Insignifica

Weekend Plans, Seriously WWJD, FSM, teh sick, Rock on Thursday!

It's Thursday, and that means it's almost Friday. Rock on, Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Delicious presents the Girlfriend got for her birthday.

Hopefully it's just the crazy winds (and last night they were scary-crazy), but I might be getting sick again. The baby's been sick, so it might be the same thing. Teh sick sucks.

I'll be attending the The Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Pageant tonight. Join us there!

Wil has a very cool post called "Seriously. What would Jesus do? - take a read.

Any big plans this weekend, friends? I'm planning on resting, but that could always change. Hows about you?

Smiles, Sharing, Short Term Memory, Windy

Wow, windy! It's the rare cold Santa Ana winds, and they're awesome in terms of vistas and seeing things blow down the street, but not so awesome in clean-up, dry skin, and "things falling down" potential. Watch out for tumbleweeds!

Picture of the day:

The "handshake" shot from Adam's wedding photos. we both look damn classy, and the pic is only a little gay.

The baby has a cold right now, so she's been waking up angry and leaking for the last couple nights. Because of that, I've been getting a bit less than my average amount of sleep. Because of that, my short-term memory is shot to hell. I have something I keep meaning to check online, and for the life of me I can't remember what it is. There was a flash of remembrance when I picked up the phone a minute ago, but it's gone, again.

Since it's a time for sharing, I wanted to share that Evite, Flickr, and Meebo all rule.

I smiled at everyone yesterday, and got a bunch of smiles back. Some people looked surprised to be smiled at. Yay!

How's it going, readers?

Smile Homework, New Years Eve, FSM Pageant, Almost December

Hey Tuesday! I realized that today that December begins this week. Oi! Less than a month until Christmas. Time to get crackin'.

Picture of the day!

Tolga and Lisa at the girlfriend's birthday party this month. Cute!

The Hunger Artists Theatre Company is presenting "The Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Pagent" Fridays through Sundays, December 1 - 17, 2006 at their theatre in Fullerton. From their site:

An original comedy, just in time for Christmas, that celebrates the twisted and hilarious history of the new religious phenomenon, Flying Spaghetti Monsterism.

Tickets are $18.00 for Adults and $15.00 for Students / Seniors. We might be planning a group trip, and I'll be going to the preview on November 30.

Friends, what do you want to do for New Years Eve? My options are open!

Your homework for today: Smile at everyone. Smile until it's almost creepy. Boys and girls, young and old. Report back with your findings!

Gift Exchange Ideas, My Monetary Situation, New Pictures, Good Thanksgiving!

Happy Monday, Friends! I hope your Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving weekends were fantastic - mine were! Too much good food, got to see all my family, and there weren't any turkey related disasters. Good times!

Picture of the day!

Easily one of the cutest pictures of my daughter ever.

Speaking of pictures, There are, of course, new pictures in the Katherine Set, and there are two new sets: Thanksgiving 2006 and Phaedra's Birthday 2006. Enjoy them!

Several people have been concerned about my monetary situation. To clarify, I'm not starving. All my bills are getting paid. I'm just unhappy with my current amount of debt. But I'm taking non-game show steps to resolve problems associated with high interest. I'm also looking into game show options, but those are harder to count on. Thanks for your concern!

I'm considering a couple ideas for gift exchange this year - cards only (I'll be sending you a card, regardless, but I might make it interesting), regular tit-for-tat presents (you get me something, I'll get you something - here's my Amazon wishlist if you're so inclined), or my idea that's currently winning the race in my head, an all-homemade gift exchange. You make me something, I'll make you something - crafts, websites, delicious cakes, etc. Thoughts?

Happy Birthday Joz!

Happy Birthday, Joz!

On Thanksgiving

Ah, the end of Thanksgiving day - the house is far cleaner than it's been in a long time, and after Thanksgiving, when everyone's left, is one of my favorite times at home. Not only because the house is clean, but also because I'm full of delicious carbs (everything today was especially delicious), and it seems like there's so much more space all over the house.

