Google Brother

Dear Google,

I know your motto is "Don't be evil". I've got a friend working for you and he seems to think you guys are really behind that motto.

Good times.

That said, I have to say that I'm very uncomfortable with your kind of Big Brother approach to things.

There's something disconcerting about writing up a review on a martial arts movie, submitting it, and then seeing targeted ads regarding martial arts stuff on the Blogger.com confirmation screen.

Okay, "disconcerting" doesn't quite cover it. "Creepy as hell" is closer.

I realize "Don't be creepy" isn't the same as "Don't be evil", but really... do you have to be like this? Really?

Just sayin'

Sincerely,

Me

14 Blades

I got Gam yee wai (14 Blades) over the weekend and watched it over Saturday.

It's essentially the story of some psychotic secret police martial artist working in Ming dynasty China who gets embroiled in some politics. The title comes from the fact he carries a box with 14 swords in it for a variety of killing methods.

The story doesn't make a lot of sense, but I fault that to Daniel Lee's HORRIBLE direction. The costuming, casting, etc. all seemed fine, but the direction was pretty bad. I can't say the script was all that hot either, but I was operating on subtitles, so I'm willing to let that slide.

In a nutshell, it's a reason for Donnie Yen to go around throwing down. There's a variety of other characters who flow in and out of the story for no apparent reason. They have no impact on the overall story.

The final throwdown between Donnie Yen's disgraced secret policeman and the dreadlocked asskicking assassin princess woman was decidedly anticlimactic and kind of stupid.

I'm glad I got the film for a really cheap price. It was amusing, but I'd be upset if I paid a lot for it.

A Few Things

Apparently Hollywood is going to do another Godzilla remake.

They must be stopped. Seriously.

Watched last night's "Lost". Doesn't really feel like they're getting much traction in the storyline with seven or eight episodes left before the series ends.

I'm prepared to hate the ending. I hope I deal with it better than I handled the BSG ending.

I still want to punch Ron Moore and David Eick.

sigh

Oh well. I guess I always knew I never had a shot with Yunjin Kim.

All the same... *sigh*...

Microsuck

Dear Microsoft,

You know what would be really neat?

When you do one of your endless weekly software updates of your craptacular operating system, why don't you leave my custom settings for programs like Microsoft Word alone and stop resetting to the default?

I put custom changes in place for a reason, you know.

I realize the concept of prizing the customer's needs over your own bullshit is a novel concept, but give it a try, huh? You might actually garner some goodwill and make your ridiculous "Windows 7" ads resemble something that might actually be reality one day.

In closing, I hope your private parts experience incurable burning sensations and you experience uncontrolled flatulence for the balance of your days.

Sincerely,

Me

Happy Idiot Box Joy

"Lost" tonight!
"Fringe" Thursday!

GLEE!!!

Saddling Up

I mentioned earlier I got my Saddleback Leather satchel last week.

It was pretty much attached to me as I meandered about on my errands over my weekend.

Me likey much.

I still have strong loyalty to my Chrome bag(s). They win for overall storage capacity, but sometimes it's awkward to wear my Chrome bag around. The thing is big.

The Saddleback satchel is stylish (as much as anything I own can ever be described as "stylish") and can hold the basics I lug around with me.

I'm seriously tempted to get a briefcase when (if?) I have the money. I've been finding myself looking at the deals page a fair amount.

I even saw one that was the color/size I wanted, but we're still talking about a chunk of money I don't have.

*sigh*

Trying to exercise self-control at this point is awfully diffcult.

Tres cool

I have a swiss army knife somewhere. I think it's buried under piles of stuff in my computer desk.

It's nothing like this, though.

This? This makes me say "daaaaaayyuuuuummmm".

Oh, I certainly don't need this. I probably have tools and stuff to duplicate everything in this little bundle, but... so... cool...

And shiny!

Argh!

Sweet, Sweet Suffering

What a gorgeous day.

