Not so secret

I just checked the recent visitor activity, and noticed that I still have occasional readers from Vancouver, the Czech republic, Portland, and Wisconsin. Thanks for the loyalty folk. And a shout out to SEATTLE!

Please, though, comment, and let me know how you feel. I can always censor you, because this is my kingdom, bitches.

Blogs are so ridiculous.

btw

i just saw a post about sea monkeys and wanted to update the world: i have had a successful sea monkey colony since November. Well, there are three left, one male "whiskey" and two females (very pregnant). Seems no little ones survive. Whiskey, though is the best. He had a major problem humping the ship mast until the other males died. now he has his pick and attaches often. I think he might be eating the babies, though there is enough food and algae to go around. I'm happy that these three have stayed with me, the only three for two or more months.

good night.

hi guys

Well, this is the first time in a long time that I have been drunk and alone. Sake tonight. Boy went to go help the Wetz dry out and they ended up drinking anyway. Came home, I smelled it, became irritated, the boy went off to bed and then I had three microscopic glasses of sake and am currently toasted. I was writing an email to my little sister, and decided that since I was drunken emailing, I should really channel my energies to the drunken blaagen.

Yeay!

This makes me sober up a little though as for some reason, feelings of studying for the bar and attendant despair well up inside me. yuck.

That's not cool at all. perhaps I should return to the realm. I've lots of things to share, and no one is even listening. Best yet is that when I took my current job I tried to eradicate all mention of my name from this blog. I believe the crawlers have since erased any trace. So now, I will be more careful and can keep this from prying eyes. If you see this, let me know. It'll be our secret.

I'm excited.

Let me tell you next time about boxing. I'm a shadowboxer, baby!

I miss things and don't know how to get them back.

Server

is up. I'll be fashioning my website soon and creating my own little chunk of the internets.

I don't want to write here anymore. It bores me. Sorry. Instead, I like to write emails while I am at work. That is fun AND productive.

I will be posting on flickr soon. Lots of cool stuff. Then soon, all that should be on my server, website, whatever its all called. Then life will no longer be at all private, won't that amuse you all?

Ok, I'm gonna go upload some photos. www.flickr.com/photos/jkf

a couple of things

remember the aliens on sesame street? The phone episode is my fav. of all time. see it here:

second, i've switched to beta blogger, a new franchise of google. And, IT SUCKS! you can't do any of the things that made old blogger easy, so don't switch. Because of that, this is short.

I'm good though.

busy bee

Too much so to get the 10 photos up that we took on the trip, and I'm running late for work.

So, soon, I'll holla back at all ya'll.

I'm good, still some blisters, but not as sore as I thought. Hardest thing is talking to people now, I just don't want to deal. Makes me think a commute to the country wouldn't be such a bad thing. It would be so nice to come home to peace and quiet.

I was in Seattle for 5 days and then the northern North Cascades for 4 days and 3 nights, where the mountain peaked at us and the rainforest rained on us. Good stuff.

Most exciting is Aubrey will be back this weekend, and another Stephen will be visiting too. So, while I generally dislike people, at least this weekend will be spent talking to those I do like.

Vay Kay!!!!

Hey hey hey

I'm outta here.

But first i wanna tell you a little secret. Last weekend we wanted to take a hike that sounded lovely, hike through a creek to get to a beautiful waterfall. Unfortunately, 350 other people also wanted to do this .3 mile hike. YUCK!

So, we decided to get away from people, and found the perfect hike to do so, The bridge of the gods trail. Part of the PCT, this trail escapes humans, and highway noise after about 1/2 hour to end at a beautiful, wispy waterfall that has a punchbowl just barely big enough to dip in. See, most folk pass the trailhead on their way to Washington, to Gifford Pinchot. No one stops. YEAY. Enjoy if you wish, I'll have photos of the trip up in a bit.

Anyway, we're off to vacation land today. Three or so nights in Seattle, no dog. Then off to backpack somewhere without people. First vacation without the dog. Hopefully that will mean I'll be back having seen the Olympics or have climbed Mt. St. Helens. Either way, this is gonna be one of the best weeks of my life.

And bonus, talked to pjr on Friday, and looks like I may be able to spend Christmas in Wisconsin.

