Play Not Thou With Fire

blue exorcist

2011-09-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, so have been watching this anime about a couple brothers who were orphans and taken in by the church. It is actually really good which makes this slightly paining to write. There tends to be an overlaying message that demons are just sorta misunderstood, satan being their chief. Maybe I'm being a little bit too touchy here but I kinda find dealing with satan the chief of devils in such a matter slightly concerning.Might just be my western upbringing but yeah, deff not a fan of treating demons and satan in shades of gray instead of black in white. So really torn cause it is a good quality story other than that. It is drawn very well.

Anime First Date: High school of the dead

2010-07-07T14:20:00.000-07:00

So, this is a blatant ripoff of gia's blogs from her old blog, but I love the idea of anime first dates.

Just watched the first ep of high school of the dead. It was awesome! There is tons of blood spattering violence. It is just epic, like battles in hellsing. The scoring is really well done too, zombie creaping and moment of truth fighting of former friends.

cons? Well, for some reason the intro song was needlessly fanservicey, meh japanese are perverts right? Can't be helped sometimes, I still do like.

Working!

2010-04-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

So this might count as an anime first date. Didn't have high expectations of this at all as the name seems rather uninspired. However, it seems quite interesting. For an anime on a family dinner the characters are very unique and well thought out. I loved the first ep and can't wait for more in weeks to come.

2009-10-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

So this is my favorite anime I've been watching lately. It's really fluid and fun. Lots of random black scenes and little flashes of text here and there. Many weird panning angles.

Oh and the plot is good too.

It is about a dude in high school who was turned into a vampire but got helped out, he in turn helps out other people with their supernatural problems.

In which ingorance rears its ugly head

2009-10-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

So I went with some friends from pocky club to fright night. There was a guy who came up and asked if I was a jedi, I said no I'm a character from an anime.

He said "is that those weird comics from china that you read backward?"

me, "Yeah?"

him, "Haha, you need to get a job"

me, quiet, but angry I told him I had a job but he was already walking off.

Kumoricon 2009

2009-09-21T00:33:00.000-07:00

I was panel staff again this year yay!

I actually went smoother than last, however it was very crowded. Wasn't terribly happy with the venue. Also, the lack of a park adjacent to the hotel was an annoyance.

High point tho was the church service on sunday. Only a handful showed up, but the girl who was running the panel looked to be a teenager. I think it's cool someone much younger than myself has the courage to stand up in front of a group of strangers and share God's word with them. It was cool to hear stories of people and how something like a little service with not flashy productions can work in the hearts of people that might not otherwise be inclined to attend.

Oh, and most everyone was in costume :D

Macross Frontier

2009-08-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

Haven't updated in a while but just got the torrent for Macross Frontier. It is actually quite good.

Some may have known of this anime before. It has been on going sense the 80s. Macross 2 was the very first anime I ever purchased. I still have the VHS sitting around somewhere. It was very epic.

Anyway, as far as genre. Macross Frontier is deff space opera. There are big robots and spaceship cities. The battles are amazing way better than macross 2. Anyway, not too far into it but there some romance and lots of singing. Do like !

Animes I've been watching

2009-06-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

Kurokami, it's about a world where everyone has doubles, but if they meet, fate will kill one of them. There are other worldly being that control the flow of tera (fate / lifeforce) a reclusive high schooler teams up with one to challenge fate.

Natsu no Arashi

What happens when time travel mixes with ghosts mixes with middle school romance? Epic romance comedy. Very amusing anime.

Subversion

2009-05-25T05:45:00.000-07:00

So some of may know I was involved in subversion anime film festival at the clinton street cinema. It was lots of fun, a few people came, and I'm really sore (because I'm out of shape).

I headed down to SE Portland around 10:00am yesterday. We were supposed to do setup at 10:30 but had to fetch a few things. I don't think we started setting up until 11. Not nearly enough time. Also, do to difficulties, most everything I thought would go wrong did.

First, the person who was supposed to be doing the playlist with his fancy laptop flaked out at the last minute. So me and another guy had that thrust on us with no time to prepare. All the anime was put on Meg's lappy which was old and maybe good back in the day but not so much now. She had a 17in dell with 2 gigs of ram and a core 1 processor running onboard video. The digital projector didn't like the vga output so much (Remind me NEVER to buy a sharp projector) Also, the high def files that person-supposed-to-be-projecting caused her computer to choke. We played the first movie okay but it was a lower def file. But only two out of the 15 anime files we had were actually .avi so yeah.

We tried to play some but the sound and video were always off. Eventually we just had to switch to dvds, franticly renting from movie madness and clinton street movies. That worked out okay, but we annoyed the crap out of people at the start of the event with the choppyness. I think we gave 6 people half refunds.

The annoying part was that I wasn't even supposed to be doing projection. I was just going to setup gaming (the last event the gaming was kinda fail). So here all this drama is going on with the projection and the bulk of the responsibility ended up getting set in my lap.

I had plenty of stuff to do gaming but knew it was going to take some time to do. Sadly, I did forget the wii sensor so I had to rush back home at around noon to get the sensor I forgot. I had the projector, projector screen Dave let me borrow (Thanks Dave, it worked awesome!) and the pile of cables / adapters that go along with setting up a wii to a projector and pc speakers. But yeah, the rockband was a huge hit though. People were playing it until about 9pm.

So yeah, equipment comparability issues--check, projection person flaking out---check, forgetting gaming equipment---check. After a few hours of frustration after frustration my nerves were about shot.

Anyway, after we moved to dvds things went nicer. It was nice to hang out with friends, meet new people and hear their stories. The whole thing was a learning experience and while not pleasant at times I have some ideas about what would make it go better if we do it again. Did I mention I'm crazy sore? Yeah running up and down stairs from 11am til 2am the next day will do that to a guy.

monochrome factor

2009-05-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

So I was watching the first ep of what looked like it could be a good anime. However in monochrome factor two guys kiss to unlock a super power. Meh, why spoil this? I'm so *cough* *choke* *Sputter*

I'm so not into yaoi (waits for women to pummel him)

Monochrome Factor

Coming to Korea

2009-02-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

So this is my first time being out of the USA (besides Canada)

I got some things to give as gifts from the made in Oregon store. Also had some stuff from Nick's parents to bring him. So, mostly hardly packed anything. I got some clothes but figured I'd just buy clothing here as it'd be cheaper and I'd have more suitcase space coming back.

Anyway, Michael dropped me off at the max station (Thank you so much!) I took the max to the airport. The lady there was nice enough to reroute me through LAX so I didn't have to spend the night in San Francisco. There was free wifi in PDX so I emailed nick to tell him I'd get there early. As a native oregonian I felt out of place in the heart of california. However, it was nothing compared to arriving in Korea.

My flight left LAX at 12:30 am (just barely wednesday) and we flew up along the coast, past portland, past seatle, past anchorage, past mount McKinney, past japan, then landed in Seoul at 7am about. The airport was a cold empty place with no shops, hardly any people and next to no place to sit. Worse, most everything as written in korean so I felt way more out of place then I did in cali.

