Insignifica

Feelin' Fine, Geeked, Weight Loss, Hands Free, Cockeyed Prank, Monday

Happy Monday! It's June 30 already. Darn that time.

Picture of the day!

Katie at Home Depot.

Cockeyed.com has a new prank - the shed prank. Take a look at one of the helpers.

I really need to get a Hands Free setup of some sort for my car, seeing as how I'll be in violation of the law if I use my cell while driving after today. I wanted to get one not made in China, but that may be a lost cause.

I've decided I will take place in my work's weight loss contest - I'll have to get down to about 192 to meet my goal - difficult, but totally doable. I've also had others give incentives. If you're looking for competition and to lose some weight, talk to me - no reason more people can't benefit from someone to work with and against.

I was excited about playing D&D again, but until I got the Player's Handbook this weekend, I wasn't geeked - now I am. Also, my character knows how to party.

What's happening, friends? Busy here, but feelin' fine.

Friday, Weight Loss Contest, Boom De Yada, BBQ? Feelin' Fine

Oh hai! It's Friday!

Picture of the day!

My refrigerator, in my living room. I enjoy strange juxtapositions.

Feelin' pretty good, and surprised how quickly this week went by. The mystery illness is lingering in the mornings, but not affecting me otherwise.

If I had a BBQ tomorrow evening, would you come by?

As xkcd reminded me today, Discovery Channel's "Boom De Yada" commercial is awesome. Yes, bolded awesome, because it's that awesome.

Your advice: There's weight loss contest happening here at work. Everyone puts in $50, and the goal is to lose 10% of your body weight. If you do, you get your $50 back. If you don't, you lose the $50 and everyone who does make the goal splits the loser's money. Would you do something like this? I'm currently at 214, meaning I'd have to lose 21.4 pounds. Certainly doable. Worthwhile?

That's Friday for ya. What's going on?

Supreme Court Gun Ruling, Twitter, Illness, Glassware, Thursday

Happy Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Katie at her birthday party. We didn't get many photos on our camera, but other people did, so I'll steal those and get them online soon.

About a month ago, I put some glassware on Craigslist that I just didn't have room for, and asked $10 for the set (16 themed glasses of different sizes), and I thought it's get a lot of response. Alas, I got one email, and that person never got back to me. Yesterday I was just tired of having it around, so put it back online, this time for free. I posted just before leaving work, and by the time I checked my email two hours later, I had 35 responses, and this morning had 20 more. Several people in the first few said they wanted to pick it up that night. I was amazed. Let this be a lesson to you - people like free stuff.

We all kinda have some illness. It's not that bad, just kinda there. Hopefully we'll get over it with a quickness.

So, Twitter. I've briefly mentioned their network problems, and for a long time, I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt - new startup, sudden upsurge in popularity, resources-intensive API. But we're more than a month after their main database issues and after their $15 million capital injection, and the service is as bad as ever (worse, in some ways, as features go down to keep the site itself up). The optimist in me is hoping they're just shoring everything up so it'll never be an issue again, but I'll believe that when every feature works, and keeps working.

I'm not sure what to think about today's Supreme Court ruling on handgun legality - I'll have to dig deeper. In general I'm against guns, but realize that the law allows for personal ownership within some bounds. My views would definitely have me labeled all sorts of nasty things from NRA types, but I don't buy the "I must have a gun for self defense" argument (and many, many people don't), and certainly disagree with guns being an effective means for government overthrow, at least in the last 160 years. I do know there are too many guns out there in the hands of too many people.

Wow, lots of long paragraphs. That's that, then.

Vocal Atheists, Native Foods Review, Illness, Wednesday Birthday.

Good day, my friends! Happy Wednesday and happy birthday to Teresa!

Picture of the day!

The Girlfriend and Marek at Maggiano's, 4 years ago today. Mmm. Cheese.

The Girlfriend and I think we both have some sort of weird flu. We're not sick or tired, but we're very achy. It's strange - both of us feel like we should be able to "walk it off". Anything similar going on with you?

I've got a restaurant review up at the LAV blog - Native Foods for the masses. I'm particularly proud of it.

With the recent passing of George Carlin and the less-recent passing of Douglas Adams, I'm wondering if there are any more openly atheist/anti-religious voices in the "mainstream" anymore. Can you think of any? I know atheism has done well in the bookstores lately and names like Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins are out in the public consciousness, but other than maybe Penn and Teller, I'm having trouble thinking of entertainers who are open and honest about their atheism. Thoughts?

