Agonotheta

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May 25, 2005

Selfish ...

All I want is a maid to clean my modern, well-decorated loft.
I want somebody besides myself to do my laundry and my shopping.
I want to have toast 40% faster.
I want vacuums that vacuum while I'm away at work.
I want Tivo ... on an HDTV ... that's plasma.
I want a Nikon D70 and the free time to take thousands of pictures with it.
I want to write a book one day on one of the dozen plots I've thought of.
I want to attempt amatuer comedy on open mic night.
I want to see the world with a beautiful, intelligent woman.
I want a high performance, sportscar to drive during the weekend and a luxury sedan during the week.
I want to start a business someday for fun ... not one that I rely on as my main source of income.
I want to have a great golf swing.
I want to have all the new gadgets.
I want to write a screenplay and maybe even have it made.
I want to run a marathon.
I want to play in a community softball league.
I want to pay for my children's college education.
I want my knees to not hurt after I run.
I want people to come to my house and say, "Wow, Neil has some pretty cool stuff. Neil has the bachelor pad."
I want to be that guy ...

I want to live my life in honesty.
I want my family to know how much I love them.
I want my kids to know more than anything how much I love and would do anything and everything for them ...

... and finally, I want to wake up tomorrow without a hangover.

May 24, 2005

I Need Help

Hello, my name is Neil and I'm an addict.

I'm addicted to Extra® Cool Green Apple gum.

It's so obvious to me now, but I believe my sister is a gum dealer working for those bastards at the Wrigley's® corporation. She first gave me a piece of this delicious chewy goodness about a month ago and, wouldn't you know it, after buying a pack of my own, I've gotten three of my coworkers hooked on it as well.

Damnit, I'm so mad at myself, I'm playing right into their hands and I know it. Last time I saw my sister I played it cool and only asked her if she had any gum. You know, not specifying the kind she knew I wanted. But what did she tell me? She wanted me to pay her for it?

Typical dealer. The first one is free, but after they've gotten you hooked they charge you for it.

Whatever you do, don't try this gum, or else ... you'll be hooked too.

May 23, 2005

Heckling

The favorite thing I did last week (beside seeing Episode III) was yelling "Homewrecker!" at the screen during the preview for Mr. & Mrs. Smith. What was funny to me was the reactions of the people around me. Some people agreed, some didn't understand, and some probably just thought I was gay.

May 18, 2005

I've Got A Bad Feeling About This ...

Actually, I have a really good feeling about this. Tonight, I'm going to a midnight screening of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. I'm extremely excited, despite the fact that I'll be up til at least 3 AM. My boss was kind enough to allow me to use some of my "comp time," as we call it here. So I'll sleep late and come in to work in the afternoon.

Personally, I think it's going to blow every previous movie out of the water, including the original trilogy (except of course, Empire Strikes Back).

Tomorrow hopefully, I'll post some pics of Star Wars geeks clad in the garb of various creatures from "a galaxy far, far away" ... but we'll see.

May 17, 2005

Me and My Bass Guitar

I wish I could sit at home and play my bass all day long. I have been having so much fun playing it recently. I learned how to play in high school, played a couple of times in college, and a few times since then for friends with bands that had lost their bass player, but I haven't really dedicated much time to it since I bought a guitar a couple of years ago.

Erik (my current roommate) and I have somewhat started a band in the last month or so. We've only practiced twice, but we performed in a talent show at Erik's church.

I just write this to tell everyone who much I'm loving it.

Five extra points if you can name the artist who's song is the title of this post (without using Google.)

May 17, 2005

Eat At Joe's

May 10, 2005

Hiroshige Tattoo

Tattoos are addictive. At least, that's what I've heard.

But for me, I think it's true. I got my first tattoo on my left bicep about three and a half years ago. Ever since then, I've really wanted to get something else. But I never knew exactly what.

One thing that I know is that I would really love to get a big tattoo on my other arm. I can't really describe it, but I think a tattoo that covers the entire arm just looks amazing. Actually, I wouldn't want one that covers my entire arm, but at least my upper arm. This is what is typically called a "half-sleeve."

The other day though, I met a girl who had a half-sleeve done in the style of Ando Hiroshige or Katsushika Hokusai. I told her I really liked it, asked her who it was and why she chose it. She said she had never heard of either artist and confessed that she let the tattoo artist, her friend, just do what they wanted. I complimented her on the outcome and went on my way.

