The boy is back in town

Ahhh, finally. The house mates have returned to their respectful homes for Christmas break, and it's easy to tell they left in a hurry. I got back to LA from Modesto about three hours ago and was immediately reacquainted with a filthy house, a full sink of dirty dishes, and an overflowing trash can. Three hours later, I'm completely unpacked, the house is clean (for the most part); I guess I'll vacuum tomorrow. *sigh* Work in eight hours. Goodnight.

2am and still no sign of Santa...

Well, I'm just about finished up with prepping my gift to my mom tomorrow morning. By the time she reads this blog, she will have already found out what it is, so I have no worries about telling everyone right now - I spent the last five days fixing up my laptop, making leaps and bounds over all kinds of technical problems that I won't dare go into detail about - in fear of forever locking myself into categories of "nerd" far from the societal norm. My technical prowess aside, I've conquered the lappy, for the time being anyway. Still some updates to do, but that can happen while I sleep. :p

Changing the subject, I hope all of you faithful readers out there are doing well, and having a merry Christmas. I know I am. The blogroll has been thin lately, which seems fitting, since the number of subscribers to me has been somewhat lackluster lately. Meh, numbers go up and down, but I still hope the stuff I'm putting out isn't total crap - which is probably why I enjoy feedback so much. My hat's off to you, my friends, those who read these silly posts through thick and thin, thanks for being my audience. ;)

And if anyone has a regular blog they keep up, send me a link and I'll be sure to subscribe. Those who take time out of their week religiously to jot down a few musings or rants deserve some form of attention, albeit in the form of kudos.

I have a few more things to do before I call it a night yet, so I'll see you all some other time (when the sun's out, hopefully.) Merry Christmas.

BoM FTL

I want to shake this guy's hand.

Compatibility

Scale

'Tis the Season

http://www.bash.org/?826387

It's Christmas. We show up at my grandmas house. I'm 14. It comes time to open the presents, she brings out this little square-shaped flat present, wrapped in Christmas paper. I wonder what it is, what joyous gift from grandma could be so small in volume? I open it, and see the words "AOL Internet Trial CD" on the cover of a cardboard disc holder, with a 14-day AOL trial CD inside. Confused, I asked her what it was. She proudly proclaimed "I've bought you fourteen days of free internet!"

And that's why I hate Christmas.

My Favorite Caption

Tonight, I flipped through the pages of an old notebook. Passing by class notes, poems and lyrics to songs long forgotten, I happened upon this:

When are we going to have this conversation about Jesus?

That is what reads at the bottom of a page in my notebook. I don't remember writing it, nor do I recall ever reading it before. Either way, I cannot help but note the applicability of its placement directly beneath a sketch of me saddling a Tyrannosaurus Rex attacking my high school.

Hellogoodybe

Everyone back home should enjoy this - this is a video I helped Mark Anderson make in one day before I left for Los Angeles. The famous Drama class music video project was underway and he asked me for a hand. Of course, by "hand" he meant for me to direct, film, puppeteer, and edit.

This project is possibly the most well known feature of any class at my old high school - probably because it's the most fun to do, and even more fun to watch the presentations. I'm told that they still show my video I did my senior year of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen for inspiration. I'll upload that one when I get the chance. Until then, here's mine and Mark's video to Here in Your Arms, by Hellogoodbye. (This will probably be a dead link soon due to copyright law, so if nothing shows up, it's your lazy fault for not reading my blog soon enough.)

Fool

Tripping over staircases and sentences

Today I got home from work, changed into a tee shirt and shorts, grabbed my mp3 player, and went for a jog. I really didn't plan out where I wanted to go, how far I wanted to run, all that stuff - I just ran. What stinks about where I live, is that my apartment is practically uphill from, well, everywhere else. For the first half mile or so, it was a really good run. I remember thinking to myself, "Man, jogging is really easy when you're going downhill." And then I remembered that this wasn't going to be a one-way trip. Baaaaaad news. My legs feel limp like rope. Rope set on fire. Fiery, aching rope legs that never want to be legs ever again.

I look at everything I have going on right now, and all I see is work to be done. It's much better than having nothing to do at all - that's for sure. I was there a few months ago and I surely don't ever want to be there again. Glad to be out of that rut. For now, I have lots of work at my job, another job on the side, and some volunteer stuff going on as well. Yep, I'm keeping busy, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Vacation can come soon enough, there's stuff to be done in the meantime.

Speaking of vacation, I posted most of the pictures of a photo trip I took to Knights Ferry. I say "most" because there are four more from that trip sitting on a mainly unexposed roll of film still in my camera, so I think I'll have to go on another trip soon.

Mmmm Turkey

Wow, that was close

Heh, I thought it would be cute to decide to "test my abilities" and purposefully jack up my computer. Dumbest thing ever. Guess what? Now it's really jacked up. I'm a moron. Though I'm still getting the kinks out, things are starting to go my way - considering that an hour ago I was going back and forth between my desk and the living room computer searching for a way out of this mess. Once again, Google came through for me. I'm a moron. Fortunately, my misguided self-confidence prevails more often than not. It just takes a while for things to start falling into place. I'm happy this self-made dilemma of mine only lasted an afternoon. My last binary escapade rewarded me with a month of recurring blue screens. I'm beginning to realize I have had an air of perseverance about me my entire life which inhibits me from ignoring a problem - especially one that I created myself. In other words, I'm a moron. :)

Do It Yourself!

Hero of the Hour

Chasing Butterflies

Red letter day

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me for the past month. God is good. Four days after my interview at JDC in Anaheim, I got a call from James Durbin, the owner, asking me when I can start! A week from today, I'll be showing up to my awesome "huge foot-in-the-door" job, with benefits (paid time off, 401k, medical, dental, the works). We'll see where it goes from here! As of now, they are promising me a minimum of 25 hours a week, but considering my wages, I won't be making any less than I would have been if I kept working in Modesto. What's even better is I get to sleep in my room that I haven't slept in but kept paying rent for! Hehe.

Starbucks should be calling me any day now. I had an interview this last Saturday which went really well. I'm fairly certain I got that job as well - especially since they're opening a new store in the area. So, here we go again. It's all coming together rather quickly now. I'm starting to feel like my old self again, which is refreshing to say the least. Job hunting is the suck. Paying rent for your apartment while you work and sleep in another city doubly so.

I've got a week to get myself back in SoCal. Hopefully the place doesn't burn down before I show up. ;)

Fighting Entropy

Entropy is an interesting thing. "Things tend to break down. Order begets chaos." If everything starts at order and degrades into chaos, then how do you explain cotton candy? Sugar, spinning around in a huge vat, getting blown around like sand in a hurricane, somehow finds its way to the end of a stick, where it gathers itself into a sweet pink ball of serendipity. Take that, Einstein.

Just a sentence

So I thought to myself this afternoon, "How cool would it be to write a blog made of one rediculous run-on sentence," so I decided to give it a try, then unaware of how remarkably difficult it would prove itself to be, now wondering why such a useless idea would even enter my mind in the first place, I sit here at the computer wondering what I'll write about next, whether I choose to write about my interview at JCD (James Durbin Communications), which is a radio production outfit dealing mostly with internet and over-the-air radio, but is also delving more and more into television, or I could talk about how I'm in Los Angeles right now (for the many of you who still thought I was in Modesto - I'm only here for the weekend), but there's still much more to be done, such as my interview at Starbucks tomorrow, which, (hopefully) along with my *crosses fingers* future employment at JDC, will level out my expenses, so hopefully both gigs are bagged and I'll be well on my way to being a happy (steadily employed) camper once again who will enjoy his time at Disneyland on Sunday and be making the trek back up to Modesto that evening while drafting behind his friend Cameron, whom, as I just found out is in Orange County this weekend as well for some medical tests as he's currently applying for the Police Academy down here - it's always good to have the police on your side, as it is also good to refrain from writing run-on sentences, so I think I'll stop and go to bed now, goodnight.

Glorious Distractions

When you're driving on the road, sometimes the dumbest stuff in the world can make you angry. Today I wast stuck in really heavy traffic - for what? Construction on an offramp. No closed lanes, not even an accident on the side of the road. A couple orange cones and it's like some idiots decided to slam on their brakes four miles up the road. Now we get to crawl at 5mph until all of a sudden we're back at 70. *sigh* People.

In other news, I ran into some lyrics the other day. I've heard it a million times, this time was different.

Hands, like secrets, are the hardest thing to keep from you.
Lines and phrases, like knives, your words can cut me through.
Dismantle me down. Repair.
You Dismantle me.

Addicted

I'm a tactile guy. I can't think straight unless my hands are doing something like fumbling a pencil or rolling a quarter on my knuckles (or trying to, anyway - I'm getting there!) When I was a kid I was always tapping my fingers on my desk at school. I've been playing the piano for nigh fourteen years now. Last week I found a new distraction. Shuffling cards.