By the time I had arrived I'd been awake more the 24 hours with only a few naps here and there (Couldn't really sleep on the plane) So, I had to fill out some paperwork as to why I was there and information about myself. It took me a while fumbling through stuff to get all the information. But I made it out and into Korea proper.

After I got my baggage (took me a while to figure out where to look) I went out to look for a bus and a ticket. There were all kinds of little pay phones that I couldn't read with touch screens and little shops that I had no idea what were about too. I found and bought a bus ticket, and wanted to take out some money exchanged for korea money. They had a global ATM but I had no idea what it said. All the buttons were in korean... I tried to access the internets to tell nick that I had arrived. However, all the wifi was locked that I found.

Next, I walked outside and several guys approached me saying 'Taxi?' but I just replied 'Bus' which thankfully worked. I stood by the bus stop and some guy in a yellow vest came up to me talking stuff I couldn't understand. I said 'Bus' and showed him my bus ticket. He said more stuff I couldn't understand and pointed where I should stand. So I stood there, one bus came and passed, I waited, the next bus came at about 8:10am and the guy who I showed my ticket to urged me to go on, holding his hand out and saying 'go go' encouragingly. Until I was on.

So the bus ride was LOOOOONG, I couldn't believe it. Seoul apparently is a massive city. Much to my surprise, there were lots of places that had familar names, we passed a 7 eleven, a pizza hut and a KFC. I got to Suyu Station at around 10:30 am. Luckily for me, Nick was there. I was a little worried about boarding a bus without telling anyone that I was there but guess I lucked out. I was very glad to see a familiar face.

Korea Ho

2009-02-23T11:55:00.001-08:00

I'll be leaving for korea tomorrow. Good bye everyone

Mew Con

2009-01-08T18:26:00.000-08:00

Well, what's been going on? It's 2009 and I spent it at ben and dora's wedding and then going to out with them and mew con. Mew con was going to be $40 at the door so even though I asked for the time off I was not going to attend due to pricing. However I got a free pass because I was helping out with booth and stuff.

I also got to see Chris Hazelton who writes the comic Misfile. I'd recommend it. According to him it's like Ranma meets Initial D. When I picked him up from the airport he told me that he was working in a job he didn't like, started writing his own comic on the side and then found out he could make money doing that which he did like. Eventually he quit old job and started doing his comic as his livelihood.

Also, one of the things that he did say is that he had some people that followed his work and were fans that were christian and jews. He thought that religious people might find it offensive but they explained that they could tell that wasn't seriously his belief (there is a drunken angel) but it was still a fun story. I thought that was cool.

That was cool, thanks meg and jeff for hooking me up.

And a week later, more snow

2008-12-22T09:15:00.000-08:00

Yeesh, seriously.

Went sledding with jen and troy yesterday instead of church. I'm sore today from being out of shape.

However, going over to jen's Uncle's house was fun. Learned a new card game drunk some hot cocoa and hung out.

Snowed In

2008-12-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

Well, my car has been parked for the last several days due to snow and ice and a big steep hill that I'd likely not make it up. This has left me with a need to be creative with my time. One can only play video games for so long before it gets boring or the feeling of wasting one's life starts to creep in.

1.) I'm trying to get paperwork done for a refinance.

2.) I'm selling old video games on Ebay.

However, I encountered an issue. One of the PS2 games I sold was won by someone in italy. That's right Italy. . . Anyway, I found this out by getting a request for an invoice. I was like huh? It should be obvious how much to pay. However, the international shipping is not needed to be picked to list. So I told them I'd get back to them. I go to the mail store and ask "how much to italy?" They told me around $9 for a package of that size and weight. So I say cool, send them the invoice.

And I get a reply saying that they'd bought games from the states and payed less.

So I reply... ummm if it was any less I'd be losing money on shipping.

So um yeah...

How's your snow day / week going?

Monster Mash

2008-10-31T17:58:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday I dressed up in my Dark Link costume and helped with crowd control. I had a big shield so that helped. Anyway it was cool to see some coworkers families and chat with some other people that I didn't know.

There were people taking photos so I'll see if I can add one to this blog later on. They email I got said there was over 1000 people that came.

Apparently homeless people need beer once an a while

2008-10-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

I was going to a dance last night but showed up early. So I walked up and down main street in Tigard to kill some time and see what was there. Most of the shops were closed down but it still was a nice strip, something that reminded me of a small town.

I was about to call my dad and see how he was doing when I was approached by a woman. She looked middle aged and had a rhaspy voice, looked dirty. So I was thinking homeless. She said her name was Tanya and her friend Tad had gotten hit by a car on 99w. She said she was going to be completely honest with me. I said I appreciate honesty. Doctors didn't think he'd wake up but he did and she wanted money to buy a beer to celebrate.

I listened, listened, listened... she kept talking about why I should buy her a beer. Finally after I got a chance to say something I said, "Will you accept no for an answer." Originally she didn't give me a yes or no answer so I had to ask her a few times. Finally, she said that she'd accept no for an answer.

So, I bought her a beer got myself one too, she knew of this little mexi mart where a huge can of beer was $1.50. So, I went back behind the shop and hung out with her and a couple guys that were her friends I suppose and listened to a guy named dave's story as well about how he used to live in Aloha and all of the trouble he got in while in high school.

Interview with the Vampire on focus on the family?

2008-10-07T11:08:00.000-07:00

So, was listening to the christian talk station and now focus on the family's guest is anne rice. A rather famous novelist, she wrote interview with the vampire.

Anyway, apparently she lost her faith in College at the age of 18 and became an atheist. She said that her novels reflect her moral compass. Like she was convinced everything was meaningless, and identified with the vampire whose life is condemned to the dark trying to find meaning in a meaningless existence . Wow, I gotta call my sister she loves anne rice books.

Dad Visiting

2008-10-05T17:26:00.001-07:00

So, I don't know how much of this I put online but my dad has had some health issue. He has had mobility problems for years, climaxing in his hips becoming fused. Well, the health system in alaska wasn't much help. He came to washington and finally got some answers.

Tough ones, which involved dropping lots of meds

However, said drop of meds resulted in a 70 pound loss of weight this year (he needed it bad and still has plenty more to loose) Well, he got one of his hips replaced and is going weekly to rehab. But he made it all the way down from washington in his truck yestereday.

It is confusing for me to watch him suffer. Please pray that God will be Glorified in all of this.

Dancing at Santoini

2008-09-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

After church I went to the Jonny Martin night again at Santorini. It was cool I got was jiving out to the live jazz music they have there every week and an old lady asked me to dance. They were really nice, I danced with another old lady and they invited me to go sit with them, I talked to a guy named warren that comes out and love the scene. There was another dude that had his own winery too.

Not everyone has to be all secluded and unpleasant with age.

Cosplay Picnic

2008-09-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

Portland waterfront park cosplay chess at the cosplay picnic today. It was cool, I hardly slept though and steve woke me up early. But only a few hours of sleep was enough. After just hanging out we went to old spaghetti factory with the people that did bang bang neko panel.

Also, Charlie explained domo kun, we got to see her lil brother who was excited about the link pair and explained how he needed a deku shield.

