kar_el

I had Wednesday off because Appliance Park was closed for Veterans day. There wasn't reason for us to be there without any work so I got to lounge most of the day. I did a few things I have been meaning to get done.

I pulled apart the park bench that the metal leg broke. The wood is like a cedar or something hardy so it's still in good shape. I figure it would make a good garden shelf or would be useful for some outdoor projects. I am pretty sure all the metal can be recycled so I am going to take that on our next run of aluminum cans.

Cleaned the liter boxes, watched TV, hung out. Mostly I just made sure to not do too much physical work because I was supposed to be taking the day off from that according to my work out plan.

As I was hungry and needing to figure out how to boil eggs I looked it up in the cook book. Seemed pretty simple, boil heavily salted water, put in eggs and bring to simmer for 10 minutes, and then remove from water with slotted spoon. The next part was to place them in ice water immediately. This would help the gray-green coating around the yolk from forming. I did all that... oh, there is another part I am missing. I followed the instructions from this video. So after the eggs had cooled I pulled one out and attempted this technique. The egg literally exploded in my hand. Turns out that 10 minutes on simmer is only enough soft boil an egg not hard boil one. So when I blew on it the pressure on the insides cause it to spew the contents all over the place. I had egg on my face. I never knew this to be a true saying but it happened and Heather thought it was really funny. So, I thought I should note this for the world as it's a saying that you can't really relate to an actual event that often. The cleanup wasn't that bad as the trajectory was stable and I did this over the sink, you know just in case.

With 10 additional minutes cooking they turned out pretty good. Next time I try this I'll make sure to have a paper towel around it. I didn't try it again that day but I think this could work since there is a damn video for it.

Hope this brings out a smile or two in your day.

Thanks Ceedo for loaning me Zelda!

http://www.zeldawiki.org/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Twilight_Princess

http://faqs.ign.com/articles/750/750737p1.html

Friday:
Didn't see catwoman72 at all that day save a short bit in the morning. Brushing teeth together is neither cute nor romantic.

Worked out and got a really good day in the gym. I pushed myself nearly to my limit but didn't feel the urge to throw up like I did on Thursday. It did cement that I want to start working out at night instead of the morning. I drank coffee on the way in and that made things better. But working out when I am already awake and ready for it I can only think will be better for me until I am more used to this. Then I may see if a morning run is good to kick-start the day.

Gavin's game wasn't interrupted. Thank God that Levi decided to not come home until later and both his roommates decided he wasn't going to interrupt the game. Also they were all smoking outside. I am not sure if this was because of Gavin and myself or their new roommate Thomas. Either way it was nice to not reek of smoke and feel like I shotgunned a pack that night.

Saturday:
Walked at Iroquois Park, about 5 miles. We did the New Cut Road Loop which is 1.6 miles.

Ate at Sully's. The atmosphere is pretty much a sports bar with an old classic feel. The food was good and our Restaurant.com gift certificate made it affordable. Although if you don't order an entree and just get sandwiches it's reasonable. The butterfly pork chops were tasty and she said he chef's salad was really good. From what catwoman72 told me they share a kitchen with the Maker's Mark restaurant next door. If that's true then you get better quality food than a normal bar but are still paying bar prices. Other than it being cold we had to ask that they turn on the lights above us. It was pretty dark in there and we were there to eat not make out.

Walked from Sully's to KCA. We were early so we sat outside and enjoyed that great weather. It was really nice and I have to say that it's not a record for warmth but it sure is nice. Now if you smokers could just stop for a bit while we are outdoors things would be nice.

Went to see Dashboard Confessional with the Louisville Orchestra. As with Ben Folds the orchestra played a few numbers before the band came on stage. And this was a worthwhile wait and spending the money to get the balcony seats was totally amazing. We were sitting so no one was in front of us and felt suspended in the air once the lights dropped. There is something just powerful about orchestral music. An emotional push with sound waves that wash over you while steering your mind and imagination in ways that are unknown except in situations as these. If you have never been to see the orchestra take the time and go. Find a band that they are playing with in this Strings Attached series and go. It's worth the money for the performance and it's simply a unique and worthwhile way to spend a few hours.

DC was great. I have only seen them live on TV, so this was an interesting way to see them for the first time. I have been a fan of Chris since his first band Further Seems Forever. Which I found on mp3 dot com way back in the days before fancy graphics and recommendation engines. The wilds of the internet are so much less dangerous now than they were. Anyway, I sang as many songs as I could remember the words. catwoman72 knew the songs but not as well so she didn't sing. She said that she had a good time and it was fun. I couldn't have been happier as it was a great ending to what turned out to be a good day.