I was at my computer a week ago watching an episode of House when I saw them: Fifty-two slices of snap and shuffle just begging to be mixed up. From that moment on, while I sit at my desk, my fingers are either typing or shuffling. These poor cards are worn down pretty good now though, after a week's worth of handling. They're nice cards - I scored them at Harrah's in Tahoe a while back. They're those cards that were in actual play on the casino floor, repackaged, and sold in the giftshop. Now they're cracked and worn out from all the shuffling.

I've been doing some shuffling myself lately. Work in Modesto is great, but I really miss Los Angeles and all my friends at Biola. But ah, bills must be paid. Paycheks are nice. Speaking of checks - I'm finally getting my reimbursement check for the Michigan fiasco. It's in the mail! It's really nice having some green back in my wallet again. Two more months and I'll be back in my apartment in LA. For now, work!

I must admit, since I've been so busy with work, I haven't paid much attention to those wonderful monks that no one laughs at. I just might bring them back once I get a spare second to think of something funny. I'm sure you all can live without them for a few more days, at least. I know I can. :p

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some reading to do.

Talking to girls

Bless the Box

Comfort is Complicated

A Higher Calling

Something's amiss

I can't remember the last time I laughed without restraint.

Lost are the memories of satisfaction and life without worry.

My happy thoughts have fled, Wendy and the boys flew off without me.

Guess I'll eat worms.

Nothing sucks like an Oreck vacuum cleaner.

Little green Ben smugly smirks from a distance. He knows it's been a while.

Napoleon and 1.3G hold a special place in my heart.

Sleep evades me nightly, while the bills track me like hounds daily.

I call my ceiling fan "Holmes" because it's cool.

Socrates, Descartes, and Plato are among my closest friends.

Seriously. Orecks really really suck.

TroutDrSpudz is my best friend.

A new fuel has been discovered: Al Gore's tears. Thank goodness he lost the election.

Socrates, Descartes, and Plato are my computers' names.

My shoes have worn themselves thin and my feet ache.

The pen is mightier than the sword. Swords are cooler.

I had a dream, but like all dreams, I woke up and it was soon forgotten.

Nothing says "I love you" like jewelry. Not true.

TroutDrSpudz is my best friend Matt's screenname.

I know these aren't the worst of times, but they're the only times I know.

I love you like jewelry. There. I said it.

Kicked in the face

At least that's what I feel like just happened to me, anyways.  Someone broke into my car last night and stole my amplifier and power inverter.  The jerk smashed a $400 window to steal about $150 worth of crappy off-brand equipment.  My landlord knocked on my door about 7:30 this morning.  I called the cops and they were here within an hour asking me questions and getting me a police report.  Now I'm waiting for someone to stop by and take prints off the car.  The "print girl," as they called her, starts at 10am, so depending on what's on her schedule already, I could be waiting a while.  Might as well take a few snapshots of the damage for you all.



Whoops... *ahem*... Nick says hi.  Ah, here we are...





Ripped it right out of the back of the car.  I never got around to mounting it to the trunk ceiling, so really it was my own fault.  Crimes of opportunity are easily prevented, I'll think twice next time.

In other news, my trip to Phoenix went well.  I was there for four days in charge of camera and lighting for a promotional video for a software company in La Mirada.  They write software for this huge robotic laser that cuts sheet metal and wanted interviews and footage of the machine in action for an updated video for the company.  Apparently they do a few every year.

Considering the fiasco in Michigan, this shoot was a breeze!  All expenses paid, my own hotel room, the best steak I've had in my life, and did I mention a paycheck at the end of it all?  Sha-wing!  Most of the work was setting up lighting and the second and third cameras for the interviews.  I shot it on a DVX, which I had to rent from a local rental house since my first connections dropped out on me.  Over all, I think my favorite part of the trip was going indie and having the boys in the warehouse lift me twenty feet in the air on a forklift while I stood on a pallet with the camera on a tripod and drove around the factory to get an aerial flyby of the laser cutter.

The whole thing was pretty liberating since I've never really been able to take charge of the entire artistic direction of a video since the last wedding I taped three years ago.  In hindsight, weddings aren't nearly as exciting as laser cutters.  I'll post the pics of me going monkey on the forklift when I get them.

Bittersweet

Well if anything, today was bittersweet.

I had my interview at Disney today, which didn't go as I planned at all. When you say "interview" you think one-on-one time with a, well, person. Nah, Disney does things a little differently nowadays. After waiting a while in the main room where other applicants were busy filling out forms and typing away at computers at the Casting Center, my name was called out along with one other name - some girl. Anyway, we were lead to a screening room where we sat down and watched a ten-minute video about the Disney work environment, how Disneyland employees should behave, dress, work ethic, etc. There was no one in the room but this cute girl and me. Perfect situation indeed.

The video plays and both of us are making snide remarks and comments at the video the entire time. I pretended to get upset that they didn't give us popcorn or drinks for the show. We both made fun of the actors, cutscenes, pretty much everything. Finally the video was over and we were revisited by the employee who showed us to the screening room, who brought us to the next station - the online interview.

Yes, the online interview. I got to take a personality test at a computer by clicking on answers about what I would do in situations posed to me by the all-powerful computer. Now - any job I've ever worked with - and I'm not trying to sound conceited or anything, but - I'm a hard worker, I get the job done, and I aim to please. People have called I.T. requesting me by name because of the quality of customer service I gave them the last time we spoke on the phone. People like me. The all-knowing personality test computer at Disney? Nah, it hates me. I'm scum, and not even worth wasting time with a personal interview.

More than anything, I think it's really funny. Mainly because I'm sure my next job, whatever it is, is going to be much more people-oriented than the job I was applying for at Disney: Technical Operations. Doing stagehand work, I wouldn't be dealing with visitors to Disneyland at all. I would be doing real actual work that pertains to what I have professional experience in - not customer service (granted I have a year's experience in customer service as well)... And in hindsight, I should have got that girl's number during the movie - there was no time after that... but I digress.

The first meeting for Guerilla Film Society this semester happened tonight. Lots of new faces, lots of free food. I felt rather nostalgic being back at Biola in the classrooms at a club meeting. Even though I'm not a Biola student anymore, I'm still really involved, so it makes things bittersweet. Connections are still being made, and there's still a lot of work to be done with LATE this semester in spite of us not filming any shows until February (the production center is still under construction.) And the Italian Couple sitcom I'm working on is very much underway. Busy busy busy.

Bah, it's 1:30 in the morning. Time for bed. Tomorrow I'm heading off to Masters to spend the night with my best friend. Friday we're driving to Modesto for Labor Day weekend. I've been gone for a whole two weeks and I'm already coming back. Saaaaaad. ;)

Number Eleven

Irony

Metaphorically Speaking

Lately I haven't felt like writing much. The comics have been fun though, and I enjoy making dumb stuff up in good ol' msPaint. Stuff has been crazy lately for me. Due to some policy issues at work, they had to let me go a month and a half early, which made me jobless as of last Monday. This whole week I've been moving into my new apartment and job hunting. Resumes going every which way, applications are getting filled out, and the employment section on Craigslist.com is my homepage. This sucks.

It's a hurry up and wait sort of thing to begin with. Employers aren't going to just hire someone on the spot - they like options (doesn't everyone.) Essentially, my resume is getting whored out all over Los Angeles, but no calls yet. If it's anything like the application process for my last job, I could be unemployed for at least another week. This sucks.

I had everything planned out. After the two week film shoot from hell, (which was rather fun actually) I planned on coming home to a job - a 40 hour a week job that would give me a means to pay the bills. I should have pressed harder to get my money reimbursed on the spot, instead of waiting until the end of the trip. There's $250 sitting on my credit card that isn't my money. The producer of the film I worked on owes it to me - but the film ran out of money. He's promised to reimburse anyone he owes - he just can't guarantee when. This sucks.

So now here I am, helpless and losing patience. I need work, and I sure as poetic justice want to pay off my credit card bill entirely. The interest rates are horrible, I've never been unable to pay off the entire bill by the due date (most times I purposefully overpay to give myself a damper), and it's not my money anyway. Take my advice everyone - if you're driving someone else's car in another state and it gets a flat tire, you're better off parking it on the side of the freeway and waiting six hours for that "someone else" to pay to have the tire fixed than to use your credit card and hope to get reimbursed. Granted, you'll lose six hours of valuable time, but three weeks later you won't be in front of your computer writing a blog with every paragraph ending with "This sucks."

Ingredients

Boredom strikes.  Photoshop strikes back.



(+)



(=)

Ah, fire

Thoughts while sitting in an airport terminal

Ugh!

For the past few days, my phone has been saying I have voicemails waiting for me, but when I call in it says I have none. I know I'm missing calls, this is frustrating. Shooting is going well. If we stay on schedule, we'll wrap on Wednesday which means I can spend some time in Modesto before returning home. This is just a quick-stop-at-the-coffee-shop-update, but I tossed more photos to my flickr account. Check 'em out!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainwesker/

Two weeks of this madness!