Walked around town. Got some lunch. Did a little shopping. Picked up a DVD of Gam yee wai (14 Blades) for a ridiculously-cheap price.

It was a Region 3 copy and the seller warned me it lacked English subtitles. She was wrong. It has subtitles, so BONUS!

Went for a run. Had a beer (thus undoing any good the run did for me). Watched the movie. And it's not even 5:00 yet. Life is good.

Crime and no punishment

Well, the police just left. I'm waiting for the glass company to call me back with an appointment to fix up my windows.

It's likely they're neighborhood kids. Turns out I wasn't the only person on the block who got vandalized.

The anger is down to a dull roar.

Time to crack open a frosty.

Karma

I used up my good karma today.

I could tell that coming home tonight. The near-collision with someone who tried to enter the lane I was in (and later flashing me with his/her headlights... thanks a**hole...) was a starter.

Coming home to find someone threw a rock through my kitchen window was the main sign, though.

It's probably neighborhood kids. I'm reasonably sure I know who they are. Why my place? Probably boredom.

I haven't hit angry yet. I'm about 2/3rds of the way there. Doesn't seem constructive and I'm honestly too tired.

No, wait. I lied. I'm angry.

I'm rather quite angry.

I regret nothing

Okay... so... yeah.

Long story short, I went nuts. I found myself with a bit of extra cash fairly recently and... I couldn't resist.

I've seen Saddleback Leather referenced on several sites. And I do like a sturdy bag.

So... I got one.

It arrived today.

It's SO [BLEEP]ING COOL!!!!!

That's it. I'm done.

I'm eating ramen for the next six months.

Such Pure Awesome

On the topic of madness

Once upon a time, my good friend Erik dropped by to hang out.

For reasons I can only describe as incomprehensible sadism, I tricked him into watching part of the live-action Cutey Honey. I was at a loss as to what to put in the DVD player at the time and I thought it would be funny.

This still comes up in conversation between us. I don't think I'll ever be forgiven.

Anyways, while I was writing my post about Warren Ellis's "FreakAngels", I went to his site.

I saw an entry with this:



I watched it.

I now understand better Erik's pain. And this goddamn song is in my head.

So I share.

It's no longer incomprehensible sadism. It's just sadism.

Freaking Ellis

I've been a fan of Warren Ellis's mad writing since I discovered the "Planetary" comic book, some years back.

I loved "Planetary" and picked up a few more of Ellis's work. I read "Ocean", "Global Frequency", and many others. I have yet to find an Ellis story I haven't enjoyed in some way. His storytelling conventions share a certain base similarity in characters, but the worlds he adapts and crafts are brilliant.

I read his blog semi-regularly. In it, he's often made reference to something called FreakAngels.

The other day I finally took a look at it. Then I looked again. Then I went to the beginning.

Most of an evening later, I was done.

I dreamt about it.

I loved John Wyndham's "The Midwitch Cuckoos". Wyndham's stuff was also brilliant. That Ellis adapted the story somewhat could only make this more mind-boggling.

As soon as I pare down the credit card a bit, I'm buying the trades of "FreakAngels". I want to encourage Ellis to infect the world with more of his particular brand of fantastic insanity.

The Update You Don't Need

Mildly crazy day ahead. While working on general maintenance projects, I've got a lunch deal with some friends, one of whom came into the office sporting what appears to be the plague.

Yeah. Good times.

Then it's off to see the family after work. Should be a very interesting evening.

At least it's my Friday.

Exercising Logistics

My old running shoes really weren't "running" shoes, per se. They were cheap Sketchers that I was using to run in.

And that was a bit of a mistake. I was developing pain in my feet (mainly the arches). That's never a good thing, so I've been meaning to get around to finding proper running shoes.

So I found some Adidas on sale and got a pair then went running after work yesterday amidst the chaos of wranging laundry time with my neighbors.

