Happy 2006, Challenges, Goals, La Creperie, New Years, Last Post

Happy Friday, and happy end of 2006! This might not be my last post of the year, but it's my last regular post, surely (if you haven't noticed, there's a format for 95% of my entries in the last year). Happy New Year!

Picture of the day!

Katherine at Christmas. She enjoyed ripping paper and eating it.

New Years is gonna be small this year, but I'm really looking forward to it. Good friends, good booze, good food. Rockin'.

Speaking of good food, I've heard very good things about La Creperie in Long Beach, our choice for lunch tomorrow. Who knew it'd be this easy to get everyone together and find a new place that looks good? If you'd like to attend, leave a comment!

Now, I'm not a fan of New Years "Resolutions", but I like goals, and I like challenges. My goals include:

- Getting down to 200lbs (Attainable, surely. But can I do it? What's my incentive?)
- Working with Orange County Atheists to make an active dent in city council invocations (Requires pestering and some luck. But I'm up for it.)
- Assist more people in getting online. Get them a website and hosting. Help them set up somewhere else. Anything to get more people self-publishing (So totally doable.)
- Open up a can of whoopass on my garage, and make it some where I can work on projects or park a car (This might be done in the next week!)
- Many more things!

Onto Challenges. This is where you come in. What would you like to see me accomplish in 2007? Is there something you want from me? Something you think I could do with some incentive? Something you totally don't think I could do, but would like to watch me try? Let me know! Tempt me with things! Make me offers I wouldn't want to refuse!

Happy 2006, friends! I hope you enjoyed it!

Ford, Breakfast, Food Exchange, Last Thursday

Welcome to the last Thursday of 2006!

Picture of the day!

Katherine and cthulhu. Both look happy. Both will eventually kill you.

One of the things I really enjoyed this month was all the delicious foods and sharing of foods - very rarely do we do as much exchange of edible goods as we do during the holidays. It may sound 50s of me, but we should totally be doing pot lucks and food exchanges all year long, highlighting our specialties and e enjoying the culinary treats of others. Seriously, 'cause food rocks.

Hey, remember when I said a few months ago that we should totally get together for breakfasts and lunches, like we get together for dinners? How's Saturday sound for you for lunch? Leave a comment. Bonus! That post just happens to contain this blog's only other cthulhu reference before yesterday! Weird!

UPDATE! Lunch is on. Check the comments. RSVP if you're coming.

So, readers, what are your thoughts on Ford? Good president? Lame Duck? Should he have pardoned Nixon? Was his campaign wrong to use the slogan "Re-elect Ford" in 1976? Discuss!

Talk to me, friends. talk to me. What up?

Slow News Day, Ford, Vacation

Happy Wednesday! After today, two more days until my vacation. My plans aren't finalized yet, but it's looking more and more like a trip to beautiful Primm, Nevada is in the works for Tuesday, January 2. Wanna go?

Picture of the day!

Jenn and Marek, attention divided.

Speaking of pictures, CNN was running this classy lookin' picture of President Ford with a pipe. Even with smoking still being fairly common in the US, I can't imagine a president ever lighting up in public again. Speaking of ford, here's the transcript of a particularly funny SNL sketch.

Not much else going on, friends. What's going on with you?

Limbo, Thoughts on Christmas, Food and Awesomeness, Welcome Back

Happy Tuesday, friends! Welcome back from whatever you did, where ever you did it.

Picture of the day!

Cranberries! This is a process shot from my vodka infusion gifts I made this year. There's a big picture infused write-up coming. Check out the very large version of this picture for some neat "mid boil" detail.

Oddly enough, we didn't have cranberries with Christmas dinner this year. Speaking of Christmas however - wow! As usual, a great event (well, two great events). I got to cook breakfast at the girlfriend's grandmother's house, and made potatoes, kugel, and scrambled eggs. Did presents, then came home, got food for the dinner at my brother's, and headed over there. Great, huge dinner, and way too many presents - but all awesome ones. Some thoughts:

- Giving a giftcard gets a lot of bad press, and I can understand how it seems impersonal. But to me, when someone gets me a restaurant giftcard, that says "I know you enjoy this, here's an excuse to have a night out - enjoy!". Ain't nothing wrong with that. It's also great for teens - cause man, they're hard to buy for.