So there's about twenty of us in a three-story house right now. I'm upstairs sitting on one of the bedroom floors writing this as I babysit a camera worth well more than my life. One of the first rules of working with this sort of equipment is that the camera is treated like a two-week old infant, needing constant care and attention - meaning that no matter what's going on, I have to stick by the camera if my supervising AC (Aaron Smith) isn't around.

The past few days have been rough. On Thursday I drove the car to Chicago to Fletcher to pick up the camera equipment with three other guys. We arrived at Brian Walton's house around 1:30 in the morning and left seven hours later to pick everything up. On the way to get the rental truck that morning, we got a flat tire on the freeway (Peter was driving that morning, so my No Flat Tire record remains unsoiled...technically.) We pulled off to the side of the freeway, just short of the offramp. No more than fifteen minutes later, a tow truck showed up. Chicago has this awesome freeway system with trucks on patrol picking up anyone stranded for free. The guys towed us off the freeway where I changed out the flat for the spare in the trunk.

After we swapped the spare, we called Ryder telling them that we were *obviously* running late, they told us that they just rented out the last truck. Wonderful. Instead of running around with our heads cut off (and a flat tire) we drove on the spare another ten miles to Fletcher, which is on the outskirts of the downtown Chicago skyline. That city is gorgeous. Aaron and I stayed at Fletch to do camera prep, which typically takes all day, while Peter and Ricky went to find a truck, and then off to a couple other rental houses to pick up a dolly and some track and a remote camera head. While Aaron continued doing prep work, I drove the car to the local Firestone and got the spare fixed. Once Peter and Ricky showed up, we loaded up the truck with our equipment and then made plans to meet up at Dennys in Indiana (they had one more stop to make). We grabbed dinner at Dennys at 10pm or so, and then finished our 350 mile trek, lasting until about 2 in the morning.

Here I am, two days later. The first day of filming was yesterday. It was a little rough, but realistically speaking, we won't be at full speed until tomorrow or Tuesday. There's a big job ahead of us, and still some wrinkles need to be smoothed over. In the meantime, God is good - and the scenery makes up for the lack of potable tap water and no internet. More pictures are up on my Flickr account.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainwesker/

Really tired.

No updates today. I'm really tired and we just now got into Chicago. We're staying at Brian Walton's family's house tonight because camera prep is in the morning at Fletch. I tossed a bunch of photos on my Flickr account, so you can check it out in the meantime.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainwesker/

Toodles

Days one and Two

Hey guys. I won't have time to update on the film shoot as often as I'd like. There's a coffee shop in town that I'll be able to hit up once or twice a week. Here's my trip so far (disregard the grammar/spelling. It was really late at night and I had five hours of sleep in the previous two days.)

Tuesday-Wednesday (Days One and Two)

I should have known that this two-week film trip to Michigan would be anything but ordinary. Tuesday morning I went to work just like any other day, starting at noon, expecting to work until eight that night, as usual. Around 1pm, Brian Walton gave me a call saying that my plane ticket had just been purchased for a departure at 9pm that night. I’ve always been one for impromptu road trips, but usually I’ve got clean laundry waiting for me.

My boss let me take off work at 5pm on Tuesday so I could get home, pack a duffel bag full of dirty clothes, and jet over to Brian’s apartment to carpool with Ricky Norris, who, along with Melissa Cobb, would be flying with me to Michigan that night. Brian had a couple lighting kits for us to take with us on the plane, so we loaded it into Ricky’s car and headed to the airport.

As we weighed in our luggage, we found out that with the lighting kits, we would have to pay a fee for taking too much weight with us. With a shrug, I handed the baggage checker my lovely piece of blue plastic knowing that I’d be reimbursed when we got to Michigan. Ricky and I got to our gate about half an hour before Melissa. Once she got there, another twenty minutes went by and then we were on the plane on our way to Vegas.

One hour to Vegas, then half an hour to change planes and we were off to Michigan at around 11:30pm. The flight was really smooth in spite of the multiple lightning storms we passed over. Off in the distance, massive clouds were erupting lightning strikes. I’m not kidding when I say I saw at least one strike every two seconds in one storm we passed by. It really was gorgeous.

We landed in Detroit at 6am local time. The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon by the time we stepped outside after getting our luggage at the terminal. Stephen’s parents were there waiting for us. Keep in mind - we had no idea who was picking us up at the airport when we landed. After an hour’s drive (and a quick bite at McDonald’s) we crashed at the house they’re renting for us.

After a few hours of sleep, we grabbed a sandwich and met up with the rest of the guys who were already here. The forest we’re shooting the movie in is about a two minute drive from our house, which is in the middle of farmland. We spent the rest of the day clearing out sticks and rough patches in the campsite we were building. By sundown, Dan Parris and I finished building a fence that surrounds the entire camp. We were all pretty tired, so we headed back to the house where Stephen’s mom had dinner waiting for us.

After a few hours, it being very dark outside, we decided to find a gas station to grab some sodas and snacks. We must have walked about two miles before turning back and snagging some sodas from the garden center we passed on our way out. We got back to the house and set up the little TV that was left in the living room and finished off some pie that was left over from dinner earlier.

In the middle of watching Conan, Ricky stood up and started pointing to his throat. He was choking. Aaron Smith was sitting next to him and promptly jumped up and gave him the Heimlich maneuver, saving his life. It was pretty surreal. A few minutes later, Ricky walked into the kitchen where Peter Borrud and Abe Sherman were going over the script. After Ricky told them that he had just choked on a piece of pie, Peter asked, “Really? There’s still pie left over?”

It’s 2:30am, Thursday morning. Tomorrow we’re finishing prep work on the campsite, and then going to spend the night in Chicago to do camera preparation at Panavision on Friday.

Mmm Snacks

Change of plans.

I'll be in Michigan in ten hours. Will update tomorrow morning. :)

Back up your stinking data!

Secret Weakness

84 Hours

That's right, three and a half days until I'm on the road. Oh yeah I should probably clarify - the boys producing the film I'm going to be AC'ing for in Michigan are paying me to drive myself and three friends all the way there and back. Even better than flying (to me, anyway.) What's better is that not only is everything paid for, gas, hotel, etc, I'm also getting compensated for wear/tear on the car. Basically I'm cheaper than a rental company because they don't need to pay for any kind of insurance fees. It's beautiful.

..

Lately, I've been drawing a million comics. Well, not a million. I've got five or six more that none of you have seen yet. Two of which I drew in the last ninety minutes at work babysitting the computer lab (Saturdays are the worst). As I write this, I'm wondering what sort of format I should adopt for releasing them. I know you all wish I could release two every day, but I'm not ready for that sort of commitment. ;) We'll see. Just know I don't plan on stopping any time soon.

Yesterday I took a trip to Borders after work and picked up a few CD's. Interpol's new album, along with Kaki King's latest and Leslie Feist's (from Broken Social Scene) awesome album, The Reminder. I think I prefer Let it Die over it, but she's still great. I was really disappointed that I couldn't find Set Yourself on Fire by Stars (Amy Millan - also from Broken Social Scene) in spite of Borders' computer saying they had it in stock. That stupid Harry Potter release turned thestore upside down, the clerk told me as I told her my troubles. Why Harry Potter freaks would mess up the music section, I have no idea. *sigh*

There's Truth in Paint in Pixels

What a wonderful feeling

I've decided that purposefully overpaying my credit card bill engenders quite possibly the greatest feeling I've had this summer. This afternoon, I opened my mailbox and found that dreaded envelope with the "Capitol One" logo on the front. Begrudgingly, I opened the statement to be reminded of last month's overpayment. Capitol One owes me sixty-eight cents! Joy!

In other news, I've been second-guessing myself lately concerning the film-trip to Michigan. All expenses paid for two weeks. Sounds like a dream. On the other hand, Josh, my fellow student-worker pal is also going to be taking those same two weeks off for different reasons. Robert, one of my supervisors, has jury duty on the 8th. Basically, the Helpdesk would only have two people to run it for the second week of August, with no student workers. I've been prodded by some graduated friends of mine. Every one of them is telling me to go for it - I'm never going to get a chance like this ever again. It only happens once that this sort of expense-free opportunity comes along. I'm going to Michigan.

Changing the subject - You've probably noticed the three comics I've posted in my blog. I haven't really talked about them, I'm just sort of throwing them out there. *shrug* I got bored, and stupid ol' msPaint is so... old, but fun. Hehe, that "BFF" picture of Matt on my Myspace was a result of being awake for far too long. I was really bored. I'm going to try and keep the dumb comics coming along though - even if some people either don't get it, or don't even think they're funny. I enjoy it. :)

Alright, it's time to wrap things up. Only 20 more minutes of work! Hehe. I'm shouting out to everyone subscribed to my blog. I've got around nineteen people subscribed right now (including my MySpace blog, since I mirror there), which is actually down two from last week (One is out looking for direction in the wrong place right now, and the other probably just got annoyed of seeing all these unfunny blog posts.) So to everyone subscribed, cheers. And if you're keeping a regular blog and I'm not already subscribed, let me know. I'm usually pretty good about keeping track of it on my own, but I'm also very careless at times. Hopefully I'll come up with another moderately funny comic by tomorrow night.

