poor FSM

So, today I was unable to get on the FSM website, and found a fantastic entry on Wikipedia. Sadly, they've taken it down until the results of a vote. In the meantime the official website of the FSM is back up and I'm linking to it's news section (go to the bottom of the page).

This site rules. It not only has a FSM car logo, but also carries all the Darwin fish and sushi fish (all making fun of the Jesus fish that are placed on cars).

The painting of Great Sandwich's! house is officially over! It looks just fine and is now wearing suitable clothing for the upcoming winter (though that mold in the paint somewhat concerns me).

I found the best possible cat sitter. She's an reliable friend and experienced cat sitter that I will be paying. This means that I can request certain deeds such as cleaning the litter box knowing that with payment, such things are more likely to get done. And I don't have to worry about some stranger having access to my house for three weeks. Yeay! Now I just have to clean the house, pack all the things, go shopping for the stuff I don't have and plan the trip. (Thanks Aubrey for telling me about Nikki and her cat-sitting skills.)

I would like to give a shout out to the Pet Loft . I stopped using them because I live so far away from them, and tried to get my litter and food from a very local merchant on Mississippi. Well, I hate Mississippi street and hate that store and that lady even more, for various reasons. I LOVE the Pet Loft. They act as counselor and friend, they always have what I need and they always carry out the tons of litter to my car. They know what they are talking about and though the price of gas makes it kinda expensive to go there, I will never, ever go anywhere else for my pet supplies.

I would also like to give a shout out to my neighbors across the street (not behind us - I still hate them), for creating a special light fixture that will keep the light from shining directly into the living room and upstairs entertainment room). That was amazingly nice and kind of them and I'm gonna go give them some zucchini bread.

I am going to make more of an effort to positively reinforce all those that are actually nice to me.

Question about Mars

Within the last ten years, I've been notified no less than 5 different times that if I were to look to the East sky, I would see Mars larger than perhaps any human has ever seen Mars. This due to it being closer than ever, ever, ever. Well, each time I look at Mars, it is pretty interesting and to my naked eye, yes a bit bigger than it normally is. But if five years ago it was larger than it will be in 200 years and last weekend it was larger than it will be until 2087, well, I'm confused.


Is Mars going to collide with the Earth, and folks are trying to make us not worry by pretending that everytime it gets a bit closer that it is a once-in-a-lifetime sighting?

Hmmm, this I am very curious about.

In other news, I have a wicked micro-brew hangover. My head is pounding. I went to the Kickball Captain's meeting last night, and mistakenly drank some Mirror Pond, which always gives me a hellish headache the next day. Never again. Even worse, I made a damn sandwich. A Microbrew/Scotch/Corona sandwich. I broke two drinking rules in one night. And a hell of a lot of things to do today and tomorrow (including finishing a house painting project) before leaving for three weeks on vacation.

Kickball folks are kinda crazy, just so everyone knows. This will be an interesting endeavor.

Anyone know a good local catsitter?

Hello

Long weekend, but a good one. We went up to the north side of Mt. Adams, to camp with some friends. It was quite lovely to hang out next to a lake and enjoy the fresh air and scotch. On Saturday, Steve and I went on a grueling (3,000 feet in 3ish miles) 7 hour hike, that took us almost to the edge of the glacier of Mt. Adams. I did one of the dumbest things of my life (the kind of thing I make fun of Steve for having done in the past): we were looking for a lake at 7,500ft, and thought it must be just over that scree. Well, it wasn't, and the trip I took up and down the extremely angled hill was enough to make my legs shake, as even the very large boulders were not at all secure. That I escaped with no broken limbs was a bit of a miracle.

The next day was spent lounging until I just lost all interest in the beautiful Council Lake that I wanted to go to because I was so exhausted. I slept in the car while the others swam.

Then on to home, shopping for our next trip and I actually went to bed before 11:00. Slept for 12 hours. Today will be picking up the pieces and trying to determine where we are going on our trip that will last 3 weeks and starts on Thursday of this week. It is so cold at night in these mountains, that we're just not so sure about heading up north anymore. Perhaps southern Utah? We'll see.

Photos soon to be loaded...Here they are, enjoy!

Not much today

I'm going camping later today, and I've spent all my allotted internets time working on getting the left side of my blog to look nice. Dumb error. I knew I had to close the links somehow (the Labels such as "My Shit" were linking to the prior button), and couldn't figure it out. Duh, just need to close that "/a". In the meantime, I've figured out what "p" and "br" and "div" all do.