- Who knew they made plush Cthulhu dolls? Thanks Marek!

- You know you're getting older when you're absolutely jazzed when you get socks and underwear - the good stuff is expensive!

Now we're in the limbo week - no longer Christmas, not yet 2007. New Year's is a gonna be a small event this year, but it does look like there'll be an event.

How were your holidays, friends?

Goodwill, Tree, Christmasness in General

Happy Friday, and Happy Christmas weekend! I'm excited about food and family and presents. Those things all rock.

Picture of the day!

"It's a Small World", all lit up for Christmas. I was looking forward to taking Katie on this, but for some reason the line was several hours long. Weird. Next time!

When I was growing up, we had a tradition of getting our tree late - like, Christmas Eve late. Sometimes we'd get it the day before (depending on what day of the week Christmas was), my dad would string up the lights, and we'd spend Christmas eve decorating it. That was just the way it was. Now that I have my own place, I tend to put it up a little earlier, just because I like having it around. But we kept putting it off, until last night, when we went to Home Depot, where I had my Easiest Tree Experience Ever. Consider:

- No lines. No crowds. Fewer trees to pick from, but still dozens more than I needed. No long wait to have them cut the base.

- The trees were bundled in string for space saving by this point. I was able to carry it myself.

- $9.99. Seriously. For a 6 foot Douglas fir.

- Bundled and 6 feet meant it was a front seat ride for this passenger, instead of the roof, which involves slow speeds, considerable rope, and a hand out the car for the 2 mile ride home. Rock on!

Tomorrow the baby and I get to go shopping for some last-minute goodness. Hopefully she'll enjoy that. If I don't chat with you before the holiday, Merry Christmas, friends! Goodwill, peace, presents and all that to you and yours!

Smile, 3,100, Tree, Flu Shot, News, Solstice

Happy Solstice, friends! We've had our longest night, and from now until June, the days will be getting longer. Maybe because we haven't had much in the way of rain, or because I have a big smilin' baby at home, but this season hasn't seemed so dark.

Picture of the day!

The aforementioned smilin' baby girl.

In the news! Name of final Harry Potter book announced and 'Seinfeld' spurs Festivus pole sales. Exciting!

I went to go get my free flu shot today, finally waking up early enough to get it before work. I went to the OC Health Care Agency, easily found the right room, got a form to fill out...and the fire alarm went off. I took the form and clipboard to the parking lot with everyone else, but by the time they let us back in after the drill, I didn't have time to stick around. Foiled!

Speaking of being foiled, we were unable to get our tree at the Irvine Home Depot yesterday - seems their outdoor sales were over. Baby wasn't much into it anyway, so we took her home. We'll try again tonight.

The next comment is number 3,100. Will it be you?

Friends, when you're stressed this holiday season, remember: It's supposed to be fun and joyous. If you're totally stressing out, you're doing it wrong. Smile!

Short, Buca, Veggies, Christmasness

Whew, got my cards done yesterday and mailed today. Also got my presents out yesterday. Now just time to get a tree, finish shopping, and make some more tasty cookies. All hail Christmas!

Picture of the day!

Short-haired Mike and open-mouth baby on Thanksgiving.

As is apparently typically during the holiday season but previously unknown by me, I'm falling into a delicious spiral of fatty foods, excess carbs and other Seasonal Cheer. I found myself hoping to get meals of veggies and good-for-me foods. Is that so wrong?

Speaking of food, we went to Buca di Beppo last night. That's some tasty chain-Italian eatin'.

This time I really will keep it short (unlike yesterday when I made edits after writing that). Cheers!

NYE, Short, Cards From Reps, Hanukkah, Late

December 19! My packages likely won't arrive in time! You'll have to enjoy them late friends. Enjoy them late!

Picture of the day!

Chris Clark: Robot.