Like I said, all the food tonight was great. Mushroom stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, homemade rolls, non-canned sweet potatoes (though I like canned ones too), asparagus, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, pumpkin pie, and a Tofurkey sausage. The meat eaters had a oven-baked turkey, giblet stuffing, and gravy. I was going to get a whole Tofurkey, but they were frozen at the store, and I didn't have enough time after thinking of it at 2pm. That said, the sausage was just fine.

Mini-rant: Is it that hard to carry mushroom gravy, large grocery store? Seriously, it's not like it's THAT weird. Also, companies that make those dry packets of various sauces: Everything doesn't need beef fat. That's all.

Tomorrow, another Thanksgiving, going to my mom's house and getting together with all my siblings. Thanksgiving is the only day we do that every year, as my sister flies in from Maine and on Christmas, the rest of us occasionally miss each other if we have an early or late engagement with another side of the family.

I don't usually do the "I'm Thankful for..." thing, but I'm thankful for just about everything - I'm healthy, the family is healthy, I have a job, I have a house, and I've never been hungry. I've got just about every advantage I could hope for. Life is good.

Happy Thanksgiving, all! I hope you all had a great one.

Eric's birthday, Thankgiving

Happy Birthday, Eric! And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Weekend plans, Tshirthell.com Wishlist, Birthday, Thankful!

Thanksgiving Wednesday! I give thanks for family and friends, delicious food, and having a four-day weekend.

Picture of the day!

This is another one of those shots that's never been viewed on Flickr by anyone but me. It also didn't have any tags (it was in with the rest of the Bay Area Trip 2005 set). It's a little bleak, but I like the shot very much. Click for a better view. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Karen!

If you'd like to buy me, or my daughter, some very, very offensive t-shirts, check out my Tshirt Hell Wish List here. Be warned that you will be offended if you visit that site. If this doesn't bother you, shop away!

Lots of family stuff planned for the weekend - spending Thanksgiving Day with the girlfriend's family at our place, then doing stuff with my side on Friday after my sister comes in from Maine. Saturday and Sunday, however, are currently without plans. Call me up!

No idea about my posting status for this long weekend, but I hate to keep my readers hungry, so check back. I'll at least have some sort of "What I'm thankful for" list tomorrow. Have great weekending!

Thanksgiving plans, Yams, OJ, Magic Tuesday

Ah, the Thanksgiving week Tuesday - It's like Tuesday, 'cause it is a Tuesday. But it's also like Wednesday because it's the middle of the short week. But it's also like Thursday, because tomorrow is the last day before my long weekend. Enjoy it!

Picture of the day!

Marek deals with Luke the best way he knows how - inversion.

OJ's book and TV special cancelled - they say they're gonna destroy all the books, but I'm sure some will escape. Interesting!

I'm not sure why, but the idea of canned yams heated and topped with marshmallows REALLY sounds good this year. We'll see if the reality is as good as the picture in my head - usually the yams we have with Thanksgiving are fresh or not candy-topped...but I took care of that this year with some marshmallow cream. Delicious!

What are your Thanksgiving plans, readers? What special dishes are you looking forward to? Are you traveling far? Throwing a dinner yourself? Inquiring minds want to know!

Peace, Baby, Birthdays, Beautiful

Good morning, and Happy Monday! Another nice warm day in Southern California. It's beautiful out!

Picture of the day!

Marek, Lisa and Katherine enjoying each other's company.

Happy Birthday Brian!

Speaking of birthdays, my calendar runneth over with them. Such is November, but get used to the well wishes! If I don't know when yours is, let me know. I'm keeping track now!

Not much else to report, other than the baby can pretty much sit up on her own if we prop her up, and likes to play that way. Oh, and she makes a noise that's pretty close to crying to express just about every emotion. That's fun. But she's a good kid. We'll keep her.

The day seems quiet. Make it fun and lively for me!

Peace out, homies. Peace out.

Birthday, Papers Please, Garlic, Feeling Better, Beautiful November

Friday! Another beautiful weekend in southern California. Sunny and in the 70s. That's what I call November.

Picture of the day!

Marek and Jenn from Halloween. Lots of smiles that night.

In general, I'm feeling much better. I like to think I'm in "detox" mode right now, just getting everything out of my system, and working on recovering. I've had worse colds, but this one hit me pretty hard.