Kumoricon 2008

2008-09-10T17:46:00.000-07:00

So about a week ago was Kumoricon. I had lots of fun this year. Last year was plagued with certain rideshare guy that was crazy rude and demanding. Luckily I didn't have to deal with him, in fact I saw him in the halls and said "hi" but he didn't remember me. Score!

Something else new about this year is that I decided to sign up as staff at the last minute. I made some friends over the course of the year that were staffers even last year's con chair. So wasn't going to be staff as first sense really there are no benefits to speak of. However I don't regret it, it was lots of fun.

I helped out with panels staff and also helped out with the info desk answering questions selling tickets to tea parties and the like. I cosplayed as dark link from legend of zelda (er more like shadow link without the body paint) but it was cool. The costume was a bit hot though. Which I am kicking myself because I picked it as a costume that I didn't think would be too hot.

Anyway, I'm hoping to help out with mini k-con events over this next year too. One thing that I wanted to do but didn't get a chance was interview random people about their costume like they did on Kwoon some of those videos are amazing!

Visitors

2008-08-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

So, Michael's sis came out to visit him this week and we've been having fun. Went up to timberline lodge and ate at this pizza place in government camp. It was a nice venue but the pizza was burnt and the service sucked. Mike ordered a "Bottomless pop" and got only one refill which he had to ask for.

I got some videos from the caves though.

Nick with Helium

2008-08-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

I found this vid of Nick on my computer believe it is from Game Night :)

Jen and Troy are married

2008-08-11T17:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday they got all married. I spent some time this weekend helping set up and doing this and that during the wedding. It was good, the ceremony was quite long with lots of imagery. There was singing and dancing too. Troy and Jen left off on the trailer of a tractor.

There was some awkwardness that is still bugging me. Towards the end, it got quite dark as the venue was a farm with minimal lighting. So, I went to use one of the honey buckets and someone forgot to lock, only it was dark and took me a moment to realize that someone was there and I have no idea who it was so I dunno, but it's been bugging me, I apologized and used the next one over. I know it's the person's own fault for not locking it but still...

Searches

2008-08-08T06:01:00.000-07:00

So I'm inspired by mazie and figured I'd post about what some of the people who search for find my blog.

1.) Birth order quiz

Took it, posted results, kinda a boring quiz I'm surprised it is so popular.

2.) ah! my goddess third season

Actually, looking back, it really isn't a third season, more like a special few episodes released to celebrate the series 20th year.

3.) free car diagnose soft

No clue, is a soft diagnose better than a hard one?

Nostalga coming back

2008-07-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

Got back from church a little while ago. It looks like a bunch of what used to be lawn is now building. There are some old faces there that I remember but more people who remember me. More than one lady held her hand to her hips and said "I remember when you were this big"

I liked the church service, yes it was old fashioned and baptist but that is not a bad thing. There are lots of things that they do that Ethnos doesn't. They have sunday school, they have lots of midweek stuff. They have altar calls. There were reports from missionaries, references to missionaries several times during the sermon. There even is going to be a vacation bible school coming up in a few weeks. They were passing out a sign up for who wants to supply a snack for this day or that.

What else? They had a responsive reading. That was cool, the passage that Pastor was preaching on, they said outloud, verse by verse using the same Bible (they had copies in all the pews) It brings back memories, like hymn books I miss those. I can't sing on key so the notes are wasted but still it's neat to see them.

The pastor there was the Pastor of the church I was born into in boardman. He went to start another church in kenewick and my family headed up shortly after (Dad was communiting to hanford so it wasn't a hard decision for him) Now they just had their 25th anversary.. yesh time flies.

Moto Roadtrip to visit dad

2008-07-26T23:01:00.000-07:00

Today I rode my bike the longest yet. From portland oregon, to Richland Washington. It was about 250 miles.

Dad called and said they were having the Hydroplane races on up here on the columbia and it is a short week at work so figured I'd head on up and see how washington has changed over the years without me. All of my friends up there were from freshman year of highschool so I've more or less lost touch with everyone. No backup plan if dad is no fun.

Dad well, he's not been doing well. His hips are fused so he can't move them. On top of that, he needs hip replacement surgury but they didn't want to touch him because his liver numbers were bad. He'd been on very strong pain killers for a long while and had to drop them all cold turkey so he could pull off the surgery safely. This means he is in constant pain, can barely move his legs.

However, do to the fact that he is in constant pain, his appitite has suffered. Over the past few months he's lost quite a bit of weight. Now he's on track to surgery on the 10th. We'll see how my old old church has changed tomarrow, apparently they have a new education wing. I don't know much else.

wimax coming to portland later this year?

2008-07-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

Remember back in the days of modems? Well, internets started out expensive $30 or so...then got really cheap as there were tons of independent isps. I remember I had my dial up for about $7 a month before switching to cable. Cable was $20 a month intro and switched to $52 a month and has stayed there. I miss having a free market that works for isps.

Looks like clearwire has already set up some stuff in portland and is beta testing it's networks as we speak. I've not been a fan of Verison DSL or Comcast cable. Both of them are greedy and abuse their market power. I'm ready for clear wire to come in and take up some of their market share.Clearwire wimax beta in portland

swinging the blues fest

2008-07-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

I went to the blues festival here in portland yesterday. I was quite fun. My friend Jen called me and woke me up saying we were going to the blues festival. At the time I was grumpy and wanted to say "No, I'm going back to bed" but instead decided to try something new and exciting for a change as my life has gotten a bit into a pattern lately.

There were two acts that I really liked. One was the marching band march fourth they were a whole lot of fun. The other one was hawkeye herman. A really cool old man that did a solo act and said lots of cool things about history and wisdom.

Oh and thank you for the dances Jen and Sarah. ^_^

Wow the bible is political

2008-07-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

From daily bible scripture

Sat. July 5, 2008

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance."
(Psalm 33:12)

So on facebook I have this app called daily bible scripture and it's had this. I noticed some of the comments people were writing behind it and was kinda surprised. Most everyone talks about seperation of church and state and blah blah, trying to sideline people's religious views but there are people in countries all over the place praying for their nation that has forgot God.

One person:
"Father God please forgive Australia for not openly declaring YOU LORD in every state and territory.. Father we have sinned against YOU!! Father YOUR blessing is needed here in every part of our land.. Father I want to see us chosen as YOUR inheritance.. turn our hearts to YOU.. and help us who believe in YOU to do all we can to shine our lights for YOUR glory.. amen"

Another person:
"Our Nation needs to recognize what the consequences are of taking God out of every aspect of American life and turn back from our ways and be healed as country."

Another:
"Years ago, the United Kingdom was a "Christian" country - now all sorts of things are happening which point to the fact that this is no longer the case.
we need men and women who will stand up for Jesus and be counted! Praise God this is NOT our home - we have a great day coming when we will go HOME to be with the Lord - God will reign supreme and every knee will bow and cry "Thou Art Worthy oh Lord". Thank God we are part of His inheritance - chosen and set apart to love, trust, honour, worship and serve Him in whatever way He calls us to do."