Put the beans in water to soak overnight. Boiled chicken and chopped it up for shredding later. I had planned to set chili before our hike Sunday that way we have it ready when we got back.

We had a few small fights but for the most part talked our way through. There is still some frustration on both sides but hopefully there is more understanding.

Watched some TV.

Sunday:
Apparently if you put Great Northern Beans in with Black Beans when you are soaking them in preparation for chili the white beans turn purple. catwoman72 was amused when she saw this but they turned white-ish again once they made it into the chili. Cooking took until 8pm so she went and got us food since I was cutting the grass.

The traffic to the park was light although there is still a lot of construction on 65 south of Louisville. We hiked the Cull Hollow Loop and then the Rock Run Loop. Mostly we did the second one because it was on the way out. But both of them together were 2 miles. So add this to the 5 miles we did on Saturday and that is a lot of walking this weekend.

Seems that the only way I can make chili taste great is with beer. I wonder if that is the secret ingredient I have been searching for? If this is true then what do I put into my white chili?

( RANT )

J.J. Abrams TED Talk Should be watched by everyone. Saw this video while I was looking for Leo Laport's TED talk he did in Dubai. Thought it was well worth sharing. After all that I was pretty wiped out. I planned on and did skip my Monday work out. Mostly just caught up on TV from the weekend that I didn't finish on Saturday.

I had a pretty good weekend. Heather and I had some bumps but for the most part got along. I aided her Uncle-in-law in moving some furniture on saturday. I ended up over doing it a bit and had to take most of Sunday to recover.

Game over at Doug's was entertaining as usual. I suggested we make chili for the game rather than everyone going out to get food. Ended up costing a bit more but we polished off the whole thing in one night. The recipe is interesting and I'll be more than happy to share it with anyone that asks.

All in all decent time. There were bumps but the transmission is still intact. Hoping the road is a little smoother from here on out. If things get more off road I'll need to change my metaphors a bit.

I am really done with my weekend list. I have just named it this because of other events in my life currently.

I still have to bring in my recently planted spices. I have two types of Basil, Rosemary that just recently started peaking through the dirt, and Oregano. I use these in a lot of dishes so having them fresh is just nice.

The stairs project is done except for touch up and clean up. I have a couple spots that are painted but could use a tad more. I missed them due to the texture on the wall being so irregular that the brush and the roller just went over them. I did get the rubber stair mats put on each step last night. I went with mold/mildew resistant carpet tape instead of liquid nails. I didn't want another penetrating bonding agent to seep into the paint I just put down, so it seemed like a good idea. So far the are holding really well. I just need to see how they last through temperature and moisture. If they end up slipping off I'll go with something more tacky.

I finished most of the big stuff on the list for the weekend. I didn't 100% finish the stairs as I would have liked. But the painting is done and cured. So the next step is easy. All I have to do is spend a couple hours measuring and cutting tape and pressing the rubber stair covers on each step. I am going to try to get that done tonight. With those in place the paint on the steps won't wear off as fast. That way the seal will hold and water won't find a new way in as quickly.

The truck stuff is all, or mostly, done. The tint is replaced and looks great now. The oil change did have a noticeable impact on the engine performance. I guess it was too long since it was changed. I have a couple bulbs that need replacing and are really hard to reach. The dome light also needs to be replaced. All the fuses I checked are good so that leaves the most likely cause of them not working as the bulbs. I hope that it's not the wiring, that would just suck and suck up more time and money.

Since I found out that Goodwill in Indiana is taking computers to recycle I am wiping all my old hard drives that are too small for use. I am going to drop them up there to be used by someone that can actually benefit from those machines. Having four extra computers laying around just isn't helpful as of lately.

We went to Bernheim on Sunday. That was actually pretty nice. We walked around that big lake in the front. Heather got a bunch of pictures and really enjoyed the time out there. I am guessing that a lot more hiking is in my future. I just wish nature treated me better so I could be out in it more than I am now. Ah well, I guess it's like onions, I have to build up a tolerance in order to enjoy them. If the rest of nature is that way then I can do a little bit at a time until I adjust. If it makes Heather smile then it's worthy.