What's Happening, Tiredness, Patooties, Yosemite, Girl Anachronism, Busy, Tuesday

Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

Sad flower. It was hot.

Super busy today, got lots going on both at work and afterward. It's nice to have the baby's birthday festivities done and over with, though - one fewer thing to be thinking about. Pictures of said event coming soon.

I have "Girl Anachronism" by The Dresdon Dolls stuck in my head.

I'm going to Yosemite in 3 weeks for the first time - exciting! For whatever reason, I never, as a child, associated "Yosemite Sam" (the Warner Bros. cartoon character) with "Yosemite" (the national park), even though I was fully aware of both. I think I was 12 or 13 before making the connection that the character's name and the place had the same word in them.

I played "Patooties" in scrabble this morning. That was awesome, and made me laugh out loud. Thank you, Rocky Horror!

Oh, my tiredness is much better today, seeing how I got 7 1/2 hours of sleep last night. A few more nights of that and I'll be back, baby.

What's happening, my friends?

Mexican Food, Underslept, Birthday, Carlin, Monday

Good day! Happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Bird on a rock. Monterey.

Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, tits. While I wasn't ever the biggest George Carlin fan (he's a good comedian, just not my favorite), it's really sad to see a funnyman go, especially one who influenced popular culture in such a large way. I did love his acting rolls, though, especially in 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' and 'Dogma'.

The baby's birthday party yesterday was great - certainly better than her first. She had a great time with her presents. Thanks everyone!

I'm woefully underslept. Darn all this sunshine! We're now in the midst of Summer, which is awesome, but there are drawbacks for my east facing bedroom. I'm not falling asleep at work or anything, but I can tell my concentration is shot. All this means is that sometime soon I'm gonna have to take an 11pm bedtime instead of the usual 12:30. Those are the breaks.

That's just about it for today. One request - Where's the best vegetarian Mexican food in Orange County? Thanks!

QOTD, Sleeping Weird, Firefox 3, Summer Solstice

Hello and happy Summer Solstice!

Picture of the day!

A seasonal picture of Katie and her father from last August.

It certainly feels like summer out there - hot, a bit muggy, and very bright. That's what we signed up for living here though, right?

I'm using Firefox 3, and it's a bit different. I'm not sure what I think of the awesomebar yet (it's the URL field, now "improved"). I think I liked it better when it just remembered the URLs I typed in, and didn't match for text - for example, I'm not gonna type in "amazon" in the URL field to look for South American jungles - I'll use the google toolbar for that. Oh well, the browser itself is supposed to be less bloated, let's see if that makes a difference.

Katie's got a cold (and I'm getting better, but I still have it), so between that and the heat, we're all sleeping strangely. For example, my daughter decided to scream unless she was sleeping with me on the couch downstairs. Hopefully we get back to normal soon - she's started sleeping in her "big girl" bed, we'll see if we can't make that last through the night.

Your thought and question for the day: Excluding disasters and terrorism, what type of event could garner international, round-the-clock coverage by the world's media (a la September 11)? Is there anything non-deadly that could capture the world's attention?

That's All, Twitter, Seitan, Sick, Hi!

Hi Everybody!

Picture of the day!

Adam and Chris at my 30th birthday. They look like they were partying pretty good. I think it's just bad lighting and unshavenness, though.

I'm staying home sick today. Katie had a cold early in the week, and now it seems I have it. She's feeling better already, so hopefully it's short lived.

I put my "praise seitan" sticker on my car today. Let's hope nothing bad happens.

As a reminder, I'm on Twitter. If you are too, add me. It's really an entertaining web app. All my other social networking sites are on the sidebar to the left.

That's all I'm writing today (well, here anyway). Come say hello!

What's Happening, Handlebars, Lakers, Cookies, Katie's Birthday

Happy Wednesday and happy birthday to Katie today!

Picture of the day!

Birthday Girl.

I made cookies for Katie's daycare (I'm not sure why, I guess it's just what they do), but I never mind having some extra cookies around the house. We're doing her party, mostly with family, on Sunday.