As we walked away, I smugly said to my friend, "That's lame. I would never get my body tattooed without carefully planning what it was." My friend snobbishly agreed. Her's looked somewhat like the one below.

After a few days to think about it, I'm seriously considering a tattoo in this style. The reason I would choose something like Hiroshige's "Sea Off Satta Suruga" at the top because I think it would look a lot better if it was one large image, rather than a collage of images like many other people choose. I really love the style and the framing of the "shot" with the waves on the right and the mountainside on the left.

At this point, it's just talk, but I really think it would look good. Now, all I need to do is get up the courage. My first tattoo is fairly small, but it hurt like a son of a bitch. Shortly after completing it, I decided I would have rather been punched in the face several times than have to get poked 60 times a second with five needles for an hour. No doubt I will be saying that tenfold when I eventually get around to getting this tattoo in the style of Hiroshige.

May 09, 2005

The Bermuda Triangle Explained

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked by the District Science Coordinator to be a judge for the District Elementary School Science Fair. If you recall, I helped judge one school's 4th Grade Science Fair last year. This year the stakes were raised as this was for the entire district, and all elementary schools and grades.

As this was all of the winners from every school, there weren't as many "funny" projects like there were last year. But there were some very well thought-out and executed ones. My favorite, although it didn't win, was one kid (I've forgotten his name) who studied the Bermuda Triangle. He even performed experiments with vortexes and magnets and the like.

I also really enjoyed another boy's experiment with sound waves and stereo speakers. The experiment wasn't necessarily that spectacular, but you could tell how much he loved music and stereos. He was, almost overwhelmingly, excited to hook up the little speaker to the amp and, finally, to turn up the music.

Trust me, these kids are much, much smarter than we were when we were their age, and even more smarter than the media gives them credit for.

May 06, 2005

Photos, Joes, and Cars

My Album

In case you can't already tell, I've figured out a way to post pictures from my cell phone without spending the mandatory 25¢ charge. T-Mobile, it seems, has a feature that I was never made aware of called My Album that I can upload my pictures to for free. From there, I can link, save, and even edit them. I'm pretty excited about this, because I thought it was nonsense that I pay 25¢ in addition to the $60 and change that I already pay.

I love me some crab!

Another thing that I'm pretty excited about is that Saturday night I'll be going to Joe's Crab Shack. I know it's not necessarily known for its great seafood, but I really love the Alaskan King Crab there. I get it barbecued and I LOVE IT.

Tighter Curves

Also this weekend, I'll be installing a 20mm rear sway bar. For those of you who aren't of the mechanically inclined, sway bars can be installed on your car to make your turns tighter. My WRX came stock with a 17mm rear sway, but I picked up a 20mm rear sway off an STi pretty inexpensively. I know what you're saying, 3mm is pretty minimal, will that even make a difference? The answer is yes, yes it will. Huge. I plan on auto-crossing my car a few times this summer, and it will help a great deal in the curves. Subarus are notorious for understeer and a larger rear sway will help counteract that.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

May 05, 2005

Sledding

Taken 3/6/05

Category: Photos | Permalink | 0 Comments

May 04, 2005

Nice Tie Donald

I have this exact tie. I caught The Donald wearing it on The Apprentice and snapped a pic off the tv.

Category: Photos | Permalink | 0 Comments

May 03, 2005

Star Wars Music Video

Chills.

Category: Notables | Permalink | 0 Comments

May 03, 2005

The Killers

Last night I saw The Killers. They were very good and put on an excellent show. I was very impressed with how well they performed for the crowd. Definitely go see them if you have the chance.

Now that that's out of the way, the best part of last night's show would have to be Tegan and Sara. The last few shows I've gone to I've actually enjoyed the opening band who I'd never heard of prior to seeing them. Last night was no exception. I bought their cd, So Jealous, and took a chance leaving the show during The Killers to see if they were walking around in the lobby, which they were. So, I ended up chatting with Sara for a few minutes and got both of their autographs on my cd. Very cool girl (and very cute). So this morning, I jump on iTunes and what do I see on the banner? None other than Tegan and Sara. They've got an exclusive EP of a live show. I highly recommend checking out the downloads section of their site and if they sound anything like something you'd like, go to iTunes and download their full album.

Category: Music, My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments