Back to the basics...

So I've been really inspired to do stuff since thanksgiving break. I told you guys I had a couple of projects in the works, so here's one that got finished. Here's to show you I'm not all talk. Behold the Trojan reindeer Mk. II:That's the finished product. Here's some back story. A couple years back I thought it'd be funny to put something like this together out of cardboard and wrapped in gift wrap to give as a white elephant gift at the DFCC Xmas party. I slapped some army men and a 5 dollar in n out buck in the bad boy and called it a night. For this one, I was really inspired. Kevin happened to tell me about the little rick roll gift he gave at school and I basically fell in love with the idea. I wanted to take the idea a step further though. This is where Popsicle sticks and craft glue came in. Honestly, I just wanted an excuse to go back to the basics and pretend I was in elementary school again. I relish those moments you know.

I immediately went down to Michael's to procure said craft products and get to work. I honestly could have done a way better job, but I got busy with school and had to rush a bit. I would have liked to paint it as well but I guess I had to work with what I had at the time. I'm not complaining to much, it still turned out pretty cool in my opinion.This is where it gets good. I had to dig around for a supply of army men. Luckily, I had some stashed away. I put those to the side until I could glue my set of mini speakers inside the body first. After that, I arranged the little soldiers around the speakers. I'm sure you know what's coming next. Apparently the Xmas party I was attending had like a $10 limit or something for the gift. I figured that gave me room to splurge a bit. I had gone down to the Big 5 in Cerritos earlier in the week for Xmas shopping (In case you're wondering, I snagged the last Mossberg combo) and spotted a little usb mp3 player on sale for $18. I don't mind spending a bit extra to
give a memorable gift. The season's all about giving baby!




















Took that sucker home, hooked it up to the computer and loaded that oh so memorable song. After that, I sealed it and took it to the party. It didn't cause an uproar, but I think it's the thought that counts after all. Besides, how many of you can say you got to play with Popsicle sticks and craft glue lately?

Things I need to do this week:
- clean my room
- clean off desk
- re-organize movie/book shelf
- clean out my closet
- take the dog to the park/try to keep him under control for a little while at least
- buy ammo
- finish The Lost World and move on to another book
- figure out how to cook some of my grandma's famous dishes

I'm sure this list will grow by the end of the week and spill over into next.



I'm super lame, and I got tagged, and I have nothing better to do so here ya go kev.

TV shows watching/will be watching in January (thought that might count)
1) 24
2) The Office
3) Heroes
4) Chuck
5) House
6) Burn Notice
7) CSI
8) NCIS


8 Favorite Restaurants:
Honestly, I don't have many.


8 Things that Happened to Me Today:
1) Got psyched when Dave Maciel told me he got Left4Dead for the PC
2) Spent my Barnes and Noble gift card and then some on some books
3) Finished a graphic novel
4) Worked on another project
5) Fed the dog and was reminded how much I love him even though he could eat me
6) Watched Bubba Ho-Tep
7) Drew
8) New blog post


8 Things I Look Forward To:
1) Taking a shower
2) Trying to figure out how to make Granny's special cake tomorrow
3) Bad movie night
4) Going shooting tomorrow
5) Going shooting on the 4th
6) New Years Eve Party
7) Doing some major reading
8) Getting some projects out of the way


8 Things I Wish For:
1) To have a stronger and better relationship with my Father in Heaven
2) To be a little more responsible
3) To be inspired/motivated to draw and paint and write on a regular basis
4) To be more confident in everything I do
5) To read my bible a lot more often
6) Confirmation that I will get married to an amazing girl (one upped ya kev. deal with it.)
7) To be happy wherever God puts me in life/has me doing.
8) That I could read the minds of women.

The weather outside if frightful.....but I love it

We've been having some pretty crazy weather lately. The rain has been a good indicator of the winter season. I've been forced to go out wearing a scarf now; it's so doggone cold. I love the rain though. I really wouldn't trade it for any other kind of weather. I hate driving when it's coming down because it almost killed me a couple times, but I don't let that ruin the experience for me much. The 4x4 has really saved my butt this week though considering my route to school is hilly and pretty steep in places.