I made a list and took two days off to take care of things. I could have just done one day but I really wanted the extra time to make sure all the items are checked off. So far I am right on schedule for today. I have two big things left to do but there is plenty of time left in the day.

Currently I am sitting in the waiting room of Pro-Tint on Preston hwy waiting for the tint to be fixed on my truck. The guy looked at it and said that it was limo tinted. I can understand then why it's so damn hard to see through the windows. Heather maintains that she likes how dark the windows are, but I am the one that has to drive the truck so she can like it all she wants I am changing it. I am keeping the back and small windows limo dark but the strip on the window and the doors are getting seriously redone. This is just going to make driving easier and safer. Right now I can't see the side mirrors at night. This makes driving really difficult when it's dark. The window strip ends right in my eye line. Which when the road is bumpy makes it flicker in my visual path. Not fun a all. James can't look out the front window when he is in the truck with me, said it gives him a headache. So this means I need to change things and not just for the sake of James. It merits his statement that it is painful to look out the window. Heather is short enough that she doesn't get affected by the tint strip being so low. In the end this is for me and no one else. One more step in making the truck my own and no longer the one I bought.

More later when I have done a bit more this day.

Robin Williams was some funny funny stuff. He did his homework and made good you-live-in-Louisville jokes. I laughed so hard my ribs are sore. I am tired from laughing for two hours, awesome time! Also, Heather bought end of the row seats and they were in the 3rd balcony, which has wider chairs. All my big friends, you know who you are, I highly recommend that you take the higher seats at the palace as they are well worth the comfort. I am so glad to have been able to see him live like this. Hopefully he comes back through in the next few years so I can compare it with this show.

ignore this, just trying to get my facebook settings corrrected

I went to this for the first time today. I have a slight aversion to festivals/carnivals/fairs. While I don't think that they all are the same they invoke the same tired feelings from me each time I attend. This time I did not have that feeling. This one was actually better and more interesting than any of the ones I had worked. So I guess that this will be a yearly even for us, which I am glad.

We did end up purchasing a few items. Hopefully Heather will post them on facebook so that the pics can be shared.

I did get some ideas from viewing the artist work. There are some things that I am going to attempt to incorporate into upcoming paintings and sketches. I am glad to have gone not matter how much my feet might complain.

Back at the gym after needing a rest due to weather and allergies. I did two days of the four day program, today and yesterday, and am getting back into the groove. Thankfully it was a lot easier these two days and I was actually able to up my weight for some exercises.

Apologies to Tellie, I didn't mean to delete your comment I was trying to clear out my inbox. My bad for not reading the prompts.

I have a thought and I am pointing it at you.
Shouldn't you be scared?
Shouldn't you question my intentions?

Are you shrugging because it's an idea?
Wouldn't words be just as dangerous?
Wouldn't a gun be less harmful?

Words hit more people than bullets ever will.
Now you should feel the fear.
Now there is actual terror.

And now I realize it's all the same.
Words are only the newest weapons.
Words are going to loose the impact that bullets once had.

I have ideas.
Something keeps them inside and unrealized.
Something could change.

Working my will to take back the power of words.
Use my vocabulary to shape a clearer meaning.
Use words like I have something to say.

Before it's too late.

I started back at the gym today. 26 minutes of interval training on the treadmill made me feel pretty good the rest of the day. The plan is to get up super early and go work out. Then shower and walk the few blocks to work. Not sure about the walking but the rest is pretty reasonable.

Google docs is neat and I have started to create a log file for my work outs. If I get it done and I'll share the form. It's pretty neat so far.

I like listening. Heather appreciates it when I do. I also like it when she is happy. She has been happy the past few days. I am crossing my fingers. If you know what this means please perform your own luck ritual for us.

That's all for now.

I have to say that only having one opening band was a great idea. While the opening band was OK they were also mostly forgettable. So I am not going to name them here look them up if you are curious.

Band of Horses was amazing. I love it when the performance live surpases the recordings. The stage presense of the band while they were playing original music was top notch. I have nothing but good things to say. I am a cheerleader at this point, go rock! But yeah, even if they do have this touch of country at their roots this was a great show. I would put it soundly in my top 20 and perhaps as high as 14.

The songs they chose were of course the big hits. But they also played one of my favorite songs ( No One's Gonna Love You ) and I got chills. They had the whole crowd singing with Funeral. After a short rest they played three encore songs.

So worth still being awake and needing to get some sleep for work in the morning. :) I am going to punch Peter Pan in the face.