Work is just a bad dream for now (not that it is so bad, I'm just sayin).

hard to blog

Makes me tired.

I've become used to working again. Funny how quickly one adapts. Sadly, what once seemed shiny and new is already exposing its tarnish.

BH still plagues me, though more with being tedious and troublesome. Others explain where babies come from when I ask where the dildo isle is. Even more frustrating is explaining that 2+2 does in fact, equal 4, no matter how many times we plug it into the calculator, and I will try to make it 5, but don't yell at me when the result is comical.

I'm exceptional amongst mediocre, yet mediocre amongst the exceptional. Like a game of table tennis, it is only fun when you are evenly matched. Someday, I would really like to find that.

In the meantime, I'm surviving, trying not to be too frustrated. Though that is certainly not easy.

sammy the sailor, at riley's bay

more at flickr. photos of poppa pat too!

The big leap

I just wrote and lost a long post. So, you get the brief version.

1. Jumped off of a cliff on Sunday. I'm not telling you where. It's mine. All mine. I shot a video of Steve going off, and he got a pic of me flailing about. I was scared and it took a long time to work up the courage. Earlier in the day, I jumped off my first cliff and it was about 2 feet. That was scary. If you don't know, I've been deathly afraid of water since 8th grade. But I'm getting much better. Anyway, enjoy.

Also titled, HOLY BIG ASS BATMAN!

2. Sam went to Riley's Bay. That's where I lived before I came to Portland. It ruled, and I didn't take proper advantage of it. It instead made me appreciate rest. Which was good. I healed there.

3. Work is just fine. I made it to the company picnic on Saturday, even though I was so hungover I could barely walk. I'm too old for Vodka. There was a highschool reunion on Friday night. Not mine, we crashed. It was fun, and weird. I almost decked a man for thinking that I couldn't remotely hope to understand what it is like to come out of the closet. Hell I've done it coming out and going back in. What?

4. Work is better, but just as demanding. I'm figuring things out, so now the pressure is mostly to be intelligent, rather than understand the way things are organized and being frustrated about that.

5. Watching "the prisoner." I'm too lazy to link, ask Nightsoil or Crapartist. I'm not even linking them. It is bad and really good at the same time. I've only seen the first episode, so don't give anything away in the comments.

6. Thomas Crown affair. The original. I can't recommend watching it. It is pretty bad. The music and editing are poo. But you have Steve McQueen and a very hot Faye Dunaway. They have amazing chemistry. Makes you want to snuggle right in between them and see what would happen. Bad movie, but lovely parts. I won't watch it again, but I didn't regret it either.

7. Someday I'll read a book again. In the meantime, the last book club selection was a Superman coloring book, my pick.

8. I work 10 hours a day. I'm tired.

9. Here's the video already. Soon to come: pics of my leap, and Sam's first sail.



It's a LOT taller at the top.

I heart this watch: Tokyoflash Retrofit Watch

Tokyoflash Retrofit Watch: Looks Like The Future - Gizmodo

Ricky Gervais - check it

A couple of Microsoft internal videos...this the second, but you'll find the first on the right. Ricky Gervais - Microsoft 2 - Google Video

listserves

I was trying to find the L&C listserves (I finally got on the Willamette ones), and couldn't. Anyone know?

In the meantime, I noticed that school starts soon. Four years ago today, I finished amber shellac'ing the interior of Riley's Bay, packed the Suburban up and left town to head out West. It was about 6:00 at night, and I didn't make it out of Wisconsin because my muffler fell off, but it was the beginning of a grand journey that was to completely change my life.

Ahhh, the memories. A lot has happened in the last four years. More than I can tell you. I wish to thank everyone that has been a part of it. And say sorry to a lot of people too.

I am sick of the computer though, so someone tell me where the master list of listserves is.

tired!

Bobble head. It's not nice, but apt. I am tired. Too many things to do, all counting on an extension. Please, please, please. A comment that "there are weekends," was met with extreme displeasure.

BH was defeated again today, but by the big guy. Nice to have the peeps on my side. I also was able to sidestep some unsavory assignments. Means I'll have hard work, but at least interesting. Tonight, I have to work from home. Hopefully I can find all the crap I need in the papers I brought with me, or tomorrow will likely be hell.