Anyone else catch Scott Weiland on Leno last night? He did a non-cheesy version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" in an "end of the evening" tux (unbuttoned and loose bow tie) with a standard jazz backing (strings, piano, etc). Nothing hardcore about it - if I didn't know if was him, I'd have never guessed. It looked very classic 50s. Cool, but weird.

I keep forgetting, but Happy Hanukkah, friends!

Do you get Christmas cards from your elected officials? If so, how high level are the officials? I didn't get one from my congressman, but I did get one from Loretta Sanchez. I'll post pictures of it soon - it's strange.

We'll keep it short today. So..yeah...what do you want to do for New Year's Eve?

Weekends, Linerider, Open Chewing, Christmas Stuff, Birthdays, Chilly

Happy Monday! It's a cold one here, for us at least, with nighttime temps in the 30s. Beautiful and windy now, though - nice and wintery.

Picture of the day!

The twin brothers Doss.

I missed a couple birthdays this weekend - Jenn on Saturday, and Garrett on Sunday. Happy Birthday you crazy kids! Also, happy half-birthday to my baby girl Katie today. She's 6 months old. Yay!

Seven days until Christmas. I really need to get on that shopping thing. I have, however, been a desert making FIEND, with all sorts of goodness. I melted chocolate in a double boiler yesterday, for Pete's sake. Yes, I'm still sending cards. No, you haven't gotten yours yet. I've still got days to go!

Good news: Baby likes to open presents. Of course, by "open" I mean "chew on". But that's cool.

For fun, play Linerider. Rediscovered today thanks to Yahoo.

Friends, how were your weekends?

Enjoy, Donations, Text Messaging, The Gimp, Ten Days

Happy Friday, friends! Ten days until Christmas. I should probably start shopping.

Picture of the day!

Baskin Arts at UCSC, I think. I like the angles and sky colors here.

I used to have an...acquired copy of Photoshop, and I was starting to get pretty good with it. But between a small issue of guilt and the fact that I let someone borrow my install CD, I haven't had it in over a year. I needed to do some hardcore graphics editing this week, and not having Photoshop, I remembered the Gimp on my Linux systems of the past, so I went looking and found the Windows version. Wow. It's awesome. For everything I need, it does it all, and it's free, compared to the hundreds of dollars you'd pay (or not) for Photoshop. Thanks, Free Software!

I was talking with a friend today how I've never been much of a text messager - it's just not something I've ever done much of. Probably because I'm usually in front of my computer, and I have email and IM services on all day. Do you text? If so, how old are you? Not that it's limited by youth, it's just more prevelant.

On that topic, Google has a nice little text messaging app now at http://www.google.com/sendtophone. Check it out and text me - 714-478-8457.

Yes, that's my cell phone number.

Oh! Question! I have a bunch of new toys to donate. Any recommendations for places to donate them? I have a weird aversion to anything run by Marines.

Friends, I hope you're enjoying December and Friday. Have a fantastic day!

Entertaining Stories, Birthday, Party Cancelled, Busy Holidays

Wow, it's Thursday already. I think time's moving fast because I've got so much to do - this is my busiest holiday season I can remember. But it's all in good fun. There's no point in getting stressed over gifts, friends, and food.

Picture of the day!

A cute little donkey at Disneyland. I always forget they have live animals there, including many you can pet. We also saw reindeer and the pardoned turkeys.

I cancelled this year's Christmas party due to lack of interest - we just didn't have people RSVPing. New Years is looking to be similarly unattended. I gotta find something to do!

I missed Susie's birthday yesterday. Happy belated birthday!

Two entertaining stories that caught my eye: World's tallest man saves China dolphins and Woman awakened at home by sword-wielding man

That's all for today, friends. How are things with you?

Thanks, OC Atheists, Chris Clark - Artist, Hump Day!

Hello and happy Wednesday! The term "hump day" always sounds vaguely dirty to me, so I'm iffy about using it. Well damn, I already did. Happy hump day!