Damn, I forgot how good proper running shoes feel. And no weird pain in my arches. Yay!

It felt really good. The weather was gorgeous and running always helps me clear my head a bit and sort out my priorities.

I slept well last night.

Goddamn DST is still kicking me where I live, so I struggled a bit this morning to get going, but I feel rested.

'Till I tried to ride my bike in.

Wouldn't you know it? My bike needs maintenance again. The damn chain keeps slipping. Last time, the mechanic didn't know exactly what the cause was. He was of the opinion that the chain is fine. It's the gear, but he wasn't able to properly fix the problem. I think I'll take it to a different mechanic and see what they can do for me.

Trying to be healthy is very... um... trying.

ARRRRGGGHH!!!!

I have never regretted my lack of BBC America access as much as I do now.

Time Lag

Last week, Daylight Saving Time was an inconvenience. It was an annoyance. It was a gnat in the room.

This week, it's a 300-pound gorilla on steroids and meth swinging a steel pipe around in a confined space.

Waking up has not been fun yesterday and today!

It's rarely "fun", but it's been especially egregious this week.

SQUEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT ARRIVED!!!!!

I am in nerdvana right now.

Dear Dems

Dear Democrats in Congress,

Thank you for finally getting your shit together. It's very much appreciated.

Would have been nice if it had been a bit more polished and all that, but ya gotta walk before you can run, right?

So... here's your baby step. Kudos for that. Please learn from this, get the rest of your shit together, stop trying to make the Repugs happy. You never will. Just get stuff fixed and step back. The public will either see that and support you or they won't and we'll just implode back into the swamp of brainless stupidity that spawns Repugs.

Thanks.

Your Government at Work

I recently renewed my passport for future travel.

Pretty straightforward. The State Department's website is very clear and the process is pretty easy. Just:

1) Decide if you want a passport book, a passport card, or both
2) Fill out the form
3) Get a couple of passport photos taken
4) Cut a check
5) Attach one of your passport photos to the form
6) Stick everything in an envelope with your old passport and mail it to an address listed on the form

Good times. Took about a month for them to process mine. And this is where things got interesting.

See, I decided to renew my passport book but for the novelty of it, I opted to get a passport card as well.

So about a month after I've submitted my application and tracked it, I get a big envelope in the mail. It's my new passport book. Accompanying it is another envelope. Within is my passport card (with paperwork explaining how this thing isn't really super-useful) and a little foil-lined envelope to block the RFID chip in it. Interestingly-enough, the passport book (which also has an RFID chip) doesn't come with any kind of blocking thingie, but those are easy enough to find.

My old passport? Nowhere to be seen. I'm a bit bummed. I did a fair amount of traveling on the old passport and I wanted to keep it for sentimental reasons.

The next day, it came in the mail.

So instead of mailing everything to me in one lump sum, thus saving postage, they mailed me my new passport, my new passport card, and my old passport in three separate envelopes.

I'm sure there's some kind of security reason for that. I doubt that's the actual reason. I'm chalking this up to just plain bureaucratic nonsense. All the same, I'm really happy at how smoothly the renewal went.

And it's nice to have a passport for travel. I've got to say, the new ones are really attractive.

Delightful

That was one of the more fun weekends I've had in a long time. Very eventful. Feels like it was very full.

Took a lot out of me. Waking up this morning was... difficult. I set everything up so I'd be inclined to ride my bike this morning. Good thing or I would have succumbed to laziness and driven.

Need to get my lazy butt back into a regular exercise regimen and cut the junk out of the diet. Ah self-discipline, why are you so elusive?

For a game that started with a lot of potential for disaster, things went rather well.

Erik couldn't show. A friend of his was badly injured in an accident. Erik and his lovely wife opted to show the correct priorities by heading off to be at their friend's side.

One of the other players forgot his info for the game and then had to leave early.

Yet another was recovering from a cold and sleep-deprivation (I shared a bit of the later due to the drinking events of the previous night).