Until then, cheers.

Number Three

I reworked this one a bit. It should make a little more sense now. ;)

How to choose an operating system...

A little flowchart I drew up while babysitting the computer lab at work this morning...

I've resorted to circle graphs...

I've had it with trying to put people in boxes. They're much easier put into circles...

I blame Mr. Park for making us use these dumb things in 9th grade English.

I can has light!

Genesis
LCV (LOLCat Version)

1In teh beginning, Invisible Man make univerz. 2Invisible Earth wuz invisible. 3Invisible Man say, "I can has light." Gots light. 4Light iz good, iz not dark. 5Invisible Man can has day and nite. It be furst.
6Invisible Man can has expanz. 7Below expanz iz water. It happen. 8Above expanz he call 'sky'. It get dark, then lite: nex day.
9Invisible Man can has water over here, no water over ther. It happen. 10"Not water iz 'land'. Water iz 'seas'. Iz good.
11Invisible Man say, "I can hasvegitashun." It happen. 12Land has lots of vegitashun, all kindz. Iz good. 13It get dark again, then lite: day tree.
14Invisible Man say, "I can has big lite in day, small light in nite." 15Teh Earth gots light. It happen. 16Invisible Man make big lite in day, small light in nite. He make starz, too. 17They go in sky. 18It good. 19It get dark again, then lite: day fore.
20Invisible Man say, "I can has fish n' birdz." 21Fish go in water, birdz go in sky. It good. 22Invisible Man say, "Make lots little fish and little birdz. Fish make fish in water; birdz make birdz in air." 23It get dark again, then lite: day fife.
24Invisible Man say, "I can has aminulz." It happen. 25Invisible Man make kitteh n' cowz n' snakes n' stuff. Iz good.
26Invisible Man say, "I can has man that look like me." He rulez. 27Invisible Man make man look like him, boy and gurl. 28Invisible Man tell man, "Ur in mai Earth, pwnz0rz mai aminulz." 29And u eats fruitz. 30Aminulz eats greenz.
31Invisible Man saws creayshunz, iz good. It get dark again, then lite: day sicks.

2 Teh heavenz n' teh Earth wur done. 2Invisible Man finish on day sevn. He rest: Caturday! 3Invisible Man make Caturday holy 'cuz he no work.

Adam n Eve

4This wuz how teh Heven n teh Earth wuz made. When Invisible Man creat dem, 5der wuz no rain n no man. 6Then water cames. 7Invisible Man make man from durt. He breath on man. Man can has life.
8invisible Man can has Garden o Eden. Man goes in Garden. 9Invisible Man made treez that look purty n taste yummy. Garden can has in middle, good tree n bad tree.
10A river goes out of Garden fore wayz. 11One way is Pishon: it go thru Havilah, land o gold. 12(Gold iz good. Ther is pearlz n onyx, too.) 13Two way is Gihon: it go thru Cush. 14Tree way is Tigris: it go bai Asshur. fore way is Euphrates.
15Invisible Man put man in Garden o Eden to wurk ther. 16Invisible Man say, "U can eats from any tree--17but not good-bad tree 'cuz u will has death."
18Invisible Man say, "Iz not good for man to be 'lone. I make helpur."
19Invisible Man made kittehs n birdz. He take aminulz to man so man can name dem. What man call aminulz, that wuz name. 20Man name cowz n birdz n kitteh, but he does not have helpur. 21Invisible Man make man tired......

Hehe, so if you know nothing about LOLCatz, you're a lost soul and have little hope of appreciating a good dose of one of the internet's greatest inside jokes. What you just read was an excerpt from the LOLCat translation of Genesis posted by Ted at NotABlogTM.com. If you have any hope of getting caught up, click on those two links I just gave you and play catch up.

Enjoy your Caturday tomorrow.

I've been waiting for this

Too excited to explain it in my words, here's the email peppered with my explainations [in brackets]:

Here's the deal, we got a pretty big epic film that's happening in Michigan for 2 weeks in August, called "Ice Shield of Alethia." Stephen Allison (Robin Hood) is directing it and I'm [Peter Borrud] shooting it. I just got back tonight from weekend trip in Michigan for tech scouting with the film and it looks like the film is gonna come together. However, we're still in need of some more crew.

First though, here's some more details about the film.
- Current Bud get $30,000 (not prospective, but current).
- We're shooting on HD, with 2 F900's, including 2 Fujinon zoom lenses (one is an E series which was used on Star Wars Episode III, and Sin City).
- Wherever you are in the U.S., we'll fly you out to Michigan and back. You will also have a place to stay and will get free food of course. So its sort of like a vacation, depending on how you look at it I suppose.

- The story is a fantasy film, and will not be owned by Biola, so it does have a potential to make a profit and go elsewhere (maybe even Blockbuster someday).
- We have a professional fight choreographer working on several of the action scenes in the film, involving things like: swordfighting, setting someone on fire, cable fighting, horse wrangling, and pretty much a lot of other things I probably don't even know about yet (he knows a lot basically).

- And we hope that this will be a dang fun project to work on. There's already several other cool people working on it. Some of them include: Abe Sherman, Melissa Cobb, Aaron Smith, Ricky Norris, Dan Parris, and a few other possible people right now. And yes, we will have a 2nd unit director as well.

- Dates: From Shoot to Wrap 8/4-8/17 (before school starts of course).

Here's What we need still:

- Key Grip
- 2nd Unit Gaffer/Key Grip
- Best Boy
- A and B Camera Operators
- B Camera - First Assistant Camera [<--- me]
- 2nd Assistant Camera [<--- or me]

I'll talk more about this later. Just thought you all should know.

Redesign

I've been doing some rennovations in my personal blogosphere on MySpace and my actual Blogger site. It's purdy. I miss green. Green is definitely one of my top two main color themes on site design. Cameron's old site CommunityForums.com no longer exists, but I think it had one of the best themes ever. *sigh* I miss those podcasting days too. For those of you who know me more recently (or even some of you who have known me forever and just never heard) I used to participate on podcasts on iWouldntDoThat.com on a weekly basis. Then we all got busy and the site broke down. It was fun while it lasted though - gave us all something to do. Cameron, Max, Jeremy, and I made a pretty decent band of hosts. Cameron and Max subsribe to my blog, so guys, we should pick up where we left off. :)

Enough daydreaming. I got off work about an hour ago. Saturdays are the most boring day of the work week. The regular helpdesk is closed, just the lab is open - meaning that for six hours I babysit a freezing cold room full of computers while one or two people filter through every hour. I typically take advantage of the situation by popping in a movie or playing games on the laptop. What's worse is when someone has a problem and they need help (I'm afraid to say this, since that's the sole reason why I'm even at the helpdesk on Saturdays!) Typically I'll go for the entire day without a single walk up, so I expect nothing more.

There is a fine line between relaxation and busyness that I absolutely dread dwelling in. I'll elaborate: During regular hours (8-5, M-F) it's easy to stay super-busy especially over summer since there's a TON of preparation work for the Fall semester. After hours work, when half of my 40 hours a week are spent, usually constitutes of semi-lucid staring at my laptop as the hours drearily poke me in the side, reluctantly passing like kidney stones. The on/off combination of both environments kills me.

On a Saturday afternoon, not a soul may have been seen for hours and then suddenly, without warning, someone will approach the desk. In anticipation of a question, I'll take my headphones off and nod in awknowledgement. Typically the problem is simple - "I'm having trouble printing," "What are your hours," "You're really cute, we should go out for coffee sometime." You know, typical stuff I generally hear every day being the techie hawtness I am. Really, I just like saying "hawtess."

Sometimes though, on a rare occasion, a completely off-the-wall problem will arise to an unsuspecting student. The question comes to me, and like being shaken out of unconsciousness at 3am in the morning and asked what the capitol of Wyoming is, I stare, blink, swallow, blink, "I'm sorry, what?"

This is my job on Saturdays. Such is my life.

Why I love xkcd...

All my life I've been subject to punny phrases from my oh so moderately hilarious father.  Unfortunately, most of his humor has rubbed off on me.  Perhaps such is the cause of my uncontrollable laughter at the sheer brilliance of xkcd.com:

Today's to-do list:
1.)  Escape from work.
2.)  Stare at cell phone.
3.)  Escape from consciousness.

Yep, lots of escaping and staring for me.  Delightful.

The Ultimate Question

"The iPhone does everything, but will it blend?"



I take pride in the fact that I am more excited about the release of this video than that of the iPhone.

Growling at the Computer

Grrrr... Biola's server has been down for the past three days now - which is the cause of my background, a couple of pictures, and the music player on my Myspace profile not loading. It's got me edgy since I have files on there that I desperately need to get to a friend soon.

What an opener, just brilliant. In other news, Matt and I went to Oakland this afternoon to watch the A's suck at baseball from $40 seats. The weather was the only thing great about the whole thing... and the food, naturally. I also bought me a new A's hat, since I lost my old one about a year ago now. *Sniff* My favorite hat is gone and I don't even remember where exactly I lost it. Sad days.

The strangest thing occured to me this morning. As I was driving to Matt's house this morning, I saw some Jehovahs Witnesses doing their bi-monthly door to door evangelism routine. They stopped coming to my family's house years ago after my dad got in a 90 minute debate with one of the leaders that left in the Witness screaming at the top of his lungs at my dad, and my dad requesting that they never come to our house again. Hehe, I remember it like it was yesterday. Anyways, sidetracked. Where was I? Oh yeah - as I saw the JW's doing the rounds, I called my mom and gave her a head's up, momentarily forgetting that we're on the "Don't" list. After I hung up, I began a personal evaluation of myself, and why I lack this conviction that they seem to have. Why have not I made it routine in my life to constantly profess God's love to those around me?

One thing I know as a fact: not many people who do not consider themselves to be "religious" or "God-fearing" react positively to evangelists. I don't know, maybe they feel like it's some sort of "system" and they're just turning into another number as these people go door to door converting people. It makes sense. So here is personal goal for me now: Once or twice a week, I'm going to seek out a complete stranger during my daily routine and just ask if there's anything they would like me to pray about. No strings attached. Actions speak louder than words.

Ha, so read the first paragraph again and tell me - did you even have a remote idea about where this story was going? I sure didn't ;)

Blowing Things Up

First man made fire. Then man made boom. Not too long after man made boom, man put restrictions on who can use boom. The 4th paid no respects to such rules. On Wednesday, I made boom. And it was good. All day I hung out at Meenk's house with the Andersons, the Kennedys, and the Hudgins families (the usual group). The day had a few highlights - one of which being Kyle acting out a near-perfect cherade of the phrase "naked chef." Even better - while everyone else was laughing their heads off, Karen Anderson took a few snapshots on her phone. Yup, when Kyle gets married, those pics will definitely be in the slideshow. After sunset we got to lighting the goods off. Now, there are only three fireworks that I buy in California. Fountains are worthless to me. They do nothing. The only fireworks worth buying are as follows: Picolo Petes, Ground Bloom Flowers, and Crackle Balls. Most famous for the ease of manipulation are the Picolo Petes. A couple whacks at the bottom section with a hammer to a Picolo Pete, and you've got yourself a regular firecracker on steriods. Hammer the bottom then wrap it tight in duct tape, and you have one doubly so. Not too many people know how to abuse Ground Blooms past chucking them into the air. My discovery is really tedious and tricky, but when it works, it's well worth the ten duds before it. Basically, one needs to take two Ground Blooms and tape them (or crazy glue) them together, side by side with theier fuses on opposite ends and sides respectively, with a slight tilt downward. This gives them an improved spin while also generating lift as the slight tilt towards the ground accelerates them upward. Even more difficult than taping them together at the right angle is getting both fuses lit at the exact same time. I've had quite a few work well, floating a few feet in the air. One time, I did something just right and it shot upward reaching about fifty feet in the air before it died out. Most of the time it's a complete failure. Sometimes they'll spin in circles, other times they won't spin at all, just burn out like a flame on a sparkler sitting on the ground. My favorite rig, next to hammering Picolo Petes, is taping Crackle Balls shut. In case you're not familiar with them, Crackle Balls typically come in six-packs for around two bucks. You light the fuse, toss them into the street, and the green plastic ball bursts open and an instance of crackling sparcs explodes for a fraction of a second. Left alone, the area of sparks is fairly contained to where the ball landed. Once taped shut, the ignition inside the ball has to push much harder to get the pieces to come unstuck. Once that amount of pressure is met, the effect is launched from the ball just like an aerial shell, covering a diameter of about ten to fifteen feet instead of a measly two. Of course, the best fireworks are the ones brought in from out of state, but I don't live near the border, so that was out of the question for me. Oh well. It's much easier messing with the stuff that's for sale right down the block anyway. What amazes me further about this 4th of July, was that the more "cracking down" the local police departments try to do on people using illegal fireworks, the more people smuggle them in and light them off. Seriously, California's "Safe and Sane" skies easily matched those of any aerial-legal "Go Ahead, Blow Your Arms Off" state. Honestly, I think the entire issue at stake here is about money. I wonder how much revenue is generated each Independence Day from illegal posession fines. Wow. I'm awake at 3:30 in the morning blogging about fireworks. This is lame. Goodnight.

Don't fall asleep at the baseball game

True Love

My roommate and his girlfriend are breaking all rules when it comes to conventional dating.
They're playing WoW.
Together.
He's at his desk.
She's on the couch.
Neither of them have said a word for the past five minutes.
Nothing says true love like slaying orcs in cyberspace.

But hey, who am I to criticize? I don't even have a girlfriend.

Washing Dishes

Once you live in your own place and eat off your own dishes, you'll be amazed at how often you have to wash them. We have a dishwasher in our apartment here, but dishwashers are only effective if you own a bazillion dishes and can go an entire week without cleaning a single one. Dishwashers are not meeting their full capabilities when they wash five dishes at a time. So for now, I'll stick to washing my dishes in the sink. My hands are much smoother now, I'll have you know. Yes, it's been such a life long goal to get my hands sexier than they already are. Hehe

Another oddity about my apartment is that since we pay the bills ourselves now, we keep it a little on the warm side. So warm, in fact, that I brought a bag of bagels here from home on Sunday, ate one on Monday, and by Wednesday the rest were moldy. From now on, the bread is going in the fridge. Speaking of the fridge and food going bad - I wonder how long eggs last. Much longer than bread, I assume.

Alright, time to shower. I'm off to my friend's 21st birthday tonight. It's Casino Royale themed, so I've been told to bring my poker set. This should be fun. Pictures to come. I'm sure you're all craving pictures of me in my favorite habitat: dressed up and playing hold'em.

Bored tonight? No party for you? www.Pandora.com - do a search for Broken Social Scene. It's a party for your head. You'll thank me.

Pray for my friend Dan

I just got a text message this morning saying that Dan, a very good friend from Biola whom I've known since our first semester, is sick in the hospital with cancer. Pray for him and those close to him if you would. Thanks.

Six Inches!

FAIRFAX, Va., June 18 (UPI) -- Students at a middle school in Vienna, Va., are at arms-length with one another to avoid being punished under the institution's new no-touching policy.

Shall we start taking bets as to how long until lawmakers institute mandatory saran-wrapping before stepping on school grounds?

But the new policy has prompted complaints from the parents of some students, who said such stringent measures stop children from learning in a real-life environment.

This is why there should be a No-Touch LAW country wide. Such a law would make the parents' argument obsolete. A person should be allowed to touch another person only after both parties present signed documents to the local courthouse in their respective cities. In order to officiate the document, a Drivers License and proof of American citizenship would be required upon submittal. Killing two birds with one stone, this new law would also discourage illegal immigration since it would be impossible for aliens to attain a "Touch Waiver."

DragonflyBlade21

A woman has a close male friend. This means that he is probably interested in her, which is why he hangs around so much. She sees him strictly as a friend. This always starts out with, "You're a great guy, but I don't like you in that way." This is roughly the equivalent for the guy of going to a job interview and the company saying,
"You have a great resume, you have all the qualifications we are looking for, but we're not going to hire you. We will, however, use your resume as the basis for comparison for all other applicants. But, we're going to hire somebody who is far less qualified and is probably an alcoholic. And if he doesn't work out, we'll hire somebody else, but still not you. In fact, we will never hire you. But we will call you from time to time to complain about the person that we hired."

Movie Time!

Sick and stuck on the couch yesterday, I went on a movie spree. My roomamte, Nate, has a great collection of movies I've been meaning to see. That said, I waltzed over to our beautiful 42" DLP HDTV with three movies in hand.

Movie #1: Fight Club
How could I have never seen Fight Club before!? It came out when I was in sixth/seventh grade - that's probably why. This movie is definitely not for kids, but what an awesome movie. Brad Pitt is just plain cool in this flick, and the cinematography is definitely getting an honorable mention in my book. Good stuff, definitely a Saturday night movie.

Movie #2: Signs
M. Night Shyamalan has never let me down. Ever since Lady in the Water, I was hooked to his work. Though Lady in the Water was the first M. Night movie I saw, I've been trying my best to play catch up. Unbreakable came next, then The Sixth Sense. Next on my list is The Village. That will cover all his most popular movies - then on to Wide Awake and Playing with Anger. M. Night's monster in Signs was a bit on the corny side. Definitely not I.L.M.'s best work, so I partially blame Mr. Lucas because of that.

Movie #3: The Fifth Element
Wow. Just....wow. What an awesome movie. Hehe, I chuckled to myself at the end, not because it was funny, but because it was just plain perfect. Granted, the visual effects during the flying car shots in New York City weren't nearly as believable as the computer gererated work that can be accomplished with today's technology, The Fifth Element aims to please, hitting its mark squarely. I'm sure those of you who have seen the movie can agree: The opera scene - gorgeous, absolutely stunning.

So there's your look at my Saturday. I realize I have much more catching up to do every time I look at Nate's collection. I'm coming home next weekend for Father's Day (and to sell my car) so I doubt I'll have time to watch anything then. One thing I am hoping to do though, is to kidnap my best friend Matt for the next week!

More for the portfolio

Last night I was pretty out of it. I've had this head cold - congestion combination that's been keeping me hopped up on meds for the past few days. Since I couldn't fall asleep last night, I decided to write lyrics that attempted to mimic the guy from the B-52's. I woke up and saw the sheet of paper at the foot of my bed. Honestly, I have no clue what I was writing about, but reading it made me laugh.

They say the sun sets on the man who frowns
And the kids are gonna frown if you don't let them get down
So to keep down the frowning you must condone the downing
And turn up the volume to maximize the sound

This is the beat, the sound designed to turn that frown upside down
We are the kings, the crowns, the instigators of loud
We are singing in the streets, waking up the town
Until the pigs come around and tell us to stop getting down

Tomorrow voices in the air, the beat from underground
Is getting out to everywhere calling everyone around
To turn their frown upside down and to begin the downing
Turn the volume up to loud and feel the rhythm pounding

Gettin' all makey-outey

Hiatus

Pale-yellow, the sun tries its best to shine through the blockade of gray in the sky. Though the waves are roaring ever constantly, I barely notice them now. The cold, chilly wind pierces my skin as I sit on this sandy beach - alone and occupied only with my thoughts.

I had hoped to enjoy this time by myself, but I am unable to take in God's creation with my mind completely on reserve. Now I find myself plagued by choices I've made earlier in the year. In spite of the very bad ones, there have been many good choices. Why must the bad choices seem to outweigh and outlast the good?

---

The sun is a bit brighter now, but the air is colder still. The wind, though in the presence of the sun, carries on relentlessly. Making things worse, the tide is on its way in. Too quickly, the sea becomes my neighbor - a cold, caustic neighbor with bad taste who never shuts up. This neighbor of mine pays me no recognition, no attention, no courtesy. He does not care that his encroachment into my little plot on the beach is about to disrupt my sitting. Though inconsiderate, my neighbor is known to snatch up the lives of those who fail to pay due respect. I scoot back.

...

Sky's clearing up now. Blue is peaking out from behind the clouds, but it does me no good. It is as cold as ever on this pier - and yes, I've moved to a bench on the pier now. I am perched above a score of drysuit-clad surfers who wait for what will probably be their last ride in. Just when I begin to think to myself, "They're too far out to catch anything," a few big ones hit, one after another.

Half of them are on shore now, while their patient companions wait for the next batch of their choosing. It's really cold. Morons.

A Typical Day in the IRC Chatroom...

Cruising around www.bash.org - I happened upon this wonderful conversation that took place in some unknown IRC chat.

[cthon98] hey, if you type in your pw, it will show as stars
[cthon98] ********* see!
[azurediamond] hunter2
[azurediamond] doesnt look like stars to me
[cthon98] [azurediamond] *******
[cthon98] thats what I see
[azurediamond] oh, really?
[cthon98] Absolutely
[azurediamond] you can go hunter2 my hunter2-ing hunter2
[azurediamond] haha, does that look funny to you?
[cthon98] lol, yes. See, when YOU type hunter2, it shows to us as *******
[azurediamond] thats neat, I didnt know IRC did that
[cthon98> yep, no matter how many times you type hunter2, it will show to us as *******
[azurediamond] awesome!
[azurediamond] wait, how do you know my pw?
[cthon98] er, I just copy pasted YOUR ******'s and it appears to YOU as hunter2 cause its your pw
[azurediamond] oh, ok.

Consequences of a Divided Marriage

Married couples today are constantly being attacked by a disease that eats at relationships slowly, and decisively. This plague has destroyed countless families, wrecked homes, and broken trust in the hearts of people who have felt they have fallen out of love. This tragedy finds its way into the seemingly most solid and robust relationships, only to corrode away their strength like a water droplet on a sugar cube. The end results, however, are far from sweet. John Updike's short story, Separating, shows us how the modern relationship can find the way to its own destruction. We view the painful deconstruction of a modern-day American family reared by the characters Joan and Richard, and suffer through the story of their doomed marriage. Over the next few pages, we will discuss what has wrought this upsetting end to the marriage of Joan and Richard, and the unique reactions they receive from their children upon hearing the news of their decided separation. We shall also view divorce in a statistical sense in America, and attempt to reason about why so many families' lives come to a halt during signs of trouble, and even some whose marriages are broken up in times of opulence.

In Separating, the children react in the most diverse ways. Much more vocal about their feelings, they give us insight as to what a child thinks of their parents' relationship with each other, and also the parents' relationship with their children. It is quite apparent that the level of intensity in the child's reaction was somewhat proportionate to his or her dependence on Richard and Joan as parents. The younger the child, the more drastic the reaction upon hearing that mom and dad are no longer in love with each other. This interested me, since as one grows older, one typically obtains a better grasp of what a relationship would be like, and how to solve a weakened one. Why would not an older child react with an inspired fervor with the hope that a more rational argument for their marriage could be made? What causes a young person to take such a dramatic stance when the parents' marriage lies in the balance? Most of all, what causes disinterest in each other to come about in one's marriage, and how can a wedded couple hope to combat the disease of a weakened love life?

Each child reacted differently upon hearing the news of Richard's and Joan's decision to separate for a period of time. Typically, the younger the child, the more passionate the reaction upon hearing the news. The youngest, Margaret, took the news rather well once it was broken to her. Though she was only thirteen, she did not become hysterical and was hardly vocal about the ordeal. John, who was fifteen, began asking questions as to whether or not his parents even cared about their children anymore. A bit drunk, he resorted to distracting himself by lighting a box of matches at the dinner table, and then to chewing on a cigarette. It seemed that Judith, the eldest and most mature of Richard's and Joan's four children, reacted with the most reserve. She asked a few logical questions, and stated her reasoning about the situation, saying that they should either divorce completely or stay together. Of all the children, the most real and sincere reaction came from Dick, their second child. Once Richard told him their plans of separating for the summer, Dick stayed rather quiet for a while – he was more curious about how his siblings reacted. Once Richard came into Dick's room that evening to say goodnight, Dick asked a very intelligent question: "Why?"

Sadly, Richard had completely forgotten why exactly he wanted to separate from Joan in the first place. He could not remember what exactly it was that told him that things were not working between the two of them. He and Joan had raised four intelligent children and were doing a decent job at it. Unfortunately, he had also forgotten how to love his wife. Richard could not remember how to keep the flame between he and Joan alive. The two had stopped being lovers a long time before, concentrating solely on raising their family. This distraction from each other kept them together, but caused them to cease to be in love. Things were just "okay" between the two of them. They had once been two people very in love, willing to work things out for the better. One can assume that they had their own hardships to deal with in the early stages of their marriage as do most couples, but there was a stage in their married life in which the two ceased to live in love together and began to simply live together.

Many people going through divorce attribute their separation to their not being ready when they tied the knot. Blaming one's mistakes on being young and unaware is much easier than taking responsibility for breaking a commitment to one's spouse. Of course, people do make hasty decisions on a regular basis, and usually problems are rectified quickly after the mistake had been made. In Richard's and Joan's situation, this is most likely not the case. They had been married for over twenty years, with plenty of time to turn back because of a bad decision made in passionate young infatuation. Arguments have also been known to cause conflict between people. Whether the disagreement be about financial situations, other family members, or other issues, an argument can slowly bite at the knots of a strong marriage. Joan and Richard, however, never fought. Richard reflected in the story about how he and Joan never fought. They had become like roommates who were accustomed to living with each other, who were diligent about taking care of the house, and who were there primarily for raising the children. Another reason given by many divorced couples is that the flame of love had died out. Too often do married couples find themselves too distracted by life to be able to commit some time and effort into keeping love's flame alive between themselves. This seems to be the most likely cause of the demise of Richard and Joan's love life. Too distracted by normal living, the two had grown into two separate flames, each sustaining themselves and not each other. The two had become more dedicated to making their own lives comfortable than to growing their relationship with each other.

By today's standards, such a reason seems too plain and boring. How can someone simply fall out of love? This question is asked most likely because today's marriages are torn apart by far more blatant means. Infidelity and financial stress are two main causes of the destruction of marriages today. The world has raised a new generation of people who do not heed the term "commitment" with the same amount of weight and respect as those before them. In the age of the working woman, spouses do not spend as much time with each other (or with their children) as before. This oftentimes builds walls between spouses, who separate their lives at work from their lives at home. Living such double lives causes friction in one's marriage and can easily lead to outbursts of conflict – especially when the rent is due.