In other news, yikes - the Lakers lost the NBA championships yesterday by 39 points - for those of you who don't follow Basketball, that's nasty, in a "the worst team in the league never even loses to the best team in the league by that much" kinda way. Like I said, I can't feel bad about it - I hate sports dynasties that have fans and sports commentators that think the team deserves to win. Sorry, Laker fans, your team really kinda crapped out.

There's this new song called "Handlebars" by Flobots that's very catchy. Just thought I'd share that.

We're more than halfway through June - this year is racing by, and I've still got a lot to do. What's happening?

Got, Adam's Blog, Cookies, Light, Gay Marriage, Good Day

Good day, my friends!

Picture of the day!

Katie feeding her mom some cake.

Yay! Starting last night at 5:00PM, gay marriage became legal in California. While there's still a legal challenge and likely more lawsuits coming, this is a fantastic step for civil rights in the United States. When someone tells you that gays shouldn't be allowed to get married, remind them that interracial marriage was illegal until 40 years ago, and see if they agree with that too - there's no difference.

I love Summertime, but it's very weird to be woken up by sunlight, check the clock, and see that it's about 5:45AM. Darn the West-facing room I sleep in. At least I wake up easier than if I was in a dark room at the same time.

There's 30 cookies worth of cookie dough in my fridge, because I'm awesome. I've also got a couple cupcakes left if you can find me and ask for one, and I'll be making more this weekend.

Adam's got a new blog at themysterydance.blogspot.com. Do check it out, especially if you're close to our ages (30ish) - you'll find it entertaining. Also, you may laugh out loud.

That's what I've got. What's you got?

The Haps, HORSE, Little Cold, LAV, Kitchen, Monday

Happy Monday, friends!

Picutre of the day!

Cool light on the trashcan, filtered through the blinds.

My kitchen is 100% usable (though my fridge is still in the living room), and it's awesome. The sink seems huge (it's a single basin, not a standard divided two-drain model), and it's almost too deep for my height. The cooktop is fantastic - heats in an instant, cleans easily, and looks slick. All in all, the kitchen is absolutely worth the time and money we put into it.

Liberal Atheist Vegetarian today: In God We Trust updates and PETA awards Orange Ford Dealer for protecting baby birds.

Baby has a little cold. It is mid June, after all.

I played my first HORSE poker game yesterday (single table tournament), and won. It's a fun format, and while I was the short stack for about half the tourney, I had a run of unbelievably good cards in the Omaha and Seven Card Stud rounds, and made it all back, plus some. I'm now "up" in my poker play in the last 24 hours. Good stuff.

That's Monday for ya. What's the haps?

What you doin', Art Show, PB&J, Father's Day, Lakers, Kitchen, Friday the 13th

Good day and happy Friday the 13th!

Picture of the day!

The new kitchen. Click to enbiggen. The sink and cooktop aren't yet installed in this picture, just "placed". Hopefully by the time I get home for lunch, both will be done, my kitchen will be mostly complete, and I'll actually be able to cook and do dishes again. W00t.

So, Lakers. Wow. Last night I wasn't watching the game, but on my Twitter stream, all sorts of people were commenting, including several "EPIC FAIL"s and "WTF"s. Sorry fans.

Sunday is Father's Day. Riddle me this, friends: My daughter is not yet two (and won't be two until next week), but this will be my third Father's Day with her. What evil magic is this?

You know what's awesome? Peanut butter. Just sayin'.

I'm going to the Costa Mesa Artist Showcase tomorrow at 6:00PM at the eVocal Gallery, 814 West 19th Street in Costa Mesa. Just sayin' that, too.

What you doin'?

Father's Day, Gas, Countertops, Hello

Hello all!

Picture of the day!

Baby and Daddy.

I'm working from home today, as countertops are being installed. So far, they look great, and I've discovered another nice thing about paying others to do this kind of work - when there's a minor issue, it's usually their job to fix it, instead of mine. Rock. Working from home is tough, but somehow I'll manage.

Arr. I have to fill up my tank today, as dropping Katie off last weekend for babysitting (and picking her up, and doing dinner) added 100 miles to that tank. Not that I wouldn't have done it, but it's weird to think it cost about $16 just to drive last Sunday afternoon. Gas around here is up to $4.39 at the cheapest station, though by today it might be $4.49. Bastards.

What do you all do for father's day? This is my third one (Katie was born on Father's Day 2006), but I'm still not really into it. I mean, I'll think it's cool when Katie makes me a little project or gift, but it's not a big day for me. Is it for you?