For all that, things went remarkably-smoothly.

We broke to get Japanese food for dinner at one point. Apparently I'm predictable in my orders. The pretty cashier knew was I was going to order before I opened my mouth to say it.

I didn't think I went there that often. Huh.

Ah well. Good times.

Scooping up my grey matter

Yesterday was easily one of the more eventful days I've had since 2010 began. Good fun.

I have to slow down now. I can't keep up this kind of pace of fine food and drink and all that while expecting to keep a savings account and the like.

Sigh. I need to win the Lottery. I'd make a great rich person. I probably wouldn't stay rich for long, but I'd enjoy the time.

And now I have my pre-game jitters with the impending nerdfest. I'm operating on very little sleep and one of my friends had to bail due to an emergency. Ugh.

Going to be an interesting day.

Bliss

I found out earlier in the week that I'm about to max out on my vacation time. When that happens, it's "use it or lose it", so I'm using some of it today to take a long weekend.

I've got nerds descending tomorrow upon my cave for a day of gaming, so having today off helps me get some other errands out of the way.

I'm combining it with a few family matters that I've been wanting to do for a while. The net result will be to get me out and about in the gorgeous, Spring-like air.

The dayball will try to burn me all it wants. It can't haves my precioussssss....

Oops. Sorry. Still having issues with my love of my gear ring.

[pause to twirl the gears]

It's just a shade past ten and I've already managed to get my laundry and some very, very basic housecleaning done.

Of course, all I ever do is basic housecleaning, but that's neither here nor there.

Life doesn't suck.

Brainmeat Burger

I love when ideas start to actually gel in my brainmeat. I wish the ideas would congeal a bit faster so I didn't feel so rushed when spreading said cerebral output around.

I'll consider this week a good one if today and tomorrow are less-eventful than yesterday. Not the best St. Paddy's ever. It's hard to see a friend in pain and not be able to do anything about it.

I'm starting to consider Sawyer as one of my favorite characters in "Lost". I honestly never saw that coming.

I'm not sure having access to tracking for packages is a good thing or not. It's good in the grand scheme of things, but for impatient, OCD folks, it's maddening. "WHY HASN'T IT MOVED YET?"

Adventures in Commuting

I hunkered down and rode my bike to work this morning. My Tuesday commute was more difficult, but I suspect that was due to my tires being under-inflated. I corrected that problem yesterday and the ride in was much easier.

I'm still horribly out-of-shape, but the bike performed well.

I can tell the weather's getting better. I encountered one guy who was clearly drunk/drugged and swore at me in Spanish, then saw a... *ahem*... lady of the night... a few blocks later.

She must've been cold.

Dizzy Disney

Cracked's Disney Life Lessons

Naughty Disney

The latter link misses the fact that Donald Duck is a sailor, wears no pants, has no on-screen siblings, and three "nephews" living with him.

Oh, and they also don't wear pants.

Just sayin'

Th' Luck O' Th' Guinness!

St. Patrick's Day! Guinness Day!

Wait... that's right, isn't it?

I'm sure that's right.

Ah whatever.

I'm craving Irish soda bread and rashers-cut bacon right now with an Irish coffee. I want Guinness lamb stew with an imperial pint of Guinness on the side for lunch and dinner. And I want more soda bread to sop up the stew.

I miss Ireland. I need to plan a return trip.

Where did I put that chainsaw...?

I have a game on Saturday and I'm over-preparing.

Must... chill... I swear I'd pull out my hair if it wasn't all gone already.

Thank goodness tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and I'm taking Friday off.

Whine with my cheese

I want to buy something that's not terribly cheap. It's very frustrating.

I'm dead tired and I have a bit of a bike ride ahead of me.

All of my current hobbies are driving me nuts in various different ways.

I'm craving exactly the sort of food I really can't be eating now.

Oh well. I'll have to console myself with "Lost" tonight and taking some long weekends to burn off some vacation time. Heh.