I'm pretty sure that's the geekiest thing I've ever written. But, seriously, I need to take a class so I don't have to keep reinventing the wheel every time I come up with a problem (cuz I knew what all those things did, through other trial and error stuff. The problem is that I haven't written any code from scratch, I just cut and paste a lotta crap, which helps a bit, but I need all the nitty-gritties to really learn something.)

Camping to take place on the northern side of Mt Adams this time. Tougher hikes and hopefully better scenery. We have four lakes that we might be camping on...very nice, almost like a vacation. We'll see though, there will be three dogs and four adults this time.

And no chemicals in my body. I've had no stimulants or depressants in my system for a few days now. The days seem endless. Nothing, really, not even any coffee! I know, I'm not sure what I'm trying to prove either. I've just lost the urge to ruin myself. Except by not finding a job or communicating with loved ones or actually exercising. But I'm trying to improve, so give me some time peeps, you'll see a new and improved jkf come out of all of this, I promise.

I have to get all the stuff ready or the boy will kill me for being so lazy. A lovely weekend to all.

Howdy

Well, my life just seems to simmer on. Avoiding any real responsibility and just coasting along, trying to get back my bearings after 6 months of hell. I sleep a lot.

Last night however was a very good Kickball practice we had a total of 12 people show up, several that I met for the first time and we were all able to get some good practice in each position. We also had a bit of a dodgeball game and a sprint. Good people, all give a shit. We still have 4 others on the team, and hopefully we'll have a day when all are present.

I've been a quitter of smoking for over three weeks now. I just wanna remind myself and everyone else that smokes that it can be done. Two weeks and then it is smooooooth sailing.

This weekend I'll be heading back to Mt Adams for some swimming and relaxing. For that, I'm excited.

Funny internet items

Fuck the BoyScouts, Gay merit badges.

Link to a MP3 interview by Ian Greeb with Jim Woodring.

A blog all about e-books.

This is why ifilm is so fantastic, bringing you a wonderful animated short about the Vietnam War. I especially like the Sean Connery-voiced "Agent Orange." Captain America takes on the hippies/commies.

Bored

So today I have the third Kickball practice, but the first one that feels official. Somehow I've gotten myself into the position of Captain, with I initially did just to help out, but since I do enjoy organizing, I have taken on my responsibilities with zeal.

That zeal manifesting itself into a new blog. So, if you wanna keep up with the goings-on of The Ligers kickball team, please, help yourself.

You movie buffs should like this

All of the famous voice-over peeps make an appearance in this little advert for some awards show. It's fantastic!

As promised, bus poetry

Thanks to SCT, these pictures are from local busses;

Our own version of the horrible mode of communication loosely labeled "art" follows:

Where?
the moon is large in the sky,
as I wander through the winds of time,
searching for the thimble that lost its way,
I scurry through the field wondering why the placenta wanders,
waiting for the moon

Vacation
my eyes are wet with the salt of the earth.
why must the trees weep for the field when the city is near and happens every day.
I wake with taunts of twisted metal in my heart. waiting. wishing. for the beach

Where II
the bus makes its way to the street that isn't there,
wanting to fulfill its destiny it cannot
yet continues because there is nothing else to do

Wind
Look!
The window of time escapes me.
I watch, and I wait
Thoughts escape me
As if time is like the llama of golden bush
Founded on the rice patties of Vietnam life
Unfolded pearls of wisdom from the side
Cold
Meaty
Shark like instincts touch my farm
Watch me rise from the ground like so many slaves

Breitenbush tango
You are so Deeeep, man!
Like the pools of water in my soul,
you speak to the essence of the hybrid Subaru
wanting the world to be more like your mind,
you close your eyes and see the future
written upon your eyelids.
pressing your palms hard, the colors of
life, love, loss, extinction
seep into your heart

Crim Pro
Wake up world and taste my spittle
Crawl up the passages of time
and watch the soul burn
Drink expensive coffees and buy expensive perfume
Crime rates on the drop
Can you be the police too?

Stolen time
I like the way you talk
I like the way you walk
You really turn me on
It is sad, this world, where
we cannot come together
Why are you plagued with youth?
and I with senility

Most recent vacation

Mt St. Adams, this past weekend. I'm still working out the bugs.....

I'd also like to mention

That I have a splitting headache. I decided to be all Snoop D, and drink me some gin and juice. Well, today, every meow and bark sets my head a-throbbin. Ouch. I'm no gangsta.

Photos

Well kids, I got plumb fed up with the free applications out there for photo sharing, Blogger included. Thus, I finally shelled out $25 to get a Flickr account that actually allows me to upload in batches, easily add captions, has a lovely preview utility that you see to your left, and it is so easy, so easy. You can even add comments to pictures, unless people are assholes, then that privilege will be revoked. Amen.

I'll be working on this for a while, so have some patience.

Update: Here's my link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jkf/, though I do believe you can just click on the Flash photos to the left.

Nice nostalgic find

I was looking for something completely unrelated, and found the column when Dan Savage first called for a sex act to be named after Rick Sanitorum. The I, Anonymous for that week is pretty funny too.

Crap, I found one of those ribbon sticker/magnets. The brilliance is that the sticky part is on the magnet, I'll just tear off the old, gay, "I love Dubya." You come in with your superior photoshopping skills.
The rest of the world: give me your ideas, and we'll make a new sticker to place on someone's car. You know what I'm talking about.

A cozy day

It rained this A.M., so that is my excuse for not painting, especially as it looks like it will stay dreary and damp. I would like to sit on the couch and watch movies all day and sleep when I wanna, but more likely I'll spend it working on trying to upload all my weekend pictures on my photo blog. Perhaps I'll do it on the couch instead. I spend an hour every morning trying to make sure all is well with Kickball, and then organize my schedule, when I haven't checked my phone messages in a week! Sorry everyone.

One of these days the money will be gone and then I will have that kick in the head I need to get my shit together. See, I can't even relax when I have time off.

Internet finds

So, robots are super-cool, and being able to stand again after falling is a nice trick, but does anyone else find the video kinda scary?

Finally, someone figured out how to make money from people stealing others' music, and making it legit to boot. Bout damn time, cuz ain't no one goin back to the malls to buy shitty cd's.

Tired and dirty!

We camped and hiked all weekend. It went like this: we left Portland about 10:00 pm on Friday night. I know, silly, and likely disasterous, but we just couldn't face not going. So we did, arriving at the campsite at 12:30, finding a lovely spot, setting up, having a fire, etc. It was lovely. The next day we moved camp to another site on a river and with less dirt. We then hiked an amazing trail that we didn't even know existed. The best part was the view, which was of the Cascade Range and more incredible than anything I've ever seen. Then we heard a large crack and didn't think anything about it until later when the trail had a creek next to it that at first led me to believe that we had taken a wrong turn on the way back. Alas, soon we happened upon the creek as it was making its way down the mountain, something having set in motion a new water source. We followed it for a while then headed to camp to make sure we were prepared in case it decided to course through our 'perfect' campsite. Thankfully it did not.

Then today, we got up and drove to another trail, Indian Heaven, which was truly a bit of heaven, though the 1200ft of elevation gain in the first mile felt like hell. There were huckleberries galore and I do believe we each ate at least a quart. I skinny-dipped in water deeper than I am tall (an amazing feat if you know me at all), finding out later that a group of Reed hikers watched us the whole time. I ran down the mountain bare-footed because of blisters. Later, we saw some natural bridges, an ice cave and a big tree (the largest known ponderosa pine, ooooh).

A fantastic weekend, except for being much too dumb to bring a watch along on the hike today and missing kickball practice. Oooops, though likely they didn't need me anyway.

Photos up when I get the chance. SCT, feel free to add your own reflections, and thanks for a wonderful weekend.

Friday

Well, some painting got done at the sandwich's yesterday, but it felt a lot like treading water. Sadly, so will today. I'm heading there now, but it will be way too hot to do anything on the South side and then I'm leaving to go camping for the weekend. Sorry GS!

Book club was fantastic. Lots of fun having everyone in the same place again and we actually remembered enough of the last book, Asleep, by Banana Yoshimoto, to have a coherent discussion. I do believe it received 4 thumbs up, so check it out.

The rest of the evening was just plain silly.

So, I'll catch you cats all again on Monday, have a lovely weekend.

But first, check out this amusing offer: $250,000 if you can prove Jesus isn't the son of the Flying Spagetti monster...it's intelligent design...take a look.

So I found this

Here's a video from Discovery Channel Canada saying that the Mercedes/Swatch Smart Car is finally being introduced to the Americas. YES! Perhaps I'll pick one up on vacation. They have six gears. They are wonderful. You only have to pay 1/2 price on parking in Germany if you have one of these. DAMN!

Seriously, if anyone has some extra dough sitting around, I would love to be a trend setter on this one.

This will be short

great sandwich! is back and I need to go and paint her house. She just got back and though I'm sure she's disappointed that I didn't finish painting her house while she was gone, she seems relatively confident enough in my abilities not to have freaked out when she called yesterday. Whew.

So, watched the Cincinnati Kid last night, with my beau, Steve McQueen. He's dreamy, but the movie was a little less than spectacular. I did like the ending, all old-school and somewhat anti-Hollywood. But the gem of the evening was Kung Fu Hustle, which I've mentioned before is one hella good movie. Their site has some fun Flash games.