Picture of the day!
This is the super Chris Clark edited version of a couple photos we took at Disneyland for our Christmas card picture. It looks like a nice picture; it's such a good job that until you compare it with the originals, you can't see all the differences. Some side-by-side action:

Chris's Picture

Our originals

From Chris:

I put the better faces on you and Phaedra. I also made your eyebrows look a little less like you were looking into the sun. I didn't do anything w/ Katherine's face. I got rid of some lint and/or crumbs from your and Katherine's shirts (had you just fed her or something? Jeez). I also lightened up yours and Phaedra's teeth a tiny - nothing un-natural looking. Katherine doesn't have any teeth to lighten, so that part was easy. I generally lightened the whole image, put some contrast and a little more color in it, and added some subtle holiday-style glow-ness to it. I then cropped the image and put a slight vignette around the whole thing.

See, this is why Chris is a master artist, and I'm just some dude who uses PS and Gimp to put George Bush's face on a monkey. That said, he also told me I could tattoo the image on my ass, since I own it. Something's wrong with him.

On that topic, the above picture is being sent with our Christmas cards. If you'd like a Christmas card, email me with your address, and I'll send you one!

In other news, a reminder that the next meeting of the Orange County Atheists will be held tonight, December 13 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!

Thanks for reading, readers! Keep on truckin'!

Spam, Cookies and the Internets, Pictures, December

Another beautiful December day - warm and dry, sunny with just a wee bit of haze. How's it going?

Picture of the day!

Marcia and me last March. Since most of the pictures in my flickr sets were taken after college, a lot of my close college friends (like Marcia) are only very minimally represented. I guess we'll all have to get together.

To me, nothing says Christmas like the smell of cookies, and last night I finally baked some. My mom used to make a bunch of different kinds, including two called "Turkish Twirls" and "Greek Clove Crescents". As far as I knew, they were from a 50s or 60s cookbook or mail offer, and after my mom moved, the recipes got lost in the shuffle.

Behold: The internets!

Someone, somewhere had the recipe, typed it out, and shared it with the world. It's part of a set of "international" cookies that all use the same base dough along with additional ingredients for each type. I made my first batch of the clove crescents last night (as I didn't have the cardamom for the twirls), and they turned out just as I remembered. Thank you, internet!

Anyone else out there getting crazy amounts of Christmas, watch, and "letters to santa" spam? Good lord, I am.

I hope you're all having a fantastic day. Enjoy!

OC Atheists, Disneyland, Weather

Happy Monday, friends! We had just enough rain this weekend to make things interesting, and even last night at Disneyland, it wasn't that bad. Now back to our regularly scheduled sunny days.

Picture of the day!

Katherine, at her first trip to Disneyland yesterday. The whole set is available here

Disneyland was awesome yesterday. I hadn't been in a couple years, and I love it during Christmas time. It's a much different experience with the baby - mostly because we can't just pick up and go on any ride. But the Girlfriend's mom was with us, so she watched Katherine while we went on Splash Mountain early. All of us were able to Pirates, the Haunted Mansion, and Astro Blasters (my first time - it ruled). The baby was a little doll the whole time - not a peep out of her. Also, a group of Japanese tourist girls just about exploded in cuteness when they saw her. It was awesome. Other things of note:

- Parking is $11. Wow.
- A few of the restaurants have a grilled veggie sammich that's damned tasty. It's nice not to be stuck with salads and french fries anymore.
- Disneyland seems really dark at night, like they need to turn up some lights so I can see at all.
- Food, while pricy, isn't any more expensive than anywhere else you go, especially for snacks. Cotton candy is $3. Those huge lollipops are $3. You can get fruit and less sweet snacks, too.
- You can really do a lot of walking at Disneyland.

Even though it sprinkled mightily at the end of our day, we all had a good time. Thanks to my brother for the passes!

Orange County Atheists

The next meeting of the Orange County Atheists will be held this Wednesday, December 13 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!

Weekend, Christmas, Spammy, Challenge, Friday

Happy Friday, friends!

Picture of the day!

Eric, swinging an invisible bat. What's funny is that there SHOULD be a bat in this picture, but it disappeared. Really.

I've talked about it before, but I'd love a challenge for myself in 2007 - thoughts include:

- Only buying American made stuff (Almost impossible; impossible if I don't allow non-American components)

- Not buying anything from China (Very, very difficult)

- Buying only the bare necessities like food and gas and utilities, finding a way to barter for the rest (weird)

- Going Vegan (tough, but totally doable)

Any thoughts on this? Other suggestions?