What does it take to endure such hardships that come along with a married life? How are two people supposed to be able to stand each other in the midst of financial turmoil, raising children, and working long and hard hours at work in order to put food on the table? Teamwork is a necessary component to marriage. The two spouses must be wholly committed to each other in every way. Though disagreements may arise, they must be willing to work out their differences for the sake of the livelihood of their relationship. Since their commitment to each other is binding the moment they say "I do," there must be an everyday decision that both husband and wife make to each other since every day brings new tests of their strength in each other. Most importantly, for a marriage to be truly successful, both members must have the same mindset: that is they want for the marriage to work.

If the simple reason that a life-long commitment was made to each other is not good enough for a feuding married couple to try and work their differences out, then the future of their children's lives should be. Children have been known to generate distrust complexes for the rest of their lives because of a divorce in their family. Often, a child will find it very difficult to ever trust another father (or mother) figure in their lives again if a bad breakup had occurred. One's influence on one's child can be very traumatic if the split up is severe.

The standards of marriage seem to have become corrupted over the years. Today, one can finalize a divorce almost as easily as getting married. The level of commitment in a marriage has dropped so significantly that couples are making decisions about divorce with the same amount of thought that they would put into taking out a mortgage on their home. The only way for modern-day married couples to successfully reconcile a starved marriage is for them to harbor a mutual willingness to work at rebuilding the fire that once ignited their young love. Much can be learned from Updike's characters in Separating. Foremost, that divorce is not a happy ordeal, and should be considered as a last resort for working out issues between two people bound in wedlock since it rarely affects only the husband and wife.

Busy busy...

I just found out that I only have two finals tomorrow! Turns out my English final consists solely of this six page paper I'm writing...uh... right now hehe. It's a doozey, so I'll be sure to post it in my blog as soon as I'm done with it. Let me know what you think of it when I do. Just a little insight - we had to do a six-page review and meditation on any story we read this semester. Mine is on Separation, by John Updike. So if you want to be familiar with what I'm talking about, I suggest you read the short story first. It's only twenty pages - can't hurt you that much!

Now go to bed, I've got writing to do.

Chicken Chicken...

Working as an Audio/Visual technician for a handful of years for my uncle, I've endured many boring powerpoint presentations. In order to understand the humor in this video, I think you will need to have prior gone through this sort of bad powerpoint presentation hell at one point in your life. This made my day.

Biola Film Festival '07

Tonight, having placed a monopoly on the nominations for "Best Sound Design" in the Biola Film Festival this year, I accepted the award for Winston. It was quite surreal being on stage speaking in front of hundreds of people again. Actually, I think this was the first time I was on stage - and not acting. Either way, I got one heck of a rush. I really miss being on stage.

The Festival went very well. Winston took "Best Sound Design, "Best Production Design," and "Best Thriller," while Dinner With Death took "Best Animation," and Teen Raptor took "Best Comedy." I'm proud to say that not a single LATE Production movie did not win an award in the festival this year. In fact, LATE Entertainment Group's name was on over a third of the awards given out tonight. Bradley Clarke has put in a ton of hard work and God knows he deserves the recognition for his dedication to great film.

My parents came down and stayed in town for two nights to check out how the LATE show is going on Thursday, and then the festival tonight. I guess it's safe to say that they're proud of me, since that's pretty much all I've heard from them since they've gotten here. Considering what I was going through a few months ago, I really appreciate the recognition I got tonight from my peers, my professors, and my parents alike. So thanks everyone. :)

Teh G4m3|2

Who says video games get you nowhere? I'm ten bucks richer at Best Buy's expense because I just won third place in a tournament last night. I know what you're thinking, "Gosh Chris, do you need any more resume fodder? You're so talented as it is!" Yes, yes. I shall astound my future employers with this little tidbit on my applicatoin. I'm going places, for sure. Best Buy, for example.

In other news, I've discovered the joys of Pandora.com. Pandora is to music what the Human Genome Project is to human genetics. By mapping out songs, genres, styles, and individual aspects of instrumentation and structure, Pandora takes one reccomendation from the user (either an artist or an individual song) and intuitively searches for different artists and songs who closely match every statistic of the user-given information. The end result is astounding. I'm talking about a free internet radio station that fine-tunes itself to your musical tastes. It's the perfect friend for the all-nighters that await me, studying for finals in just a couple weeks.

School is almost out. On May 23rd, I'll have my bags packed, my last final complete that afternoon, and my eyes set to what summer has in store for me. If all goes to plan, I'll be working at as tech-head at Thousand Pines summer camp in the San Bernadino mountain range here in SoCal. The pay, though slightly less than I'm accustomed to, is offset by the suppliment of free room and board. More money in my pocket and not to a renter is just dandy in my book.

Too many things are happening too quicky right now. My Palm is putting in some overtime as I'm scheduling all sorts of things, squeezing them into the next few weeks. LATE's fifth episode of Season Four is scheduled for taping this Thursday. We've got the site up to date, so if you haven't seen any of Season Four yet, I reccomend it! Gosh, when is the wrap party going to happen? Hmmm, well that's something you don't have to worry about. Especially since this isn't the worst of my worries. Right now, priority one is food. I'm starving. It's almost four in the afternoon and I haven't had anything to eat all day! Gaaaaa! Lunch time.

Grindhouse

I'm pulling a late night working on getting the latest, and the two belated episodes of LATE online. Hehe, it never gets old. Amid the video rendering, uploading, and exporting, I'm going to write about the Rodriguez/Tarantino flick, Grindhouse I saw last night.

Many people reacted with a face of horror and disgust when I told them that I planned on seeing Grindhouse. They were perplexed and confused upon hearing that I looked forward to seeing it the second I saw the previews. To most, it looked like a trashy B-roll movie whose sole purpose for existence was to fill up time with raunchy scenes of sex and violence. To those tomato-throwers out there, hear me say to you that you're absolutely right. The movies were very violent and over the top. Though not excessive, there was very brief nudity.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Grindhouse, and I am assuming most of you are, it is a double-feature of the movies Planet Terror and Death Proof, written and DP'ed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino (respectively). Planet Terror takes on the plot of a cheesy 1970's horror film, with overly-done special effects, purposefully grainy sequences, and corny scenes. Rodriguez's film purposefully perpetuated itself into the dumpster, intentionally reminding us of how horrible movies used to be.

Death Proof by Tarantino quelled most of the audiences hopes of being able to sit through two movies within the first twenty minutes of its running. A slow start was to blame. It opened with almost twenty minutes of dialogue and probably a total of six cuts. One shot was eight minutes - dialogue the entire time. Tarantino fans have always talked about how he is always complete control of every shot in his movies, and through this painful sequence of opening scenes, he makes his point. After the light-core audience members have left the theater with weak bladders, sore butts, and tired eyes, the fun begins. The movie has almost no plot at all, except for the documenting of the rise and fall of a maniacal stunt driver who uses his "death-proof" stunt car to slay four innocent women in the first half. The second half follows a different group of girls who cross paths with the man, he tries to pull the same thing on them, but they come out winning in the end. You'll have to see it yourself, since the movie is far too entertaining to do it full justice in writing.

Too quickly have people written off Grindhouse as a terrible choice for a night at the theater. I was told that I would be making a bad choice by seeing this movie, that in no way could it be beneficial to me. Grindhouse is a waste of time. The real deal is that both movies are purposefully horrible, and that is what makes them great. Few people will understand how great Grindhouse really is, and frankly I don't expect them to.

Many thought M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water was a waste of time for parallel reasons. Those who disliked it lacked understanding of what the movie was truly about. It was not about a convincing plot or good acting. It was about telling the story. Rodriguez and Tarantino proved themselves as great filmmakers through Grindhouse by turning trash into treasure. Both movies were driven by ingeniously flawed characters who live in a cliche world, albeit they are being tracked down by zombies and a crazy stunt car driver.

Picking up where I left off

Thunderous riots of insubordination
Cast a shadow on idealistic thoughts of revelation
And marks the troops had left are scattered all about the nation
But the bombs will always drop. Diplomacy can't stop this altercation

Jumping up and down the kids are starting a sensation
They said we won the time has come a night of jubilation
Kill the lights 'cause now our nights are meant for rest and relaxation
Soon yes very soon the final train will leave the station.

Some my readers may recognize the first four lines. I wrote them a while ago. Bored on the plane, I penned the next four during my flight home this last Sunday. I'm curious as to if I will be able to keep every ending rhyming with "-ation". Maybe I'll just write a chorus with its own unique structure and call it a song.

Undeniable Truth

Yesterday, my suitemate Dave walked into my room and before he turned around and left he proudly proclaimed...

"If God did not intend for ducks to be chased, then he would not have made them waddle."

Driving in Florida

We all have lost our patience with another person's driving at one point in time. Often, as the stereotype goes, Californians are mocked at their reckless driving habits. Since my stay in Florida, I have a new outlook on how roads operate from state to state. In California we may drive fast, but we drive smart. Over the past five days, I have been witness to some of the most discourteous, dumbest and most idiotic feats of driving in my life.