So, I'm off, let me know if you find any good internet gems. I'll be at book club tonight, so I'll likely not chat again until tomorrow.

Another blog change

Since I was so bored, I decided to rework my blog. Most of what I wanted to do was possible. Now I have one day on the main page. To see earlier days, simply, well, it should be self-explanatory. Let me know if there are bugs or if I've made the site less user friendly. I thought it would load faster this way, and it will be easy to see past days. The only thing I wish I had was a calendar for the archives, though the drop-down menu isn't so bad. Also it was seemingly impossible to get the blog title to link back on the archives page, so I had to add that lame-o button on the side. I'll try and fix it, I promise.

Daily Ruminations

I'm so bored. Funny, cuz I actually do have lots to do. I just don't want to do those things, or be responsible or even show a modicum of effort. I would like to enjoy being lazy a bit more, that just seems a bit impossible. So, today I will try and accomplish something. The internet is boring too, so nothing interesting unless someone points me to it.

Last night we watched Sin City, which I was rather skeptical about. It however, outshone itself. Wonderful graphics and a nice meaty story. I would actually like to see it again. So, tonight will be the date with Steve McQueen.

Interesting things from the Internet

Click on the image for more information on how to buy your own pirate jesus, pirate budda or pirate jimmy hendrix items.

I have a date tonight

With the Cincinnati Kid!

Comedy central has a blog

Called: CC Insider. The best part is the newest Daily Show clips are placed on the blog. No muss, no fuss.
You must watch the interview with Anna Nicole Smith, at the Pamela Anderson roast. She's a sharp one.

Vintage photos - Consumer reports

I tried to get this to you kids yesterday, but was riddled by slow loading.Enjoy.

Wow

Sara's car was seriously messed up! She was hit on the driver's side by another vehicle, and then hit a telephone pole with the passenger's side. There is wood from the telephone pole still stuck in the car. We should all take a moment and thank Jesus that Sara is well (seriously, her picture of Jesus was unharmed in the accident and cast a force field around her that kept her safe). She did get to wear a fancy orange vest and waive her ability to sue for serious bodily injury or death that occured while she was getting her "personal items" out of her car.

Haha, rednecks are funny.

Did you see that pile of bacon?

Awww, a robot box for a kitty with missing limbs!

It's cute except I worry about all the spinning.And the meowing doesn't sound so happy.

Two weeks

That's right, two weeks since I quit smoking. Twelve years are beginning to erase themselves, as I no longer wheeze, cough or hack any longer. I can smell much better and my throat is no longer sore. The best part, no to little hangover when having had a ton to drink. Also, I'm not nearly as endlessly thirsty, which makes for fewer trips to the bathroom. Bonus: at kickball practice yesterday: I was out of breath because I was running, not because I just sucked all my oxygen out of my lungs. All around wonderful results, highly recommended.

A friend always says, do anything for two weeks and you'll be used to it, it gets easier and then you can decide more rationally whether or not you want to continue an activity. These last two weeks were a little slice of hell, but I can safely say that resisting the urge is hella easier now, and I'm pretty happy to have made it this long. Even the patch is history!

Well, today is off to the dump to help Sara extract her stereo from her wrecked car. (She's alright except for some whiplash and pain and suffering of course). Then hopefully I can drag my sorry ass to GS!'s for some painting.

weekend of love

So, had a good time this weekend. Went swimming twice, played some kickball and avoided the internet quite nicely. Which is why I'm just gonna end this now. More when I'm bored.

This little bugger made swimming a bit more interesting. See my photos for an actual photo...it has orange bands. Weird

I still haven't been back to paint GS's house, what a slacker I am!

Introducing...my new nephew/brother/cousin...Sam Riley

blotto

Wowzers, last night was the first time in a hella long time that I was able to transport myself from one place to another simply by concentrating. Hottub, friends, too many dogs and a couple of drinks made for a hella wonderful night. With the headache today to prove it. What fun!

formula

Witty, witty, legal references. Mention of family, so special. Insert political discussion and slight outrage. Mention church picnic and argument with the in-laws.

The more blogs I look at the more stupid they all seem. But the best thing I've seen: blogging about the bar exam, inbetween test dates.

So, it's just not proper to discuss the bar exam particulars. The purpose is this: you mention something that someone else didn't get or the opposite way around and someone is bound to get hurt. Don't want to mess with the ego. I don't like discussing, but sometimes it just happens (it was a will, res judicata are two that have over the years killed me). So, here, a person blogs about the exam before the second day has even begun! AMAZING! I'm not linking because I hope they don't know I exist in blog land. But.....come on. Same person that listed their grades received during law school. WTF? Makes for a good blog, but a good lesson on what ramifications may be.