Has anyone else had a rather spammy couple of days? Lots and lots of ads for Christmas gifts. Darn you, spammers!

I discovered this week that I'm quickly running out of Christmastime. I worry so much about being overexposed to Christmas before December that I've let myself get this far without doing much. Welcome Christmas!

I hope your weekends rock, and the weather treats you well. Rock on, Everyone!

Aboard, Gym Membership, Bookmarks, Homemade, Salad, Better From Teh Sick

Good day, and happy Thursday! I know I'm feeling better because I didn't stop to think "Boy, I don't feel very good" today. I'd say I'm about 92% well. The girlfriend and baby are getting better too. Nice.

Picture of the day!

The look on Marek's face here is priceless.

I went to have a salad yesterday because the prospects of croutons excited me. Alas, my lettuce was brown. A shame, a shame.

I'm in the midst of making homemade gifts for some friends, as per my gift exchange idea, but I'm having trouble coming up with non-food homemade stuff I'm good at. Friends, what am I good at?

Question: Do you still use browser-based bookmarks anymore? I have a Start Page that loads automatically with sites I visit regularly, and for other sites I visit, usually typing in the beginning of the URL and using auto-complete is faster than digging for a bookmark. There's also the Google search bar on my browsers which is also faster. What do you use to get around?

It looks like I'm gonna cancel my gym membership, as I've gone twice in the last 6 months. There just isn't time to go without leaving the girlfriend and baby at home by themselves, which I do while I'm at work. Not to mention I'm walking at least a half mile, often more, every day with the baby. I think I'll find a better use for the $30, anyway.

As always, thanks for reading! Glad to have you aboard!

Quiet, Cookies, Gifts, Lingering

It's Wednesday, and I'm finally feeling better, though the girlfriend is still sick and the baby's cough and sniffles are lingering. Hopefully this is the worst of it this season. Bah.

Picture of the day!

Teresa Catherine and Katherine Teresa, July 2006.

I spent about an hour last night making some Christmas gifts, and in turn making the house smell like the holidays. They're still a bit of a secret, but I'll let you all in on it in a couple weeks.

Anyone have any good holiday cookie recipes? I'm looking to branch out. I'm curious what you like!

My friends, what is new? The comments - even on controversial topics - have been quiet. Where are you?

Good Day, Days Off, Gift Exchanging, Thanks Joz and Yoshi, Holiday Photos, Teh Sick Season

Ah, the cold/flu season. Everyone in my house has one of two (or three) colds, it's super dry out, and the next couple weeks offer ample opportunity to share what we have with our loved ones. You don't realize how nice it is to be well for weeks at a time until you're not. Hopefully we're on the road to recovery.

Picture of the day!

Island Chris, Halloween this year.

I can't find a single Holiday (other than New Years) picture in my 3,000+ photos online. Weird!

The holidays have begun! Thank you to Joz and Yoshi for "Positively Fifth Street"! I've been looking forward to reading that for a long time. Yay!

On that subject, 20 days until Christmas. If you'd like to exchange giftlist style gifts with me, my amazon list is here, and there's more about my homemade/collected exchange at the bottom of this entry. Let's celebrate!

It's now mostly official - I'll be off work January 2-5 (really December 30 - January 7, but those are the days I'm taking off work), and I'm looking for something to do - I'm willing to drive to meet up with you, and I'll take all your suggestions.

Hope you're having a good day, and you're recovering from your own illnesses. I know you have them. Cheers!

On Diamonds

There's a thought-provoking Reuters piece today called "DiCaprio film may hurt diamond demand: analysts", about how his new film, "Blood Diamond", has the potential to hurt the diamond industry. The article itself just gives a few background bits, but there's a lot there to think about - Do most people care where their diamonds come from? Will a movie change anything? And most importantly for me - why do you buy/give diamonds anyway?

I've never been a fan of gemstone jewelry or diamonds - maybe because I'm male, maybe because it wasn't an important thing in my family, or maybe because I realize they're just rocks. But as I've gotten older, two things have stood out as major reasons never to buy diamonds - the industry and the marketing.