Third season of Ah my goddess

2008-07-02T02:54:00.001-07:00

I saw the first two episodes of fighting wings and they are really good. It is about the monster that eats the goddess's angels. It leaves them paralyzed however they prevail. I'm stoked to see the rest as it comes out. The first two seasons were both good.

Why me God? Why would you choose me?

2008-06-17T13:21:00.000-07:00

I found out today that I failed my class. I feel really worthless and am ready to give up on this engineering stuff.

I try not to let it bug me, but yesterday rode to the beach almost in tears because I was so upset. Not because I feel I'm wronged but because I'm flawed and need a savior.

Wedding

2008-06-02T16:27:00.000-07:00

So Bobbie and Emily got married yesterday.

I got asked to be in the wedding party with less than a weeks notice... it was kinda crazy, never been in a wedding before so I underestimated how much time I need to put aside for it I ended up taking a night off work. I would say It went off without a hitch, but Bobbie and Emily are hitched now.

After, I went to the starlight parade with rachel and got home completely exhausted, however I could not sleep and ended up staying up til 2am

Finished Xenosaga

2008-05-29T01:19:00.000-07:00

Finally after all these years I've defeated this long long long series of games.

Rocking out at PSU with kcon staff

2008-05-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

So I called a kumoricon friend for lunch, and he was at PSU going to the meeting. So I figured hmm.... this is not far for me. I hopped on the bike went down, sat through the meeting, when they broke out into groups I took some fliers to pass out then went with a few people to go play rockband in the basement.

The smith center basement it so cool. There is an xbox 360 there (two actually) with the drums for rock band mounted on the floor. Also the screen is a huge projector and the audio was actually quite good. So Rocked out with 3 other k-coners even did a weezer song singing and playing base at the same time. I did not fail!! I also didn't look at the words the whole time.

portland cooling = global warming?

2008-04-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

So I got my natural gas bill today. One of the things I noticed was it said.

Avg temp april 2007 (50 degrees)

Avg temp april 2008 (46 degrees)

The Journey.... hmmm

2008-04-20T22:23:00.000-07:00

So I was somewhat unimpressed by this church gathering.

I came in and the first song we sang was cool but we did sing a couple of 7 / 11 songs which I detest. (7/11 = seven words repeated 11 times) It seems shallow to me to voice worship in such a way.

The venue was really nice, and everyone looked all trendy and nice. It was a bit overwhelming to see a group of ritzy dressed people. But like the worship seemed to me the whole experience was a bit shallow. After the singing, the worship leader said that if someone is nearby you go and talk to them. The people I came with left off to say hi to someone so there I was standing all alone, first time to the service.

One dude no backup, easily approachable right?

Guess not, no one talked to me not at all. Several people walked right by me and avoided eye contact. One dude even snagged the chair my friend had gotten and sat at a table with cute chicks. I tried to tell him that the chair was taken but I guess I wasn't loud enough.

However, the pastor gave a really good message about riches. It was very applicable focused and pointed. I can tell God has gifted him in such a way.

So, I am not planing to go back, time to wipe the dust off my feet, however I might be bumming around portland foursquare's site to listen to sermons in the near future :)

Dr Dan is a crook?!

2008-04-07T16:11:00.000-07:00

So there was always this old hippy looking guy who was in charge of the electrical and computer engineering lab equipment for as long as I can remember. I was talking to one of my classmates and mentioned him apparently he was fired this year!

Dr Dan steals machines donated to portland state and sells them on ebay

portland state school news paper of dr dan scandal

Back in School

2008-04-01T17:04:00.001-07:00

So I've been going to school on and off for quite a while. My latest struggle has been the ellusive BS EE at PSU. I started trying to tackle this fish in 2003. In 2004 I got hired full time at Intel and couldn't balance my full time classes and full time work so had a crappy term that time around.

So fast forward to 2008, I'm finally retaking one of the classes I failed that term. It is a new teacher, with a new book (I now have 3 electronics books). Luckily the classes are monday and tuesday. If I can pass this class and the next term I'll have the biggest hurdle left in my PSU BS done with.

Wish me luck!

Scientology in the workplace

2008-03-29T23:05:00.000-07:00

So we had this bbq here at work. I saw a little pink flier next to the Portland tribune someone left on a table in the cafe. It was a personality quiz, one was supposed to complete it and mail it back with their address to the local church of Scientology.

I read some of the questions to my coworker while he was munching on his burger. I am kinda not really about Scientology and explained that it's founder was a man who was convicted of fleecing his members and died in hiding, a fugitive. There also was an offer for a paperback of L Ron. Hubbard's book Dianetics for only $7.99 what a bargain.

Anywho, I seriously thought someone planted that there, and so I tossed it after a brief explanation as to why. Walking out, I saw numerous Portland tribunes laying about with pink fliers next to them. Apparently the Portland tribune for Friday includes a free personality test this week.....DOOM

=_=

Super Arcade plans

2008-03-24T09:34:00.001-07:00

So I've been pondering getting an arcade box to play games and perhaps maybe make some coinage if possible. However, even the used ones that I actually like cost like $300 plus to ship. New ones cost $1000s of dollars so that's just nuts.

Anyway, There is this dude that has a company that makes MAME boxes.

Dream Arcades His things are new and a whole lot cheaper than ebay.

Basically, a setup like table pac man with a computer inside that has a bunch of emulators to play game age. It costs a bit extra to have PC set up so I've been pondering just setting up my extra pc but figuring out the open source software to run the emulator is not coming easy to me.

I can't really afford to get one right now but it doesn't hurt to dream.

Also, the possibility exits to just grab a box and mod it. I need to figure out how to set up MAME on a PC and get the proper hardware.

There are videos, this for example... Mame setup video

A complete everything-you-want version of this can run $5000-$7000 I see them at this site, really nice!

Fancy Mame

Crazy old coworker

2008-03-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

So Last night I was in the clean room plunking away at the command center when a dude (I don't know his name but seen him around) comes up to me and asks:

"What is the punishment for bigamy?"

Me: "Bigamy, what's that?"

Him: "Multiple wives"

Me: "Isn't that called polygamy?"

Him: "That's more than two"

Me: "Hmm, ok"

Him: "The punishment for Bigamy is two mothers in law."

Me: "Oh, ok ha ha"

Him: "Are you married?"

Me: "No I'm not..."

Him: "I almost got married once, waited fourty two years to make sure I found the right girl... dated her for two years then gave her a ring asked her to marry me, she said yes. But a while later she said her ex was coming to town to see kids and that I needed to keep my distance. I scoped out the place and turns out that another guy was moving in with her"

Me: listening

Him: "So I told that C*(&#$%^ that I wanted the ring back, she said she liked it. But I got it back, everything she said though was about how it was my fault. She married that other guy for money, he beat her and her kids."

Me: Stunned

Him: "Well I got to get back to work seeya"

*Boggles*

Bike tail light problems

2008-03-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

So today I got motivated and put the tail light for the virago that has been sitting in a box in my room for several months to use. As you might know, the tail light fixture got broken a while back in a friend's trailer so I glued it back together. Now though the running light doesn't turn on so I can't really ride it at night because no one can see me without any lights from behind.