Unfitting

Wow. What a difference a few months make.

I realized that I haven't ridden my bicycle to work in easily three or four months. Now that the weather is finally dry and nice again, I figured I'd get back to it.

I didn't think that bike ride would ever end. Yeesh.

I've got a ways to go in order to get back into shape.

Woo-hoo!

Big plus: no jury duty.

Today's been pretty fine.

Beware the Ides of March

On the plus side, I got paid and the weather is supposed to be gorgeous today. I don't have to report for jury duty in the morning and all seems fairly calm thus far.

On the minus side, I may have to report for jury duty later. I cut my finger yesterday and it's a pretty bad gash. I woke up during the night with my finger throbbing. I cleaned the bandage and it's still bleeding a bit. I may need stitches. I can't go to the emergency room for that until I know what's up with jury duty... as, per the jury duty notice, I may have trouble if I don't show.. blah.

Overall, things are still pretty good for a Monday. I'll probably have to skip class today but the weather is ideal for jogging.

And I'm not nearly as tired as I should be, given it's the first work day of DST.

An Old Enemy

Greetings Daylight Saving Time, my old nemesis.

You win this round, you time-switching son-of-a-Republican, but soon my ninja army will be ready and you will meet your DOOM!

My missing hours of sleep will be avenged!!!

Howard... Bob Howard

I finally finished The Jennifer Morgue, including the extra short story at the end ("Pimpf").

Utterly brilliant.

This would make a genius TV series.

The plot of this and The Atrocity Archive essentially follow the adventures of Bob Howard (name presumably inspired by Robert E. Howard), a hapless IT schmuck and necromancer working for the Laundry, Great Britain's occult intelligence network.

It's very British.

The Boned Far State

Texas has gone with a conservative bent on their school curriculum.

I could rant on about how this is stupid and so on, but really it doesn't seem necessary.

SCIENCE!

In a long list of good articles on climate change, I found this one quite good at driving the point home.

Love the graphic at the bottom.

Grumblemumble

One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach: all the damn vampires.

---

I attempted pocketknife surgery yesterday. The patient survived, but the surgery was not a success. Le sigh.

---

I started watching a Chinese martial arts movie inspired by Hamlet. Not the best combination I've ever seen.

Jolly Good

Ah, Friday. Come in, come in.

Do take a seat.

Drink? No? Very well. To business.

It has come to my attention that your attendance has been spotty of late. You've only been sighted once every seven days.

No, no. Don't speak.

We are responsible for more than a mere business here, Friday. We are maintaining the very fabric of reality.

I shall pause to let that settle in your mind.

I understand the confines of your schedule, Friday. I truly do. I am sympathetic. However, the higher-ups... what was that? Adjust the schedule of the working world?

You want to shift your effect to that of your compatriots? Interesting. Monday may well work for such a role. No, I'm afraid Tuesday is inherently unsuited for this. Yes, that's why Tuesday is in the cellar.

No, I'm sure you're imagining hearing screams.

Your ideas are... intriguing, Friday. Very well, we shall postpone this discussion. I shall pass along your ideas to the Higher Ups.

Excellent job, as usual Friday. Welcome back.

A grab bag of this-n-that

I'm almost done with The Jennifer Morgue. I've been deliberately reading this book slowly and only during lunch hours at work.

Well, I was until I polished off my other books and decided I just can't keep the slow pace with Stross' story.

James Bond meets H.P. Lovecraft set in "The Office". Really can't get better than this.

---

"Lost"... um. Yeah. This show... it... I...

Ugh. This is getting away from me. Suffice it to say I think that I will react to the ending of "Lost" similarly to how I've reacted to the CRAPTACULAR ending of BSG.

Just sayin'.

---

Doing lots of push-ups after not really doing them for a while really, really hurts. Y'know?

---

I love REI. I love REI a lot.

In a couple of weeks, I'm going to love them BUNCHES!!!