On the industry, I've read that the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is now in place to stop blood diamonds from entering the market. If the scheme wasn't entirely funded by the industry, I'd have more faith in it, but as it stands, There's no way I can really know where the diamonds I could buy come from. Beyond that, even those not labeled as "blood diamonds" could easily have been mined with slave labor, in poor working conditions, or in otherwise unfriendly ways. I realize diamonds are far from the only industry where this is true, but as one that's vanity related, it strikes me as something sinister.

For all the pitfalls of the industry, however, the marketing history is what really gets to me. De Beers has done well to make most of the West believe that without a diamond, your wedding/marriage/life means less, and anyone who doesn't give a diamond doesn't really love you. They've also been paramount in making people believe there's no value in "used" diamonds and that diamonds are an heirloom, thus driving the new diamond market and their own sales. Then there's that bit about spending three month's salary on an engagement ring...

I've linked to it several times before, but it's worth repeating: Anil Dash's "Diamonds Are For Never" is a great read on the subject from someone as passionate about it as I am. He makes some great points:

But you might not be convinced by all of that, so I'll give you another reason to avoid them: The people selling them are fucking pigs. They're heavily invested in selling a world where men are insensitive, thick-headed incompetents transparently trying to dupe women who are vain, superficial, materialistic fools. I typically tend to be on the "eh, it's just a joke" side of things, but the sheer repetitive insistence of the cynical stereotypes in diamond advertising is astonishing.

As a male, this has always bothered me - and luckily, I've never fallen into the trap of believing that I have to give a diamond to prove my worth. I also have a girlfriend who doesn't like diamonds at all, which certainly makes things easier. That said, any woman for whom diamonds were a dealbreaker is probably not someone I'd want to spend my life with. But when you're gift giving this year, take a minute to think about what you're buying - just about every industry has its bad apples and unsavory practices, but the Diamond Industry is easily among the worst and worth avoiding.

Christmas Tree Bible Quote, Diet Soda Madness, Son of Teh Sick

Happy Monday, friends! We're all still sick here - I'm thinking I'm on my third cold in three weeks. That said, I'm not alone in this - seems like just about everyone has teh sick. Get well!

Picture of the day!

Myself and my siblings, from Thanksgiving this year. Click to see expressions on our faces. Lots more of the family in that set as well.

I feel like a bit of an addict - I'm getting to the point where I don't care what kind of diet soda I'm drinking. Albertson's "Diet Max Cola" was on sale for $1.66/12 pack, which is around half the normal sale price for soda lately. Two years ago I wouldn't have enjoyed it, now it's just fine. What's wrong with me?

Your bible quote of the day, from Jeremiah 10 2-4:

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

Have fun with that Christmas tree!

Rocks, Gift Exchange, Chilly, FSM Holiday Pageant, December

Avast! It's December, I'm sick but not too bad, got about 5 hours of sleep last night (baby), and I'm heading into work a bit late today. Alas, it's Friday, and the weekend is upon us.

Picture of the day!

Marek, Hulaing.

Attended a preview of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Pageant last night - awesome show, especially for a group that performs in such a small theater - maybe 30 seats. Good pacing, good comedy, lots of pirates, and quite a bit flagrant cleavage. Check it out this month!

It was chilly (for Southern California) last night! It's warming up a bit now, though. I love winter days when it's 70F in the daytime and >40F at night.

Gift Exchange!
Now that it's December, I feel it's just fine to talk about presents and gift exchanges. Here's what I'm doing this year: I'd like to send you a present, and I'd love to get a present from you. For the Insignifica exchange, however, I'd like to both give and receive only homemade or "collected" gifts. Homemade are things like crafts, art, writings, songs, food, recipes, etc. - anything you make or create. "Collected" means things around you house that you don't want. It shouldn't be trash, just things that you'd enjoy giving and receiving.

If you have requests for something I do/make that you'd like, I'm more than happy to send. If you'd like to participate at all, leave a comment here or email me, and we'll trade! This should be fun!

I hope your Friday rocks, friends. Happy December!