Break light still works both with broken tail light fixture and replacement. So, I'm not sure what needs to be fixed, something is broken or not connected right :(

Longcat is so Loooong

2008-02-26T02:37:00.001-08:00

But holds no power over widedog!

In other news, back in the day, I went to the greek with theresa and katie. There was some karaoke going on there. We hid ourselves away, but being that the bar is kind small and run down, the main thing it has going for it is strong drinks. Eventually a guy came up and sat with us (one guy sitting with two girls, of course another will come, it is physics nature abhors a vacuum) Sitting guy was I suspected quite toasty. He pressured us all to sing, and had an epic fail with me.

Drunk guy: "Dude what are you singing?"

Me: "I actually didn't come here to sing"

Drunk guy: "What do you got in your car playing?"

Me (not given enough time to respond)

Drunk guy: "I bet you have country, playing you look like a guy who is going to sing country"

FAIL

Fast forward. Tonight Deanna and I went to a swing dance class at the new Lenora's room in SE Portland. It the first time I'd been there sense the remodel it looks sharp, peoples that live round here should check it out.

Sorry, off topic. We went to this fancy place called alibi on N interstate. It was kinda fancy but I was with a big group of k-con people so I figured I'd give it a shot. Steve introduced me to karaoke revoltion and chris / jaz to rock band. Even on saturday I got to play a few song of rockband for Will's party so I figured I'd give it a go. It wasn't too bad. However I started getting a little bored towards the end because sitting in one place for so long causes me to loose sanity sometimes plus most everyone was singing songs that I was not too excited about.

I would do anything for love...

2008-02-21T08:48:00.001-08:00

This morning day shift came in and one of the techs came up to us while we were chit chatting.

Other night shift tech: "So what are you running today?"

Enthusiastic day shift tech: "I'm running anything!"

Night shift tech pulls out a punchlist on clip board

Not so enthusiastic day shift tech: "But I won't do that"

day shift tech walks off.

Me: Meatloaf song instantly in head.

onigiri button by by cute cosplay girl

2008-02-19T08:17:00.000-08:00

yay! Thank you Deanna

Love Female Ninjas

2008-02-17T03:09:00.001-08:00

I find this inspiring :D

Who needs college?

2008-02-16T07:46:00.001-08:00

Meh college who needs it?
(saw on a friend's blog)

Stuff I've ate so far

2008-02-13T22:55:00.000-08:00

So far I've gone a week without eating any meat. It hasn't been too bad though.

Yesterday: Orange Juice / ramen / tea / energy drinks / malt balls / vegi egg rolls

Today: Orange Juice / mints / Coffee / Vegi delight from subway

Attack on Scientology

2008-02-11T07:21:00.001-08:00

I came across this today. I found it very amusing.

Annonomus attacks Scientology in London

Ash Wednesday Story

2008-02-07T00:35:00.000-08:00

When I went to get lunch today I asked for a garden burger. And then the cook asked if I was a vegitarian. I told him "for lent I am". He looked confused and asked me what that was. So I got to explain lent to him.

Turns out that the cook used to goto a christian school but just got sick of it all and after 9 years all he did was mess with teachers and religious people to get a rise out of them.

He told me a conversation he had once with a JW that came a-knocking at his door.

"So how did you come to believe what you do now"

them: "God just revealed himself to me"

him: "Well I'm waiting for God to reveal himself to me too, so please leave and stop pressuring me"

I thought it was kinda a fun story, but on the other hand I'm a little concerned for said dude, he seems like a good guy and makes good food so I hope that he finds his way. Deff praying for him. I love hearing peoples stories about these kinds of things.

Melting Pot

2008-02-06T03:14:00.001-08:00

So last night Deanna and I went to the melting pot. Who is Deanna one might ask? Well, I met her at the kumoricon mini-con she helped me pin my seshi costume together. Then, at the masquerade ball we were in line together. She's a costume maker. She is really nice and I am looking forward to getting to know her better.

We danced the night away and then hung out with some other friends. Anywho, I called her up and we had dinner there it was yummy, the service wasn't so great though. They took a long time to seat us and didn't check on us very often.

A Calling

2008-01-31T08:20:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to listen to less music and more sermons on the radio when I drive. Today I flipped on chuck swindol (who is going though matthew of all things!) and he was talking about when Jesus first started his ministry.

He talked about how Jesus came up to some dudes making their nets and said hey come follow me, leave this job you've been at X years and the security it provides for you and your family. And they did, that is what it is like to have a calling.

What about the wives? Can you imagine how the head of the family comes in and says, I'm quiting the family business and going to follow this guy who I didn't know before today.

If Jesus was to come into my workplace and say, Hey Paul, I've got this I want you to do and stop what you are doing and come with me. Could I just drop everything? Chuck said that perhaps the reason that the post Christmas season is so depressing is because we haven't found that calling.

Busy busy

2008-01-21T06:46:00.001-08:00

So worked a long week after being sick for a week. Yesterday, some new friends invited me over to meet about an event that they are planning so it seemed like something exciting and they are nice peoples. Anywho, I stayed up after work then hung out until church, I was scheduled to do lyrics but was all tired. When I showed up, it looked like Jon had things covered, mad props bro.

I was really exhausted though and even during announcements I was passing out. When we did meet and greet time I said hello to a few people then went home and died... the bad part about that is that today I woke up at some ungodly early hour.

In other news, I beat Xenosaga 2, I know ben has Xenosaga 3 so I just need to get him to lend it to me :)

feeling better

2008-01-15T17:25:00.001-08:00

the sore throat of doom is gone, but I feel like I wasted a week of my life. However I'm feeling better except for being worn out most of the time.

still sick

2008-01-08T16:29:00.000-08:00

Meh, stupid throat work again!

I went to the urgent care and they said I didn't have strep but I got some antibionics though to take.

Sickness

2008-01-08T01:04:00.000-08:00

I think I have some kind of throat stuff because I feel like crap and it hurts to swallow. My energy is just gone. I hope I feel better tomarrow. I went to sleep 3pm on sunday and woke up around 11am on monday but only for a few hours at a time...

Bah Humbug

2007-12-23T06:05:00.000-08:00

I never really cared for christmas. When I was little I'd always get my hopes up for presents and then be disappointed when I didn't get what I wanted. What I didn't know is that I really deserved to die and go to hell like everyone else in this planet. I think that the whole culture and how we view this holiday is not really healthy, it teaches us to be more selfish or to overspend to fulfill the expections of our peers or family.

I also am not a big fan of spending christmas with other people's family, it is a reminder that I don't have any family asking me to have christmas with them even if none of them live in oregon anymore. I am however going to have some food christmas day with a friend of mine who I haven't seen in a while :)

I passed solid state physics!

2007-12-17T06:01:00.000-08:00

C+ baby yeah!!!!

Vernonia

2007-12-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

Was very muddy, I helped out with the shelter there and mess hall that they made up at a camp just outside of town. It was something else, kinda random a new experience, thought I was surprised that going 40 mins how the demographic of people changes so. I wish someone from ethnos would have gone, but everyone I asked had plans, there was another girl from intel there though that said she had a coworker that lost most everything in the flood and she was so moved that she wanted to help out.

yikes

2007-12-06T09:57:00.001-08:00

I have a final in two and a half hours and I'm not ready!