Busy Day, OC Atheists, Gay Weddings, Kitchen, Hi!

Hi everyone!

Picture of the day!

More demolition work. I like this picture.

So, the kitchen's mostly prepped - all we have to do now is paint along the places where the countertop backsplashes will go (we can do most of the painting later), as well as move the fridge out. That'll be a pain in the ass, but shouldn't actually take too long. Then I'll be working at home tomorrow, we'll get the counter tops, and if they finish early enough, we might get the plumber in tomorrow to hook up the sink/disposal/dishwasher. Exciting!

Gay marriages will start next week in California - very awesome. As an ordained reverend, I'm happy to perform your ceremony for a small fee - inquire within!

The Next Orange County Atheists meeting will take place tonight, June 11 at 7:30PM at the International House of Pancakes at 18542 MacArthur Blvd in Irvine, near John Wayne Airport. Those interested will also meet for a less formal gathering at 6:00PM at the El Torito across from the IHOP before coming to the 7:30PM meeting. More info here. Hope to see you there!

Busy day for me. Tell me about yours.

What's new, Birthday, Fries, Obama and Faith, Workout, Kitchen Update, Good Day

Good day, friends!

Picture of the day!

My kitchen. Click for a better view. This was taken yesterday afternoon - all the countertops have been removed (we did that Sunday) and yesterday the level of the bar was raised to the rest of the countertop height (you can see the old markings where it used to be on the wall). Looks like our install date got pushed up to Thursday, if all is good in the world (and there's time in the afternoon for the plumber to do his work), we'll have a new, usable kitchen by Friday.

On that note, home repair and helping friends move is a great way to work out muscles you forgot you had. Still a little stiff and sore this morning...

Yesterday I saw a speech given by Barack Obama on Youtube where he discussed the finer points of church-state separation from a Christian perspective. It's short (and well edited), but certainly packs a punch. The whole event is available at brightcove here. Many of his points were stronger than those of atheists I know. If Clinton was the first black president, Obama is clearly in line to be the first atheist president (in recent history, at least).

I'm considering French Fries.

Katie's birthday party is Sunday, June 22, but it's going to be mostly family with a few friends, only because we started running the numbers and found 40 people won't fit in the house. Don't feel too bad if you don't get an invitation is all I'm saying.

Tell me what's new, readers!

What's Happening, Phone, Underdogs Rule, Kitchen Demo, Monday

Monday!

Picture of the day!

Marek appears to be prancing.

A little stiff and sore today, as yesterday we pretty much ripped our kitchen apart to prep for our new counter tops. Photos coming. Looks good, though. If all goes well, our new kitchen will be ready to go by Friday afternoon. For the week, however, we're without a sink, dishwasher, or stove top. I think we'll be OK.

I'm not really a basketball or horse racing fan. But I love seeing underdogs win, and I really love when presumptive winners fail to live up to expectations. Sorry Lakers and Big Brown supporters - I just don't feel bad for your losses, especially considering the attitudes of so many of your fans.

Stupid newish phone isn't holding a charge like it used to. At least it can be changed with the wall plug or in any USB port - I'm rarly far from a computer.

What's happening with you, reader people?

No Gloom, Christian Crap at Work, Walked, 666, Dental Awesomeness, Friday

Happy Friday!

Picture of the day!

Look how small we are!

My jaw is feeling better, though granola this morning was a bit of a challenge. Given all they did, I'm glad it doesn't hurt way more. I'm also finding that dental medicine is frickin' fascinating - it's so precise compared to so many other kinds of medical treatment, and the bionic/implant technology is way beyond most other medical branches. Good on you, dentistry!

Today's the day I was hoping my baby would be born, because then her birthday would have been 06/06/06, and that would be awesome. Alas, she waited almost two more weeks. Crazy kid.

Walked 1.4 miles today, which is good, cause the scale says I've gained 5lbs in the last couple months. Too much fun? Perhaps. I still have a sub-200 goal for the year, and I'm not far, but I gotta get on that, and limit ice cream and pancake input.

More Christian texts on the bulletin boards at work. Time to talk to HR.

No June Gloom today - it's gonna be warm! What's up, friendly readers?

Yo, Birthday, Solstice, Dentist

Hello friends!

Picture of the day!

Katie back in December.

So, I spent the entire morning (and into the afternoon) at the dentist, getting a root canal and crown lengthening (to be fit in two weeks). The work itself isn't really painful - I was very numb and my dentists are very good - but keeping your jaw open for 45-60 minutes at a time (I was in the chair 3 hours) really gets to you. Alas, I'm back, sore like I've been aggressively chewing gum for 3 hours, but feelin' ok.

We're less than 3 weeks til the solstice. That's weird - it's been a fast first half of the year. At least we've still got long days for a while longer.

Yes, Katie is having a birthday party. No, we haven't planned anything yet. Yes, you'll probably hear about it.

We'll keep it short today. Yo!

Still Cloudy, Praise Seitan, Rationing Sucks, Kephart Win, Bad Day, Hump

Happy Hump Day!

Picture of the day!

Chris, Jenn and Marek at my birthday. I just noticed this shot in the collection - I really like the composition.

Man, if I wasn't Mr. Happy T. Optimist, I'd be having a bad day. Too much beer last night, no bedtime until 1:30am, then being woken up by the baby at 6:45. To top it all off, I didn't have any milk for pancakes this morning. Damn the man!

Congrats to my buddy Gary Kephart for his County Central Committee 71st Assembly District win last night. Good work!

So, we're in a drought. I can accept that. What I can't understand is why individuals are asked to so much rationing, when residential customers only use about 13% of the state's water (Commercial/Industrial uses about 6%, and agriculture uses a whopping 80%). To put this into perspective, the same amount of water is saved whether you and I cut back 20%, or agriculture cuts back 3.25%. Which is the bigger burden?

When I got my new shoes, I also got a new vegetarian/free trade wallet (I was desperately needing one) and a sticker that says "Praise Seitan", and has forks in a pentagram shape. Looking forward to putting that one on the car.

It's still cloudy here - might be for a while. What's new where you are?

What's New, New Shoes, Hungry, Baby Schedule, Boring Election Day, Beer, June Gloom, Good Day

Good day, friends!

Picture of the day!

The Girlfriend and The Baby (and some random girl) at Faire.

June Gloom! Burns off by noon, leaving the day sunny but not super hot. Thanks June, for being AWESOME.

Beer tonight. Mmm. Beer.

It's election day, and I can safely say I've never cared less about an election than this one. We had our primary 3 months ago, we have the general election in 5 months, and there's really nothing of interest on the ballot. Even the propositions haven't been advertised much. I'm predicting super low (less than 20%) turnout.

Hey, parents - does it take you forever to get out of the house in the morning? My two year old wants to lounge around the house instead of getting ready, and since she sleeps until 8 most mornings, that doesn't give me a lot of time to get her ready (I'm not usually out of the house until 8:30). Thoughts?

On that topic, I didn't eat much breakfast this morning. Hungry...

Got new shoes - they look like converse All-Stars, but they're from a company called No Sweat Apparel and made without all that pesky Nike-brand child labor. So far, pretty awesome.

That's it. What's new?

What's new, Laptop Dying, FV In God We Trust, Beer, Trip Recap, June Monday

Happy Monday and happy June!

Picture of the day!

Bucket of beer.

Had a great traveling weekend. Highlights:

- No traffic, anywhere. It was awesome.
- Perfect weather, up and down the state.
- Got to spend a great evening with Tori for her birthday, and no hangover to show for it. It's cool also catching up with her friends I haven't seen in a year, but being able to basically continue conversations.
- Really, really nice hotel (Hilton Fremont/Newark) for the price - private balcony, lots of room, nice amenities, super friendly staff.
- Stopped at the Chumash Casino on the way home and won $125 in an hour. That paid for most of the trip.

Good times!

We're doing beer night at BJ's tomorrow. Been a while. Mmm, beer night. Also postponed my dentist appointment until Thursday so it doesn't conflict with beer.

From the Liberal Atheist Vegetarian blog: Fountain Valley to vote on ‘In God We Trust’ tonight. My hometown, debasing itself.

After the trip north than back south, my laptop's screen began to flicker last night, and then poof - the backlight died. I've been considering getting a new one for a while now, this may be the straw that breaks that camel's back. I need to go used, though, for China reasons. Anyone have a laptop they're looking to get rid of? As long as it's newer than my 2002 Toshiba, it's likely better.

That's all. What's new, friends?