At first I assumed that it was just because Florida is a trap for tourists - especially over Spring Break. I started paying attention to license plates and bumper stickers and found that not one of these offenders of mine were out of state, nor renting a car. They were not specifically women, nor all of them elderly. Race, sex, and age made no difference. Maybe warm, humid weather makes people dumb.

Floridians are by far the worst at merging. They are timid procrastinators who wait until the last second to change lanes. As soon as their lane is out, usually the person to their left starts slowing down to let them merge in front. Without taking the hint, the merger slows down also in an attempt to merge behind the car to their left. I'm telling you, if neither car committed to going first after ten seconds of breaking in bewiderment, there would be a standstill at every Florida onramp in the entire state.

Yesterday evening I fell victim to driver who reserved such pointless snobbery, it made me wish I was packing heat. Driving in the left lane of a four-lane highway (two going each way), our car's speed was being matched by an SUV on the right and tailing by a few feet. Our turn was coming up in about a mile, so we attempted a lane change in anticipation of the impending turn. My mom turned on her turn signal and tried to put some space in between us and our neighbor in the other lane. As soon as our blinker flashed, the lady in the SUV floored it and kept us from getting over. Frustrated, we broke lightly so we could merge behind her. Five seconds after we change lanes behind the discourteous SUV driver, she made a right turn off the highway. Honestly, what amount of time would she have lost if she let us merge in front?

These two stories are my favorite out of all the other horrendous traffic maneuvers I saw. Others included a Winnebago making a U-turn in the middle of a road with no intersection. A foresight-lacking car stopping traffic in the left lane so it could make a right turn into the driveway of a Starbucks. The near-death experience of two motorcyclists in an airport parking lot. I have seen more cars with their headlights turned off at night than I've seen in my entire life elsewhere.

I am almost certain that I'm going to be in a wreck before I leave Florida. I fear for my life. Really, I'm surprised that this state hasn't exploded in a failed attempt at withholding its residents' bad driving skills.

That's More Like It!

I've been in Tampa, FL for four days now and today is the first day I've seen the sun. Since we arrived it has been either overcast or raining without showing any times of stopping. As I went to bed last night, the rain was still coming down very hard and the rolling thunder still murmuring from a distance.

I love the rain. Too often does it symbolize times of sadness and remorse. I have never seen the rain in a negative light however. I always behold it with a sense of refreshment, renewal, and rejuvination. Tampa had been long suffering from a drought before my arrival with my mom and Joelle. For three or four months prior they had not seen a drop of rain. I could tell the place was drier than usual - I could sense it the second I stepped outside of the airport. It seemed like I had never left California. The air was dry - warm, but dry.

Then the rain came.

It rained and rained. Lightning made its rare appearance (it's too early in the year for a decent electrical storm, even for Florida, so I settled) and I did my best to soak it all in. Pun intended.

I must have stood outside in the rain for over half an hour at ten o'clock in the evening. The warm water struck my head and took away all the stress I had bottled up this past semester at work and at school. I must say, a great feeling occurs whenever one gets soaked while fully clothed. Have you ever stood outside in the rain for no reason? Have you ever jumped into a pool with your shoes on? I suggest you do.

Another great part about being in the rain and then coming back into the house drenched is the look on everyone's faces at your appearance. A smile is all they got from me. I've missed the rain. That was fun. No, I didn't catch Pneumonia either.

3am EST

I am immune to jet lag if anyone ever asks, but I'm still going to blame this on the time-difference regardless. It's an easy excuse. Here I am, Tampa Bay, Florida. It's warm, humid, and very early morning. No more staying up until Modesto's midnight for the next week - I must adapt. I deprive myself of sleep often enough, but I felt you all would enjoy a quick update.

The flight was nice. Southwest's flight attendants never cease to amaze me. They seem to keep a standard bedside manner comparable to Disneyland's Jungle Cruise tour guides, so it helps the hours pass by. We landed in Tampa half an hour early thanks to an 80mph tailwind the entire trip. Our luggage was the first out of the conveyor which made for a quick and easy exit. Yesterday afternoon and night were spent greeting everyone here. Today, we saw my great grandmother, who, being the sole reason we came out to begin with, (it's her 90th birthday on Thursday) began crying in shock at the sight of my mom walking through her door while talking to her on the cell phone, acting like they were still on opposite coasts. It was quite a sight.

There is much more to cover from these past two days, but time is against me for now. I need some rest so I can go for a quick jog tomorrow and then get lost in the city. I made it a point of mine to take one day for myself, hop on a bus, and go. I'll be journaling the whole time, so you'll get to read tomorrow's outcome within the next few days.

My eyes are getting heavy, and listening to Broken Social Scene isn't helping in the slightest. Sleepy time.

The Great Conflict

What has caused America to think solely about food and physical attractiveness at the same time? How can one pig out at a fast food restaurant and at the same time stay Hollywood-slim? Who came up with such an absurd idea? Where did this come from?

Really, it's the byproduct of a shift in the way our society views the idealistic lifestyle. Up until about two hundred years ago, obesity was the sign of wealth. If you were fat, it meant you had the ability to gorge yourself in whatever food you pleased and could afford it. If you were skinny, you were poor and lacked a large income. The only people who were capable of stuffing themselves were those who were extremely wealthy, so very few people were overweight, while the majority of the population stayed thin.

Now, it's so cheap and easy to get food that will throw the scale out of whack. You don't need to have mounds of dough to be the burger king (pun intended). The point of being king back then was to be able to do whatever you wanted, and becoming fat was a byproduct of that. Now, the goal is to enjoy yourself. Pleasure is the driving force behind most social and economic movements now. We like to eat, but we also like looking at people who are fit. The conflict between this pair of pleasures (visual and tasteful) has caused much frustration and confusion to many people over the years. Can you say fad-diets?

Now, we all enjoy the mental and physical stresses that arrive in tandem with this idealistic lifestyle of being able to enjoy a great body and great food at the same time. Must we sacrifice one for the other? There is a lot of great food out there, but there's an amount of discipline necessary in order for one to enjoy it while maintaining a decent figure. Ah, discipline, it sucks - but it's also necessary if you want to live. I don't mean living only in a breathing sense, but also in a joyful sense. You can't live if you indulge in everything. You'll wind up bitter and lethargic. Sometimes sacrifices must be made, but they're always for the better. It's a lesson I personally never seem to learn. But I try, so I guess that counts.

It was fun while it lasted

Well folks, I've decided that you're too smart for me this year. I pulled off such an amazing prank of a blog last year, that thinking up another amazing story to post on April Fools Day would be a waste of my time. So I didn't think up an amazing story to post on April Fools Day. I thought up an amazing story - and posted it a couple weeks ago. Sorry to everyone who got excited for me, but I actually wasn't nominated for Best Sound Design for Winston and Dinner with Death for the Biola Film Festival. I bet you believed it though, because I'm sure you all casually blind yourselves into believing that I might actually BE somebody someday! Yeah, haha just kidding. Is your heart racing? I hope so. Don't worry though. All's well - I'm still nominated, and I'm still winning Best Sound Design in the Biola Film Festival no matter what because the only two nominees were movies I worked on. And I'm still going to be Jerry Bruckheimer's personal assistant.

Happy April Fools Day

Girls and Gadgets

This month, my floor has taken a nose-dive into the James Bond series, dubbing it "The Manly Month of March Bond-a-thon." Every weeknight at 9pm we've been throwing in Bond movies, one after the other. Today's movie was Tomorrow Never Dies, with Casino Royale finishing us up this week. Ah, James Bond - the king of men. He's got everything. The looks, the personality, the wit, the gadgets, and the ladies. Not to mention the STD's...
I wouldn't mind having a sledge-hammer proof car that tasers anyone who comes within a foot.....
Alright nevermind... forget James Bond. My roommate Sean and the guy across the hall from us, Nick, just got in a water fight. Hehe. In the middle of me writing this, I helped Sean unlock our bathroom door while Nick was borrowing our shower. We dumped cold water on him. He dried off, shook his butt at me and then opened our door only to be greeted by Sean (again) with another bowl of cold water! He got me a little wet in the process, but nothing beats getting someone soaked after they've just finished drying off.
..
Hehe, now they're towel whipping each other! Running back and forth through the hallway, cutting through our suitemate's room connected to our bathroom chasing each other. Bear in mind, it's a quarter 'till one in the morning. Hehe. Uh oh, the doors are slamming again. My roommate needs backup. He's calling my name in between shouts of, "Ow! Ow! Ow!" I have to go. I love dorm life.

***Update***
Chris hides in Nick's room behind the door. Nick has been seeking refuge in the R.A.'s room for the past five minutes. Warily, Nick returns back to his locked room.
The door opens slowly. Nick peeks around the corner...
*SNAP!*
"Ow! Ow!" Nick backs away in pain from the unexpected towel-whip to the face. Breathing heavily, he exhales, "Haha, great. Where's Sean?"
*POUNCE!*
...you get the idea.