Almost there...

And just like that, I woke up with practically no wrist pain. How weird.

The Echo and the Bunnymen version of "People are Strange" is playing on my iPod now. Coincidence?

Cold this morning.

People are Strange

I'm listening to my own private Corey Haim eulogy in the form of selected songs from The Lost Boys.

Specifically, "Cry Little Sister". Creepy song.

Oh, I wasn't a particular fan of Haim's. I just enjoyed The Lost Boys. I'd be hard-pressed to name another movie Haim was in, actually. He was just one of those faces from the late '80's that was so familiar in movies.

The title of the post comes from another song from the soundtrack, of course.

On the topic of strange, I think my self-destructive tendencies are starting to get worse. My damn wrist injury is flaring up again. It's never really healed properly and even with the brace I'm still experiencing pain. It's a bit worse this week than it's been.

I'm sure class has something to do with that. This evening it was throws. Do you have any idea how hard it is to throw someone half your size?

Okay, yes... it's not hard at all. It's hard to practice a proper technique meant to work on people bigger than you when your target is half your size and mass.

And the wrist pain... not fun.

Ex-sleep-inate!

Totally awesome. You know the Doctor uses one of these.

Hm...

You have to admit xkcd makes a lot of sense.

Today's little bit of sick

Both Salon and BoingBoing have articles pertaining to more information about the CIA's waterboarding techniques as part of "enhanced interrogation" (read: torture). BoingBoing's article mainly points to Salon's article.

Salon's article

BoingBoing's article

Welcome to the 21st century. Notice similarities with the 19th (and 18th and...)?

Guilty Pleasure

I have no idea what it is about "N.C.I.S." that appeals to me.

Okay, Cote de Pablo is probably the main factor.

Still, I find the show entertaining. The cast are amusing. The plots are... um... well, they're okay.

I just can't seem to turn the damn show off when I tune in to USA.

Mon-bray

What a fun weekend! It ended on an excellent high note as my dad made a new rum concoction that convinces me he should have been a bartender. Mmm-mmm GOOD!

Alas, that meant that the weekend went by quickly and the work week has returned. Argh.

Going to be a long week and it's going to end on an interesting note as I'll discover whether or not I must spend the following week performing my civic duty in the jury pool.

Bleah.

So tired...

A Day's Delight

My Chrome messenger bag has been getting a bit threadbare of late. It's still quite serviceable, but it's also a medium size and I've noticed my packrat tendencies are getting the better of me.

So I upgraded today to a large (known as Metropolis). And being the evil sorts they are, Chrome's sales staff showed me their hard-core messenger bags that expand. It was a struggle to decide if the extra sixty bucks would be worth it. In the end, I settled for my Metropolis instead of going crazy.

I dinked around a bit more in the city. Got some lunch. Got a beer. Wandered through Chinatown. Felt the slight sting of disappointment that one of my favorite bakeries is out of spongecakes (it's for the best...).

I finally meandered home. I got some groceries to make pasta sauce ('tis simmering as I type) and got my mail. Enclosed was a check from the state. Apparently I was in error when I thought I owed them money.

I'm tempted to go back to Chrome and swap up bags, but I'm going to resist.

Oh, and a bonus? A friend sent me hand-made chocolates in the mail. Mmmm... delicious!

Reap the Whirl-what?

What a day!

Car service done. Even got a compliment from the mechanic on how well it's running given its age and mileage.

Made it to class. Even did okay... on the actual moves. One of my partners was a young lady who found it necessary to point out that I am the same age as her father. And she's a college student.

Physical pain is nothing. That hit me where the soul resides. Ouch.

So, a few beers and a couple of shots of whiskey for... um I mean... with... dinner and I've found my tax refund came through!

That helps take the sting out a bit.

Of course, being me, I've immediately spent a bit of it on a new toy.

Argh.

Aaaaah

Friday is here! Woo-hoo!