I'm beginning to think I may have a garlic allergy. This would be disturbing news is true.

Discussion item of the day: This kid at UCLA was tasered because he refused to show his ID to campus police. Refusal to show identification has been reason enough for police to do all sorts of things. Who's right, here? Should Americans be required to show their ID whenever asked, or face arrest or violence?

Lots of girlfriend's birthday related plans this weekend, plus some more recovery time. I hope your weekend kicks ass, too!

Rockin', Bumper Stickers, Radical, Glesser Baby, Recovering

Thursday, and while I'm not recovered, I feel much, much better than yesterday. Hopefully this trend continues.

Picture of the day!

Chris shows his manly swing with the wiffleball bat. This is one of many pictures that's never been viewed except by me - weird how some random pictures are popular, and some never even get looked at. Enjoy!

Congrats to Adam and Kim Glesser on the announcement of their next child! It's always scary when people you know from college breed...just ask my friends.

While I'm very happy Democrats will be the majority again in congress, I'm very, very angry that they're not looking to impeach the president. I know there's a lot of politics to be played, but I hate that wanting justice for someone who has very likely committed war crimes makes me a radical. I'm just sayin'.

Anyone know any good services for having bumper stickers made?

Time for work. I hope you enjoy your Thursday - keep on rockin'!

Dying, Weird November, Birthday, Teh Sick

Day two of "Staying home cause I'm barely able to get out of bed". Teh sick sucks. This is easily the worst cold I've had in years. Damn you, teh sick!

Picture of the day!

Some pretty flowers at the Huntington. Click for better view - the small version doesn't do it justice.

Happy Birthday, Jess!

Weird November continues, after rain yesterday, it's gotta be 75F out there. Really nice and clear. Nights are still cool, which rules.

Fark headline of the day: "Trent Lott selected as Senate Minority Whip, because if there's one thing that Trent Lott likes, it's whipping minorities."

Back to bed for me. Pray for my soul.

Resting, Frys.com, OC Atheists, Teh Sick

It’s Tuesday, and I’ve got teh sick – mostly head cold stuff, but also a bit weak, etc. It sucks!

Picture of the day!

Katherine in her bunny rabbit robe after a bath.

Orange County Atheists meeting tonight!. Join us!

Has anyone ever been able to contact Frys.com customer service? One email and 5 phone calls, and I still can't get a hold of anyone. Bastards.

I'll keep it short, since I'm going back to bed; hopefully I'll feel better by this evening, and for work tomorrow. Cheers!

OC Atheists, Free Sunday, Mariah's Birthday, Sick

Monday! I have a cold, but I'm in the "recovery/non-contagious" stage, so I'm going to work. It's not a horrible one, it's just annoying. I also wouldn't want to run a marathon or climb a bunch of stairs or anything. Oh well. Here's to recovery!

Picture of the day!

Mariah, the baby and the girlfriend at Mariah's wedding in July.

Happy Birthday Mariah! I don't think you're a regular reader, but I'll wish you one anyway!

My free Sunday was spent at home relaxing, due to the aforementioned illness. That said, it's a nice way to spend a Sunday. I got to reacquaint myself with the various freaks on the internet. Go freaks!

A reminder that the next meeting of the Orange County Atheists will be held Tomorrow, November 14 at 7:30pm at the International House of Pancakes at 18542 MacArthur Blvd in Irvine. If you consider yourself an atheist, an agnostic, a freethinker, a humanist, or are just curious, check out this month's event. If you're planning on attending please RSVP at our website forums. Hope to see you there!

Friends, how was your weekend? Leave a comment and let me know!

My Financial Woes, Chain Soda, Sunday Plans, Thanks for Rockin'!

Oh, Friday. How you rock. Thanks for Rockin'!

Picture of the day!

From the Scrapbook collection: Always one of my favorites of the girlfriend. The shot itself is interesting too.

Sunday the girlfriend is taking the baby to the zoo with family, which means I have almost the entire day to myself - what should I do? Options include cleaning the closet/office/garage (hard work, but amazingly satisfying), going somewhere I haven't gone in a while (casino for poker, perhaps? Maybe not the best idea if you keep reading down), sleeping (sleeping rules), making my audition tape for 1 vs. 100 (fun, but I need your help) or possibly something you suggest. What's up Sunday, friends?

Some people are chain smokers, I'm a chain diet soda drinker. I bought a new one before I finished my old one. I may need help.

Speaking of help, readers, I need yours! I'm by no means poor, but like many Americans, I live, and have lived in the past, slightly beyond my means. This translates to having more debt than I would like. Some is hard to avoid - the car I bought new three years ago, the house of course, my dental work. But plenty was me wanting to enjoy life. And while I consider that very important, it's left me with monthly payments I don't enjoy.

So, how do you help? I'd like your suggestions! Ideally, I'd like to consolidate with a large, low interest loan, possibly with small minimum payments and no fees for paying more than the minimum every month. I own a house (well, 49% of a house), and while its appreciated nicely, I'm not sure of all the rules that lending institutions have for home equity loans. I already have one consolidation loan, but the payments are so high that it's crimping my style (and by "style" I mean "ability to buy groceries").

I'm open to other options, loans, get-rich-quick schemes and genuine business proposals also. I'd like to know what's worked for you, what you don't suggest, and anything else you have to offer. Thoughts?

Almost Friday, Frys.com, My Representatives, Help Teresa, Solid Foods, Dems Win

Thursday! Dems pretty much officially take the Senate to go with the House. Rock on!

Picture of the day!

Katherine looking cute in her pink overalls.

Speaking of my daughter, we attempted, for the first time, to feed her solid foods today - specifically rice cereal. I'm pretty sure she didn't even swallow any. It's all on tape, though - I might upload it for the world to view.

Teresa needs your help!

I have been advertising for interview participants for my thesis for a good handful of weeks now, with little to no luck. I've posted flyers at UCSC and Cal, contacted the mixed race club at Cal, put up an ad on craigslist, emailed a bunch of my friends from high school, and sent the word out on Myspace. Despite this, I have only a grand total of four out of fifteen participants -- and I really want to be writing my first draft by sometime in December! So I'm imploring you, my LJ friends, to help me out.

I'm looking for two different types of people:

1) Biracial people in their 20's, who are either college-educated or pursuing a college degree, and who have one parent who is White and one who is Asian or Pacific Islander.

2) Single-race parents of biracial Asian/Pacific Islander-White children between the ages of infancy and five. They should also be college-educated or be working on a degree.

Participation includes filling out a very brief demographic survey and taking part in an hour-long, face-to-face interview. This means that I would prefer participants who live in the SF Bay Area. I am willing, however, to conduct interviews via instant messenger (I can't do it over the phone since I would have no way to record it).

I know people are busy with midterms or the up-coming holidays or whatever. But I would really appreciate any help you all can give me by spreading the word. Interested parties can reach me at mixedrace2006 (at) yahoo (dot) com.

It's time again to compile my list of all my representatives, like I did last year. Look for it in the coming days. Lots of local changes.

I'm glad Frys.com actually sells stuff now, but my efforts to return an item are very typical Frys - I've called their customer support number 4 times, each time being on hold for more than 10 minutes, eventually hanging up. An email to them has also been fruitless. Gotta keep trying, unless you want this car stereo/DVD player...

Hope you have a great Thursday, readers - it's almost Friday!

Hump Day, Your Next State Assemblyman, everytopicintheuniverseexceptchickens.com, Kat and Song, Yay Democrats!

Happy Wednesday! An especially happy Wednesday for democrats out there - we overwhelmingly took the house, the majority of governorships, and will quite possibly take the the majority in the Senate. It's also led to Rumsfeld resigning, and it's still early today! W00t!

Picture of the day!

Grillin' some meat and looking clean-cut.

Congrats to Kat and Song on the birth of their daughter on Monday! Good timing: the kid came just the day after the baby shower.

Behold the internets! Ryan at Dinosaur Comics (which you should be reading) started a funny/faux/mock/real campaign to fix wikipedia by having everyone focus their vandalism efforts on the chickens article, and to leave the rest alone. It worked well enough that the page was locked down almost instantly by the editors. Read more at www.everytopicintheuniverseexceptchickens.com.

Entertaining! I don't care for my new 69th Assembly District representative, Jose Solorio - dude was annoying in the mailers for his primary campaign, and he sent me stupid crap. But I couldn't vote for the Republican, so wrote myself in - only to find out when I got home that my girlfriend had done the exact same thing. That's two votes for me to be your next State Assemblyman (and 18297 to go)!

Friends, thanks for reading! I hope your hump day is a great one!

1 vs. 100, On the Internets, Orange Foods, Election Day!

Happy Tuesday, and Happy Election Day! No voting problems here, other than having to vote on Calvary Chapel property. Check out OC Metblog for all your voter-related linking needs.

Picture of the day!

Katherine looking at the Buca di Beppo menu.

Fall truly is the "orange foods" season. I have both candy corn and carrots in my snack drawer at work.

I'm all over the internets today. There's a piece I wrote in my newspaper, including a picture of me with a mohawk. The story that my piece was attached to is linked at fark, too. This is my first time writing anything of this sort for the paper. Rock!

I'm going to apply to be on NBC's 1 vs 100. Wanna be in my audition videotape?

How's the day and the voting going for you, readers?

Chris Clark Wants You!

This is from Chris - help this guy out!

Hey guys! In less than 2 weeks I'll be dancing my ass off for 24 straight hours to raise money for cancer research. I'm doing this for the countless thousands that suffer from this terrible disease, and more specifically for two very dear people that we've lost recently: Vicki VanderYacht and David Doss Sr. Please support me in what will be a completely exhausting but exhilarating endeavor. I love swing dancing, and I love the fact that I have this opportunity to help so many people.

Also, a donation of $20 will allow you to come to the event and watch as much as you want! There will be all kinds of live bands, food, games, etc, and plus a few hundred warm-hearted, completely insane swing dancers cutting a rug to save lives. Check the website for locations and events schedules – stuff is going on non-stop from 10:00am Saturday, November 11th, to 10:00am Sunday, November 12th!

Thanks for your help and support!

Here's my page on the site:
http://www.danceathon.org/index.php?loadbody=mip&mid=456

From here you can make a donation that logs directly under my name (as a dancing participant), and then click around the site to see the rest of the info on the event! Yay!

Week Ahead, Video The Vote, Haggard, Meebo, Hot

Happy Monday! In Southern California today, hot! Such is November, but even this is a bit warmer than usual. At least it won't be rainy here for election day tomorrow. Get out there and vote!

Picture of the day!

Chris Clark, questioning your patronage.

If you use meebo.com, you've already seen the changes, but if you haven't, check it out. It's a beautiful web service, works like a charm, and it's free. I'm actually looking for a way to make a small payment to them, just to help ensure they stick around. It's easily my favorite web service in a long, long time.

New Blog! Teresa has a new food blog called Not From a Box. Her food posts are always awesome - it'll be great to have them all in one place.

Ted Haggard came out this weekend, and he's a total asshole. He said "I am a deceiver and a liar", "I am guilty of sexual immorality" and "There’s a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring against it for all of my adult life.” I don't think he was just talking about buying drugs and cheating on his wife here. His tone, to me, says "I like men, and it makes me a horrible, horrible person" - Is this how you read it? or am I off the mark?

I'm intrigued by Video The Vote. I do worry some about people being intimidated, but I think it's a great way to document any potential problems - they're often reported, but not much seems to be done. I just wish the page had a "what's the law in your state?" page. Still, I like it.

Readers, how was your weekend? How do you see the week ahead going? Tell me!

Friends, Pray Page, Letters to God, Haggard, Hair, Frys Order, Weekending

Happy Friday, friends! Weather's looking good, my hair's growing back nicely, and I've got plenty to do this weekend. Rock!

Picture of the day!

Brandon, cutting his cake at Gary's place this year.

A package for a Frys order is being delivered by DHL, and their tracking software says it's "With delivery courier" after leaving their Irvine facility this morning. That's good, except "expected delivery date" listed right under that is Tuesday. I hope the driver doesn't just take it home with him this weekend...