Aquabats

2007-11-28T07:59:00.001-08:00

So I went to see the aquabats by myself last night which was kinda depressing. People have other priorities other than seeing super heros perform. It was somewhat like when underoath came to town and no one wanted to go to that show that I could find so I didn't even buy tickets.

But this time I got two, gave one away to some random person at the door. I thought about screaming up and down to sell a ticket but didn't those people are annoying. Anyway the show was good kinda zaney and the bartender was cute. We chatted a bit before the show started.

Birth order quiz

2007-11-18T10:47:00.001-08:00

You Are Likely a Second Born

At your darkest moments, you feel inadequate.
At work and school. you do best when you're evaluating.
When you love someone, you offer them constructive criticism.

In friendship, you tend to give a lot of feedback - positive and negative.
Your ideal careers are: accounting, banking, art, carpentry, decorating, teaching, and writing novels.
You will leave your mark on the world with art and creative projects.

The Birth Order Predictor

Mustard Plug Release

2007-11-16T17:59:00.000-08:00

Wow that band released another CD! I am going to get it, just not now...

They are one of the few ska bands that are any good and are still together. Too bad that they never tour outside of the midwest...

Community Action

2007-11-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to this CPO meeting which stands for -Citizen Participation Organization- Washington County CPO

It was something new. I haven't ever been inside saint vincent's before. Also, I noticed that the people who want to get involved in meeting developers and city officials are mostly old people. Why is this?

Anyway, no one from my complex came that I recognized, I went and met with the HOA people and said what the developers mentioned to our concerns and some of the things they said about the out door mall that is going in across barnes. They send out a monthly newsletter so I signed up and maybe I'll start recieving it.

sometimes school sucks

2007-10-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

I took a test in my power systems class and did terrible. The teacher left me a note saying that he wasn't sure if I was prepared for the class

:(

make life slow down

2007-10-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

today I woke up and checked the internets to see what was coming up. It turns out that there was an assignment due today that I hadn't even started.

I had about an hour and a half before class.

After crazyness I did finish it but was late to class and now I am pooped. I don't like being rushed right when I wake up.

Kumori election

2007-10-08T00:33:00.000-07:00

So I went to the election meeting for Kumoricon today. It was cool, I mostly went to see people and hang out more than anything else. I am not really thick into the staff issues but I did get to try out my new little camcorder. It doesn't take very good pictures or videos hrmm :(

But I did get a few ok ones

After that I went to church and people shared their stories. It was really nice to see new people up front during the gathering. Anthony, Chris, Jen, and Ingrid shared. I was asked to but looks like it'll be pushed out to next week.

School Starts next week

2007-09-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

alaska pictures

2007-09-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures, I took a trip to alaska to visit dad. However, my camera got broke in the flight back so it won't be taking pictures anymore. I was however able to get these last few off it.

Alaska

2007-09-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

I'm in alaska, been here for most of last week. Went on a day cruise looking at birds, whales, bears and glaciers. Also road the alaskan rail road which I thought neat too. We saw dall sheep.

Spent yesterday helping marci move and hopefully tomarrow we'll head down to the coast again to get a tour of prince williams sound.

PS. 6 foot swells make me queasy and other people puke in bags.

More Kumoricon

2007-09-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday I got up early made some coffee and headed to the sunset transit center to pick up anthony again. I had my crazy cumbersome costume so when we got there I told him to go on ahead because it would take me a little while to get ready. That was about the last time I saw him til the end of the day. Which was ok by me.

I went to some panels, an intro to japanese one where the instructor couldn't be found so they got some fill in people to teach. There was a native japanese speaker that took at day pass and sat in. He eventually was asked to stand up and help teach the class, it was some intro stuff and a whole lot of question and answers. I thought that was cool. I learned a lot about japanese culture and how the language and culture are not seperate. I even got to have a chat with the japanese guy and ask him a few questions later on. It was way cool.

There was a religion and anime panel that I went to also, I like it, what with everyone being civil and all. I thought it kinda ironic that the more diverse panel was less heated than the christian meetup panel the previous day. However, people from different religious background did have similar concerns. Interesting.

Later on in the afternoon I chatted with the lady running the info desk and helped her out for a bit because she looked way stressed out. She was nice and we chatted for an hour or so almost. I tried to help people with their questions but I really didn't know much of anything.

I was going to goto the cosplay contest but it had an insane line, so I skipped. Later on I was pondering about going to the masquerade ball. I missed the dance the previous night and I did want to dance with some girls dressed as my fav anime chicks. I however didn't have any experience with ball room dancing or mask making.

The mask making workshop just went crazy there was not near enough bandwidth to handle everyone that wanted a mask for the ball. So I was about to give up and thinking about looking for something else to do. A cute girl in a Chinese outfit came up to me and asked if I was going to the ball. I was sorta surprised, and said well I haven't decided yet. She responded, well if you do go are you going with anyone? Because if you arn't could you go with me?

*blink*

I replied, "Well I am not here with anyone but if I do go and see you I'll dance a few dances with you" She seemed pleased and wandered off. I thought that I'd goto the dance and later heard that the mask was optional because if it wasn't then half of the people that wanted to go couldn't.

However there was that line thing again. The room was way to small for everyone that wanted to dance. After seeing the huge line I gave up hope. They filled the room even and people were still lined up outside waiting for someone to leave so they could enter.

For the rest of the weekend I just gave up on planning and just kinda went wherever. I did see the concerts but the sound quality wasn't too great.

However, when I went back to my car I saw that a back tire was flat... argh!

I limped it to a gas station and put air in it. It held it but had a nasty steel showing crease in the side wall. The dude that rode with me was kinda frustating that I couldn't commit to a time to pick him up.

Hello? Labor day? Most places are closed! So that was annoying, people, if someone is doing you a favor don't get all demanding. It is just rude.

Kumoricon First Day

2007-09-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

Kumoricon is this weekend in case anyone didn't know. It is an anime convention. I went with a guy that I met online that needed a ride. The thing was though that I had to work the previous night so I got off work at 8 went home slept from 9 til about 12 and then went to the con.

I checked out the vendor's hall, chatted with some people, the slants were there they will be playing sunday night. The Neko pan bakery girls had their stuff up. I also bugged tom and the pocky club a bit. After that, I helped chris with his costume (his mask kept falling off) and then we went and got subway. I wanted to get some people together and eat at the crab shack on the columbia but I wasn't really hungry and most of the people I knew were tired and heading back to their hotel rooms.

I did get to check out the spin the bottle glomping circle. That was amusing. It was really really amusing when it was shaped like a heart for a while. After watching it for a while in a hotel room we did have to go down and join in the glomping madness for a time.

There was a pocky club panel that I went to and also a christian meetup panel I went to. That was cool, they are going to have a study today at 10 with free ramen.

Didn't hit up the dance, I wanted to but by 10:00 I was dragging and the line was insane, I just sat down and rested my tired feets for a while and 50 mins later the line remained yeeesh!

kumoricon tomorrow!

