TX
5 Jobs I've Had
1. Paper Route
2. Concessionaire at Movie Theater
3. Fred Meyer cashier
4. Wrangler at Yellowstone
5. Drill Sergeant
5 Things People Probably Don't Know About Me
1. When I was a kid, I wanted to take ballet. I wanted to learn how to walk on my toes, not for the tutu wearing or any of that.
2. I write so much that I think I would love to be an author, and need to focus on writing stories that are readable.
3. I can't stand amusement park rides, unless they are roller coasters
4. I got into blogging by accident.
5. As a child, I anthropamorphosized everything, little items had a personality and I would feel sorry for something if I felt it was getting left out.
I don't tag, on principle.
Extra note - Blogger's spell check is really stupid.
5 things I was doing 10 years ago
1. I was a Junior in High School.
2. I kept statistics for the Varsity Basketball Team.
3. I was a bit of a loser (hmm, some things don't change)
4. I was taking Pottery.
5. I pole vaulted on the Track Team (spring time, but still, just shy ten years). didn't do that well, but I tried.
5 things on my to-do list today
1. Order books for School
2. Finish up Comic
3. Pay Rent for Next Month
4. Do Laundry
5. Eat Dinner with Family
Snacks I enjoy
1. Chocolate Covered Raisins
2. Sushi
3. Cheerios, with Raisins
4. Quasidillas (sp???)
5. Chips and dip
Things I would do if I were a billionaire
1. Own my own airplane and get a pilots license
2. Have lots of property with horses and all that jazz.
3. Travel. A lot.
4. Go to school for enrichment purposes and learn how to do anything I want to learn
5. Photograph, do art, and never work retail again.
3 Bad habits
1. I pick at things. You know, old paint on the park bench, peeling wallpaper, fingernail polish, things like that.
2. Procrastinator of the worst degree, I'm bad at returning emails, phone calls or anything like that.
3. I talk to myself, and have for as long as I can remember. I never said I'm sane.
5 Places I've lived
1. Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo
2. Winemucca, NV
3. Vernal. UT
4. Woodland, CA
5. San Antonio, TX
5 Jobs I've Had
1. Paper Route
2. Concessionaire at Movie Theater
3. Fred Meyer cashier
4. Wrangler at Yellowstone
5. Drill Sergeant
5 Things People Probably Don't Know About Me
1. When I was a kid, I wanted to take ballet. I wanted to learn how to walk on my toes, not for the tutu wearing or any of that.
2. I write so much that I think I would love to be an author, and need to focus on writing stories that are readable.
3. I can't stand amusement park rides, unless they are roller coasters
4. I got into blogging by accident.
5. As a child, I anthropamorphosized everything, little items had a personality and I would feel sorry for something if I felt it was getting left out.
I don't tag, on principle.
Extra note - Blogger's spell check is really stupid.
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