Update! Package delivered at 10:34am. At least that's what the internet tells me.

I believe guys with almost no hair (like me, currently) look better in black. I wore a rather colorful Red and Black lounge/bowler style yesterday, and I looked a bit like a clown. Of course my head hair's only on its 6th day of growth, and it already looks much more like a very short cut instead of a biccing.

This Ted Haggard story is really interesting to me. I'm a big proponent of "innocent until proven guilty" in terms of the law - but when someone denies something happened, then resigns from one leadership position and steps down temporarily from another, I can only assume there's more going on here. After all, if it's just some wacko allegations like his supporters are saying, why back down at all? Everyone in the spotlight has allegations made of them...they don't all step down. Weird.

Update from CNN: "Pastor admits buying meth - A top evangelical leader who is accused of paying a male prostitute for sex admitted today he contacted his accuser "for a massage" and purchased methamphetamine from him. But the Rev. Ted Haggard said he never had sex with Mike Jones and threw away the drugs."

That's the funniest thing I've read all day.

Another story that had me scratching my head: "Letters to God found dumped off New Jersey coast. Who writes a letter to God? What address do you use? Do you expect a better response because it's handwritten rather than spoken?

Update, from the story: "Many of the letters were addressed to the Rev. Grady Cooper, though many more simply said "Altar." According to the text of several of them, they were intended to be placed on a church's altar and prayed over by the minister, the congregation or both." Still, it's weird to me. Then again, prayer is, in general.

Hmm. I should really rewrite that "presumption of prayer" page, as well as bringing it up to date in terms of design. I must have taken that from internet conversations - it's not my usual writing style. Interesting how things change over 5 or 6 years.

Friends, I hope your weekend is fantastic. Thanks for reading!

Dinner with Friends, NaNoWriMo, Office and Schedules, Holiday Season

Ah, Thursdays. A quick week means a very quickly approaching weekend! I discovered this week that my weekends are booked straight through until 2007 - some December dates aren't finalized, but I'm sure I'll be hearing about plans. Welcome holiday season!

Picture of the day!

Garrett and Katherine from our Santa Cruz trip in July.

Today will be the third day in the row the girlfriend and baby will be elsewhere for my lunch hour, and it's strange to have my old routine back, even though I had that routine for years. I've gotten very used to going home to see the family at lunch, though I've only been doing it for a few months. Things certainly change, though: My home office, where I'd typically spend a couple hours every evening writing, web surfing, chatting or reading has largely gone unused since Katherine's come home - and piles of papers and half-finished projects from June are a testament to that.

Speaking of unfinished projects, yesterday started National Novel Writing Month, a very cool project I tried a couple years back, where participants write a 50,000 word novel or other creative piece during November. For those of you counting at home, that's about 1,700 words, or three to four 10-point pages, a day. I'm not officially participating this year - I literally don't think I have the time to finish. But I'm gonna give it a shot and see how well I do. Do check out the site, though - it's a very interesting concept.

Friends, it's been too long since we all sat down to a delicious lunch or dinner. Let's do it! Lemme know your schedules, and we'll put something together.

Stereo Installation, Meat Loaf, Hair Growth, Halloween Pictures, Time Flies

Happy November, Friends! While I know that November 1 directly follows October 31, it still seems like a jump in "time of year" to me. All of a sudden we're 8 weeks from Christmas, 9 weeks from 2007, and we're closer to Winter than we are to last Summer.

Picture of the day!

A good lookin' shot of Chris and myself from our reunion in September.

I've uploaded another large batch of photos from Halloween - as yet untagged, safe for work, but many rather silly. Oddly enough, while there was drinking going on, the crowd was fairly sober, even with all the dancing and falling on each other. Good times!

It's strange how quickly the hair on my head is growing back. I'll look "very trimmed" instead of "recently shorn" in just a week or two.

I didn't make it to see Meat Loaf last night, as the traffic really seemed to be as bad as I thought it might be, there was a bad accident on the 101 just as I would have been leaving, and Hollywood would have been kinda crazy. I hope this doesn't make me old, just not into radical inconvenience.

Friends: Do you have experience in car stereo installation? I want to hear from you!