And another blog rant: Where the hello have all those blogs gone? I know, summer time. Hopefully they will come back with the shorter days.

Yeay!

:: Discovery Channel CA ::: "George Bush yesterday signed a bill that will give a tax credit of $650-$3,400 to hybrid-vehicle buyers. "

Yet I wonder what deviousness underlies...

Everyone gets a button!

Go Here if you wanna make your own button, then send me the file! If you wanna link to my site, use the tax lass button at the bottom of the page. Thanks!

Spend an afternoon with Shatner

You know he's worth the time.

There is a dent!

Oh goodness, our selling on ebay has hit a snag, oh yes, the MD player evidently had a dent in it. We'll see how that comes out. Who the hell buys a MD player these days anyway?

Weekend with the in-laws. Recovery day yesterday. It went better this weekend than past visits. I guess I'm learning to be an asshole too, yelling and screaming over everyone else. It also helped that I didn't endlessly want a cig. Speaking of which, 7 days without and 2 days off the patch. Some moments will make one want to sell the first born child, but overall, doing well.

Still painting the sandwich! house. Took a few days off though to deal with the inlaws and to recover from taking that bar exam (you may remember). I hope there will soon be a day when I actually enjoy the presence of others. First I need to take care of myself, thanks.

MEG LEG IS 30

I am extremely amiss in having not called Meg on her birthday yesterday when she actually did turn 30. So today, I make up for it.

Meg, you have become a wonderful friend. We met studying in law school and found we were able to bounce ideas off of each other, learning more through the process. Your patience in explaining leverage several times to me until I properly understood the concept was invaluable, which just serves as an example of the millions of other times you have helped me out. You have always been available to listen to my rants and raves and the fact that you are able to hate as much as I when stressed out makes me just wanna hug you. You are a great pal and I'll always be there for you when you are in need. It is the least I could do, considering all that you have done for me. Love ya doll!

Happy 30th birthday Meg. When you are back in town, let's throw you a proper shindig.

Your present? Here you go...your pick.

(Funny aside: I stayed home from lunch with the in-laws today....excuse: exploding diarrhea. Sad part: it was true.)

Sweet, this rules! Please do not try at work boys.

OfficeGuns - Guns Advanced - Super Maul

The cutest thing

You think your dog is cute? You won't believe this. Look at the first video.

I know, focus, but I don't have to

I would like to apologize to Naomi Watts, for having only recently discovered how amazingly beautiful she is. Seriously, I'm smitten. Great Sandwich, we're gonna have to share that card.

I had no idea

The large amount of time that I must have spent on the internet, just looking at stupid stuff. Now that I'm up relatively early, painting a house all day, home at 7:30 and dinner done at 9:00, I really don't have any time to surf the web, let alone update this blog. We'll see.

Looks like vacation isn't gonna be until after Labor Day, so I'll have much more time to putz around the house, and oh, right, look for a job, and attempt to set up my web page. And I'll try to get those pics up from last weekend's trip. Looks like there will be more, gonna camp locally every weekend until our proper vacation.

I'm obsessed today with Ewan MacGregor. Mmmmm. He's got that twinkle in his eye just like my boy. I do still love Steve McQueen, don't get me wrong. I got lots of love to give.

good morning

The one good thing about studying for the bar was that I never had to make or keep any obligations other than my own. Now I think I will have to get a planner to keep track of all the social events and meetings that I am suppossed to attend. Why is it that no matter what, there is never any time just to re-frackin-lax?

Steve kinda lost a couple of points with the peace sign there, but it was 1972, so I'll cut him a hella lot more slack than the folks down at Breitenbush (weird encounter this weekend!). Steve was arrested for drunken driving. Seems that he was having a good time regardless. His ears are kinda big. This is now the Steve McQueen blog.

Back from vacation

Lovely weekend. We got lost, had to hitchhike a ride, burnt the dog's feet, drank a lot, hiked a lot, breathed a lot of dust, discovered some new campgrounds, and learned how to travel without music. A very successful weekend. Sadly, it will likely be quite a while before I am able to discuss this trip, because this week is gonna be crazy. I have to paint a friend's house and clean my own for the in-laws visit this weekend. The following three weeks are destined to be bliss however, with a week to relax and plan the next two weeks of camping in British Columbia. Wonderful. Photos posted shortly.


Sadly, Steve McQueen and I will soon have much less in common. Though I guess it could be seen as a good thing.