2007-08-31T16:31:00.000-07:00

It is tomorrow I'm so stoked!

crazyness

2007-08-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

well today I went to have lunch at a mexican place with some mexican coworkers and the waiter came up to us and started speaking spanish really fast. I did make out a couple words and when he said margarita I knew he was asking what we wanted for drinks. It was kinda crazy and cool at the same time.

let there be pain

2007-08-22T03:05:00.000-07:00

For some reason God decided that I need to experience pain today.

At community group, a chair got knocked over and landed quite squarely on my foot, it smarted. Next, on my way back from nick and Diana's I noticed a red light at the last second and cranked the front break so much that it skidded into the ground. It was all over in an instant. There was a slight screach of rubber then the a thwack as my head hit the pavement of downtown portland. I got to use my AAA premium membership to have them tow my bike home and I got some roadrash to boot, so yeah lots of pain for today.

That is all.

awkward

2007-08-17T23:48:00.000-07:00

coworker: What would you say you are about paul?

Me: Hmmm (pause) I'd say I'm all about Jesus.

Coworker: Jesus? I can't say he's been doing anything lately

(long pause, uncomfortable stare)

Please stop harassing me now

2007-08-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took the riding test and passed with a flying 97% Yes sirs and maams, I now am legal to ride alone.

I also have bragging rights for my coworker he took the test earlier this summer and drove all over the cones, put his foot down. The test giver said there was no point in continuing he had already failed. I got to hear from him about how unfair the test was and how useless and frusterating he felt about the team oregon motorcycle safety test.

So the bragging rights were nice but we did talk about how nice it is to not be all nervous every time a cop is checking us out.

Broken Fence

2007-08-12T10:55:00.001-07:00

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House in D.C. One from New Jersey , another from Tennessee and the third, Florida . They go with a White House official to examine the fence.

The Florida contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. "Well", he says, "I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials,
$400 for my crew and $100 profit for me."

The Tennessee contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, "I can do this job for $700: $300
for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me."

The New Jersey contractor doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, "$2,700"

The official, incredulous, says, "You didn't even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?"

The New Jersey contractor whispers back, "$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence."

"Done!" replies the government official.

And that friends, is how it all works!!!

Kumoricon

2007-08-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

After work today I went over to vancouver for this mini con thing that kumorcon was having. It was a blast, the place wasn't all packed out like a real con but there were people there that liked anime. I drove a couple people that lived in beaverton down there and hung out most of the day.

I did unveil the sesshomaru costume there, I think about 200-300 people were there. They expect around 3000 people at the con. That place is going to be packed.

Got a Grill!

2007-08-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

Friday before last my friend got married and at his wedding I got to see a few people that I had lost touch with over the years. Anyway, over a few drinks I got the hook up with a new grill, apparently steve had a redundant grill and was looking to free up some balcony space.

Nick helped me move it and I got a bottle, mike is cooking right now.

Also, Diana was hanging with some old friends so Nick and I did some hiking out into the local wilderness off of barnes road and west of cedar hills. We found a couple camps off the beaten path, some tents were out there, saw a sleeping bag hanging from a tree. There was a very large pile of garbage. Another path there was a guy who was getting out of a tent, I told nick we should just leave them in peace. He didn't see the guy but I think it would be kinda rude to just barge in there.

It doesn't really bother me that there are people camping in the woods, however it does bother me that they are littering all over the place....

What is the christlike way to respond to seeing something like that?

My Weekend

2007-08-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

I worked most of the weekend so it really starts sunday morning. Slept a good chunk of sunday then went to church and hung out with Nick and Diana after that (they didn't want to swing dance but I wanted to hear about their trip to kenya more than dancing with cute girls) so that was cool. There was a homeless couple staying on their lawn that Nick and I talked to. We didn't kick them off because it looked like the reason they came out there was because being homeless downtown is harder, it isn't quiet and him and his girl didn't feel safe, he said that he got in some fights with other people and just as soon look for another spot to squat until they could find some real housing.

Monday, I worked on my cosplay costume trying to get the armor together, I mostly used duct tape and safety pins but I think with a couple more safety pins and a friend I can get it to stay up. Bobbie did say that I looked like I was wearing a giant bra with spikes though.... hmmm...

Then I went to game night at Hans, which was cool. We played scattigories and then Wii that was fun. I still am not any good at that but it is intense. I'm not used to this whole standing up and swinging around to play a game. It is weird to play video games that leave you tired physically.

I like Rozen Maiden

2007-07-31T16:52:00.001-07:00

This is the latest anime I've been really into. There are only two discs out in the US and I've been getting them via netflix. The third one comes out in augest I can't wait. This anime is just beautifully done. I'm a guy and I love the dolls!

also here is a nice AMVs for you all

adventures in motorcycle

2007-07-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

I took last night off to goto my friends wedding then went out to have a few drinks with the best man and a couple other old friends that I had lost touch with. It was cool. I'm so quick to skip work lately job has been stressful.

Anyway, I called Jim to tell him about how I've been having problems with my bike sense I got back from the beach and asked for help. He said he'd come over but it turned out just that the kickstand sensor was a bit crusty and not working. I got it to work after a couple tries (just wasn't going out all the way) The glue job was done with the tail light and looked firm.

So when he got here we were ready to roll.

Just going out onto barnes road though I looked back and didn't see him. So I waited, waited and waited. Turns out that he saw a car coming and gunned it around a turn but the ground was slick and spilled the bike over. When he finally came up he asked me if I saw and I said no. He looked ok but said his shoulder hurt. :(

We took off to compusa to look for some ram for his computer (he got a new bible searching program as a gift) and then found out that comp usa had terrible prices. So we hopped on the freeway, down to fry's. After that ride we were rewarded with better prices. He really didn't want to go home empty handed and goes to me for computer advise. Jim has really been a blessing so far as someone to help with bike problems so I'm more than eager to help him. Anyway, he put in the new ram and I helped streamline his computer so that it would run a bit faster.

When I got back though he pointed out that the tail light was bouncing all over the place. . . the glue didn't hold. His recommendation was to goto the Yamaha dealer and see if they had the plastic part to replace my broken one. Hmmm Also I didn't notice this before but there is a dent in the gas tank probably from the beach trip... sigh...

I am so glad that I didn't go out and buy an expensive bike.

beach

2007-07-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I called in for work and headed to the beach. The last time I went I think was with Ginny and her fam way back when so I figured that the timing was way overdue. Jim had just fixed up the bike for me so I was stoked to be able to ride it again. I hopped on in the afternoon and rode the 80 miles to gearhart. It was cool, there was a bit of rain so the road was wet on spots I didn't push it at all, lots of cars passed me.

Anyway, I didn't really want to leave bike in parking lot so took a risk and rode it out on the beach. That probably wasn't the best ideas for three reasons.

1.) Road tires have little to no traction on sand, I felt like I was riding on a slip and slide, every little tire track throws you around.

2.) Kick stands don't work so well in the sand they just sink in.