And it's a half-day for me to deal with car maintenance issues. I'm hoping this won't be too painful

If all goes well, I may even make it back in time to do class tonight. Three classes in a week would be impressive. I certainly need the practice.

Best of all, I can sleep in tomorrow. YAY!!!

Portents

Every day has a certain flavor to it that usually gets established as the day begins.

I started my day spilling a ton of oatmeal (pre-cooked, thankfully) all over my kitchen. The subsequent coffee spillage was just insult upon injury. I still don't know how I cut my finger.

It's goddamn cold this morning (in relation to the last few weeks) and I didn't dress warmly enough.

I forgot to send a friend her birthday card.

And all this is in just a couple of hours of wakefulness. Yeah... today's gonna rock.

Stuff

Stuff I like:

Flipside Wallet
Chrome messenger bags
Embassy Pen
Maratac 9290 Flashlight
County Comm Bail Out Bag
Split Pea Lighter

Stuff that intrigues:
Eton Scorpion
Portside Flask
TMT Wallet

Why? Why not?

Whinesday

Let's get the whining out of the way first, shall we?

On Monday I got flipped. Literally flipped. Landed on my upper shoulders and the back of my head. And I was driven full-force into the somewhat-padded ground.

This was, of course, part of my class. Hurt like hell. I saw stars and the whole shebang.

Why mention this on Wednesday? Well... have you ever had whiplash? If you've ever been in a car accident, you know that whiplash usually hits a couple of days after the accident. It's especially bad in the mornings.

So it's a cool and wet morning here and it's a couple of days after I was thrown.

Whiplash. Yeah. Fun. Ow.

So... on to other topics.

"Lost". Yep. Still weird. Good times. I can't wait for "Fringe" to return, though.

I'm slowly working my way through Charles Stross's The Jennifer Morgue. Good, weird-spy fun.

Trader Joe's mixed-berry lowfat granola tastes a bit like Froot Loops.

Blink

Twelve years ago I started working for my current employers.

Boggles the mind how fast the time went by.

It's been a good twelve years, especially when I recall the variety of craptacular places I worked between college and starting here. I marvel at the fact that I never developed an alcohol or drug dependency. I'm guessing it was 'cause I couldn't afford it rather than any innate strength of character.

Twelve years is a good chunk of time and the job and the people I've met here have had a tremendous impact on my life. That's sort of an obvious thing to say, but never hurts to acknowledge it.

Is twelve years too long? I'm not sure. Would it hurt my ability to move on, should I have to? Prior to working here I did some truly soul-wrenching, mind-numbing stuff and I came out of it more-or-less okay. I'm guessing I can still step up if bad things happen.

I certainly have no desire to move on at this point. I like where I am. I could be making more money elsewhere, but there's always a tradeoff and other places would lack stability that my current employers offer.

And I can sleep at night. Twelve years later, I still treasure that.

Woh-Pah

Well, I'm now reasonably-convinced that if I attempt to use any of the skills I've thus far learned in my martial arts class in the real world, I will likely cripple, maim, or kill myself in the process.

Bruce Lee I ain't.

*sigh*

I'm being a bit too hard on myself. I've only been doing this style a year, but ye gods... sometimes it's just hard to deal with my inability to "get" some of the moves.

It's a bit more galling when some of the moves I'm having trouble with are described as some of the easier ones.

Grumble, grumble, grumble...

Marching Along

When I wasn't whining about stupid government actions, I spent my weekend bustling along.

Okay, I watched a lot of TV, played on my computer, visited family, played with a hyperactive cat, ate dinner with friends, and otherwise enjoyed a weekend home.

Oh, and I was feeling very, very grateful I'm not in Chile. An 8.8 is pretty damn scary.

Alas, I missed the Chinese New Year's Parade in San Francisco. I completely forgot it was this weekend. *sigh*

Now it's Monday and March. Yes, already we enter into the third month of the year.

Argh.