I love Deadwood. Entourage ain't so bad either, though kinda like porn. Makes you want no one to know you are watching it, but you can't look away. Deadwood is art.

Um, not much else. I'm pretty apathetic when not working, it's hard to think hard all day. Wish I could do this part time and be a mason the other part of my time. Even out the brain and brawn.

And yes, I sure miss those days under the sky bridge, smoking and chatting. I often feel like I am still in law school, same panic and stress. Smoking was a mandatory break, which is hard to recreate with anything else. I try to get out of the office and chat, but really, I just want to get my work done so I can go home. I do not want to ever work weekends, or nights if I can help it. Unless I'm being paid significantly larger amounts of money. Gotta learn to say no to the projects I just don't have time for.

Pray for that extension. I don't even have anything funny or interesting. I have made the NYT my homepage. They really have a lovely interface now, and I like it better than the BBC. Feels comfy. That, boingboing and lifehacker is about all the internetting I do. Generally the computer is something I don't wish to touch at night. So blessed be my readers.

Otherwise, all is well

good day

Today I was tested, in a couple of ways, and I prevailed. It was lovely.

First, I was given an assignment to tease a co-worker with a particularly difficult case. I came out of it with the label of "straight shooter" because I wouldn't complete the practical joke and be mean. I think I won that one.

Later, I was tested on my ability to stand up for what I thought was right. I argued a legal point and could feel that I was being probed for whether I would fight back or fold. Well, I certainly like to argue, so I was off. Later, I was worried for a while, because I again had taken the high road and wasn't sure if my rep as the "straight shooter" was gonna be good for the down and dirty legal field I'm in. (I started thinking again about that career in the IRS.) But the instigator came to me later and commended me on my skills and encouraged me to continue. That's the way to respect, he said.

In addition, BH took back her project. But not before I humilated her in the aforementioned argument. I'm done with it. Thank goodness, and will refuse to do more than listen to her attempts at argument.

In the meantime, I have two new ones, both due stat. Exciting stuff, endlessly proving myself is exhilariting and nerve-wracking, but today I won.

And it was good.

Besides, I have the house to myself again.

Steve and Fife hiking

I know this is wrong in a lot of ways, but I can't help but watch. So, I'm making you watch too.

Best movie ever!

Granted, I had several glasses of wine before and during the viewing of this movie, but I was fully entertained, laughed out loud and was pretty impressed with this movie:

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

Other news: well, currently surviving a weekend with the in-laws. Not too bad, but I just have to make sure not to spend too much of any one day with the whole group. I have the house to myself now because I turned down a trip to the coast. That was extremely difficult to do, but I know it would just have been too stressful.

I needed some time to regroup before another long work week. Last week, I'm pretty sure was the longest in history. Between being humilated in a meeting by bobble head, and having a project taken away from me, then quietly handed back by the same bobble head, I now have her on my permanent shit list and am just waiting for some payback served icy cold. Computer was down most of the week, meaning I couldn't access the network (where everything I need is). Ended up getting a new CPU, which sounds nice except for the fact that I had to spend a day getting it back to the way I want it.

But Friday ended nicely, with the finishing of two rush projects to impress and amaze some senior members of the crew, and two big ones for this week, with imminent deadlines. I like it when there is a lot of pressure, makes me actually give a shit.

I should do some reading of transcripts today, but might just continue the shopping I started yesterday. Tip: if you spend more than $200 at Ralph Lauren outlet in Woodburn, and have AAA, you get a 15% discount. NICE. Interestingly enough, I found NO clothes at Banana Republic, but tons of stuff at RL. Either they just have my style, or I want to be a polo player, I'm not sure, but I've found some great work clothes. I do hate shopping when things don't go well (stay away from Jantzen Beach).

Sharpest Manmade Thing

This website is great. Only graphics, no scholarly articles to read. A real treat!

Sharpest Manmade Thing

I must say, this is truly radical

Asus WL-700gE WiFi Router: Built-In 160GB Drive, iTunes, and Bittorrent - Gizmodo

Candy Addict » Grossest Candy - Cockroaches, Fear Factor, and Poop

Candy Addict » Grossest Candy - Cockroaches, Fear Factor, and Poop