3.) It was dark when we left, was hard enough navigating the tire tracks with the sun out and I wasn't too thrilled to do it in the dark.

So, most everyone said that I should put bike in luke's trailer. So I did and it wasn't too hard we just used a plank roll it up. However there was some resistance to getting said bike out. I asked to take it out a couple times but got blown off. Finally when we stopped and it got seriously considered the bike had already fallen off the stand, tipped over, the back turn signal was bent (I was able to bend it back) and the back light was broke, not broken off but it was just sorta hanging on. So I wasn't too pleased about it and decided not to express my frustration too much because it wouldn't be edifying.

So I gave into peer pressure and stayed in luke's truck, it might off been a bit more comfortable it I was 2 or 3 inches shorted though, I mostly tossed and turned all night.

Anyway, I left in the morning I was already wet (didn't plan on staying so I didn't bring change of clothing) and I rode to a gas station (I was a little worried about running out of gas). I ate shell food and drunk hot cocoa from a machine. A dirty old guy came up and sat next to me and we talked for a while about shooting seaguls and bikes. He told me that I should get a pressure washer to my bike ASAP otherwise all the chrome would rust off. I took that advise when I got back to portland and sprayed it down.

Anyway, the trip back was raining until I got over the mountians but but then I was soaked head to toe. and my arm was hurting from holding the trottle for so long. I felt like I had 15 extra pounds of water on me I was carrying around and my feet felt like they were under water. Yeah fun times. Note to self, don't repeat this beach trip.

However, I don't want to condemn anyone with writing this so please take this in the way it is ment to be. I am a very independent person and having to rely on others is I place I don't like to be it seems more often than not bad things happen. I just need to not put myself in certain situations like this in the future (IE drive instead of ride in the rain) I was really close to calling a taxi when people were talking about how I wasn't going to be allowed to leave...

Learnings:
1.) Don't ride long distances in bad weather
2.) Don't ride on the beach
3.) Don't put yourself in a situation where you have to rely on others or risk your safety.

interesting day

2007-07-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

I spent 3 hours in the afternoon hanging out with / meeting the kumoricon staffers and forum people at their monthly meeting. I found out that there is this secret pre-con that they do that isn't publicized (because it is mostly to test the setup) I'm all about going to secret get togethers but they didn't announce when it was, I'm thinking sometime in auguest though.

Then I drove a cool new guy that I met there named chris to the max and we exchanged numbers he said he'd watch transformers with me today.

After that I got an orange and red bull (The orange was the first solid thing I ate for the day) and went to a group lindy lesson at 6 and stayed at the dance til the every end (midnight) It was a cool day, I really enjoyed hanging out dancing meeting new people trying to plant seeds for new relationships.

phrase of the day

2007-07-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

"Hate is just a special kind of love that we give to people who suck"

The writing on the church parking lot really made my day ^_^

Is this legal?

2007-07-13T08:51:00.001-07:00

Ladies and gents, this is how you pack a van.

Props to Luke Bob Kathy Mike and Brenda who emptied out my garage for Jesus.

Beautiful

2007-07-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

Went swing dancing last night and I think I might actually be getting a little bit better at lindy. There were not a whole lot of people, but the AC was nice. However the highlight of the night was when they played this song, Joel and Sarah's dance was amazing.

Aquire

2007-07-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

I played this cool game last night called Aquire. It was lots of fun. It isn't being made anymore but my friend gave it to another friend when he joined the military. Which is where I was last night, hanging out with old friends some who I hadn't seen in 3 or 4 years. It was cool to touch base again. Oh and my other friend is getting married this month, I think last week in july sometime

I need to not forget this time!

And God said, not tomorrow

2007-07-09T15:29:00.000-07:00

Well with no bikage in site to take the riding test tomorrow in sight, it is looking like I'm going to be calling them up and canceling the appointment.

Sigh

facebook global warming pole

2007-07-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

The pole of the day was is global warming a problem?

The answer were sorta opposite of what I'd expect. I'd think that older folks would be more skeptical but it turns out the younger ones are. I wonder why.

wouldn't start

2007-07-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I rode to Sara and Laura's party in the park, went home got ready for work and then went to ride to work. I left the bike out but it wouldn't start. I had run it just a couple hours earlier but hmmm yeah, it was frustrating. Tried using the cheat switch that bob put in numerous times but no luck, just this *click* when pressing the starter. Hmmm yeah, frusteration.

Oh and I'm supposed to take the drive test on Tuesday.

I had to fire up the car, something I hadn't done all week.

2007-07-06T19:22:00.001-07:00

Teased! I saw a show for streetlight manefesto in portland but then went to look at tickets and it turned out to be portland maine!

Visable Grace Garage Sale Sort Night

2007-07-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

Community group was at my place this week. We sorted through the massive amounts of donations that people have given Ashby to save Africa. So I broke out my camera and took a break from the grueling task masters that are Ashby and Anthony to take some photos to share with everyone.

Close Call

2007-07-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

Last night I rode out to the east side to visit some friends. When I was riding down 26 towards the tunnel I noticed that putting on the gas wasn't making it accelerate and it was kinda bogging down / sputtering. So, I figured I could coast faster and put my hand on the clutch. I noticed than that the RPMs went down to zero.

Yes the engine had stopped running. So I got it to do some more sputtering / coasting down til 405 when it quit. It didn't take me long to figure out that I had run out of gas. I tried to start it again a few times with no luck than switched to the reserve. A cop pulled over with lights next to me and asked

"Is everything allright?"

I responded over traffic going by, "Yes, I just ran out of gas I need to switch to the reserve and get going"

He answered, "Allright, just checking" and turned his lights off and drove off. Luckily I was able to get going again right after that (I was having some trouble getting it to start even after switching to the reserve) and stopped at the next available gas station.

My life is exciting sometimes

dress up

2007-07-01T10:59:00.001-07:00

Had fun last night, Nova came over and we hung out a bit (she is going away to Wisconsin for a month or so in a few weeks). Nick and Diana came over too and made a cake.

2007-06-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

Here of some more pictures of my visit to the great wild untamed big horn mountains and yes I did see moose and can prove it!<

lindy hop

2007-06-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

This dance looks really cool when people do it or mix it up with some other dance moves but it is really difficult for me. Sometimes when I spin my dance partner around after pulling her back in we spin about a quarter circle too much or I'll pull her back in a couple steps to early. It mostly ends in me getting dizzy.

I was talking to a girl I met last night about it and she said that if I kept at it I'd be better at not getting so dizzy because leads tend not to get spun around as much as follows. Also looking at your dance partner instead of the the wall or something else helps. It was fun, I was able to see some people that I met last time and chat with them and meet some new people.

I'm still a little nervous though about asking girls to dance, although I'm starting to realize that this fear had no much of a basis besides my insecurity because I've never been turned down so far.

I'm told that I'm sorta tense dancing and if I try to do more than just the basic stuff I tend to miss the beat. Mindy said I should listen to some swing music at home close my eyes and focus on the beat and do what comes naturally weather it be to tap my foot of sway to the music. She said to pick out an instrument and focus on that like the steady beat of the base of the swaying beat of a horn.