The second terabyte drive arrived yesterday. Today I began the mirroring of the drives in order to allow for the most secure data backup. Ah, finally I am going to feel at least a little bit secure about where my data and projects are housed.

Thanks Honey for indulging my geeky ways.

Found this a while ago but was reminded of it today via twitter and @patricknorton. Thanks Patrick.

While driving to my Star Wars RPG last night James said the funniest thing about the music we were listening too. For a little background I had in a copy of Bold Beginnings: An Incomplete Collection of Louisville Punk 1978-83 that was playing The Blinders song Honey Hush. He asked if it was the Dead Kennedys. I replied no it was local. He then said he wasn't white enough for this. I replied with laughter. I have never heard him say that before. Apparently he isn't white enough for punk rock. Who knew?

I keep putting off talking about my first meeting in real life with my CoH teammates. They are a fun bunch in game and out. it's good to run into people, and the more I look a the connections that 'happen' upon people the more I am convinced that there is another force in this universe. I think that some would call that force god, but I don't like ascribing to a force of the universe anthropomorphic qualities. That is however, another blog post entirely.

Most of the TSF is associated with Pokemon USA. The meeting I was invited to, along with James (BBA), was in Columbus Ohio during Origins Gaming Convention.

The facts so far: We met playing Coh, BBA found them first, The Electric Rat keeps them employed.

There was eating, laughter and all in all a great time had. I learned how to play the Pokemon card game. They provided me with another look at what it takes to keep several hundred children and parents happy all at once. Also, I got to meet in person people that up until then were just funny electronic avatars. While this would be enough for some there was a lot of strangeness attached to it when I did this in the past. Meeting people that I had only known from online conversations was usually a bit strange. The filter of the Internet would often allow for more time to consider responses. Also not seeing peoples faces while you are doing things is a bit odd as well. I tend to think of conversations as being live and at least with voice. Even then if I get distracted it can change the tone of the call. But with the TSF there seemed to be very little awkwardness. They were a great group of accepting people. James and I had a good time hanging out for 4 days with our virtual team mates.

A few highlights:

Fat guy in a little shirt was outdone by yours truly. I don't think that winning is the correct term, but wearing a child-small by a man that normally wears a XXL should be considered Belushi-Farley humor. I think that I pulled off fat guy in the little shirt pretty well. If not for the small belly hair I could have claimed to be dressing in drag. The shirt was basically a skin tight belly shirt that looked ultra-silly on me. Luckily it was in front of a lot of people that had alcohol in them for a long period of time. I believe there is a picture out there but I don't know for sure. Hopefully someone has a copy of it so I can get motivated to hit the gym.

Meat cooked in a place named for an elevator on a warmed stone is amazing. Micro-breweries should be subsidized by the government as a truly necessary part of the economy. We drank many beers from a great little place outside of the convention center. I gained at least 10 pounds eating ice cream from Jeni's after every meal. Despite there being two bears in the cave Mike and I never woke each other up, to my knowledge.

Everyone we met was awesome at the show. Bob was funny and good to hang out with while we were bored. Dave is a top-shelf guy with a big heart. The woman that taught us to play had this great stunned look when she found out the "boys" she was going to teach to play was me and James. Bob in his little cave with the lewd stories was really funny as well. I can't say that there was a bad moment in the time we were there.

I saw some LARPers doing vampire and didn't miss it. The zombie LARP looked pretty damn funny even for those not participating. The most fun that I had was just hanging out with James and talking to the crew. Although watching Dave work was inspiring. I saw him chastise a father for leaving his young son alone at the tournament and in the end the father realized his mistake in a way that showed actual understanding. Dave is a pretty amazing talking in that way. He makes you feel included. Pete and Mike were just as I hoped. Mike, my roommate, was like a long lost brother. Pete was soft spoken and with actual few words, but he had wisdom and humor when he did speak. Which made his comments that much more interesting and valued.

It took me a year to get some of these thoughts down. These are all out of order and missing some bits I don't recall right away. It was a trip well worth braving the storm getting there and taking time away from the job.

Thanks Warren Ellis

Ze Frank: That Makes Me Think Of...
http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=mokTdrFh3hGHKz0SBdV6qA

Ze Frank also provided a link to something amazing. Listen to it here: http://www.wyntonmarsalis.org/mediaclips/northwestern/northwestern_speech.mp3

I have been quiet for some time now but there are blogs about things coming soon.