Anywho, 1 final left 'til freedom! It's a history final this friday so I should be completely fine winging it. What could possibly go wrong right? I've already started to catch up on my little projects. The wooden chest has been put to the side since it ranks as least important among my little projects. I'll get to it of course. I should have some pictures up of the projects I have chosen to document. Others, well, if it doesn't concern you then you'll just have to be left in the dark. Drive safe on the roads everyone, and make sure you buckle up!

Preview (EDIT)

Since I'm on Thanksgiving break, I've got a lot of free time to do stuff. So when I'm not working on what school work I've got or relaxing, I'm working on some projects I've been planning. Here's one: Here's what's going to be going inside of it:

EDIT: So my dad's power sander crapped out on me. I went out and bought a new one, which was actually quite affordable. In any case, that put me back quite a bit, but I still have a bit of free time before the pre-winterbreak buckle down. Expect updates eventually.

Comfort food

Man, this week has been weird. It's been one of the chillest weeks in awhile, but I still couldn't chill. I've been irritated 24/7, from last sunday to this sunday. How ridiculous. I don't think I've ever had a week like this before. On top of all of that, we're all sucking down lung fulls of ash from those terrible fires. Oi Vey. Times like these make me glad In N Out exists. Gosh, that stuff's my comfort food. My mood has increased for the better exponentially even as I suck up the dregs of my large soda. Just a heck of a week with a heck of an ending. Speaking of comfort food, I'm so glad Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Better times for sure!


The only really awesome thing about this week has been the Left 4 Dead demo. I'm lovin' it! For a zombie survival fan, this game's right up my alley. Big team work, big zombie smashing. What more could you want? I just can't wait til tuesday when the real thing comes out. So, if you want to pick up a fun team based game, go pick up Left 4 Dead. You will not be disappointed. And just because I can, the greatest zombie smasher of all time:

Get off my internetz

There is more than one thing I regret to have ample experience in. Discussions over the internet seem to be a recurring nightmare in my various escapades through the interweb. I always seem to get wrapped up in some pointless argument, which I did not understand until now. If anything, I liken online discussions to car crashes. You can't help but rubberneck. It's chaotic, disorganized and ridiculous. I think it's safe to say that the internet brings out the worst in people. Discussions almost always turn into slug fests and all out bashing. I've been witness to the "very best" turning feral in an instant. It's insane. I think part of this stems from the fact that you aren't having a discussion face to face. If it were that way, you'd definitely have inhibitions about saying whatever it is that you please. Seriously, Saints turn into douches when you add internet to the equation.

I wish someone would make me moderator of the web. I would throw down the ban-hammer so hard and so often that industries would cease to exist and trolls, lurkers, and spammers alike would quake at my passing. In any case, I'm tired of getting into that kind of CRAP. I mean seriously, some of the stuff being said is scuffle worthy! Long story short, there exists a code of conduct in proper discussion that apparently did not translate into the interweb. It's a real shame. I mean if you want to talk smack of that caliber, at least man up and say it in person...and possibly prepare for a smack down/ your inevitable demise. People turn into bullies man! Seriously! I'm convinced that you cannot state a compelling argument via the internet. Further more, intelligent discussion is not possible. Somebody getting digitally butt-hurt is inevitable.

Then there is always bickering whether someone was intentionally being a jerk or hurtful or what not because the text can't seem to express the subtle facial expressions/tone of voice. I HAVE NO EMOTICON TO EXPRESS WHAT I'M FEELING RIGHT NOW! (well, it was something along those lines at least) Seriously, I wish we would leave the in depth, pissy-fit-worthy discussions for in person. In any case, Get off my internetz. Now! Your local internet provider are belong to us!

Follow up on Changes

So here's an update on things:

Got my truck back. Runs pretty well, the acceleration is still a little dodgy and making turns is something to be desired, but I think I just need to break in the new transmission. Put it through it's paces yesterday night driving to Vanguard via streets from CSUF. It actually wasn't a bad drive at all. I didn't realize that Angel stadium and the block of orange are like 10-20 minutes down State college. It was pretty cool.
The volleyball game was pretty intense. Am I right to assume Vanguard and Loma are big rivals? It was crazy in any case. It also happened to be the 2nd time I've had the urge to assault a game official. Going for 3 on the 25th? I also got to see some friends I don't see on a regular basis. It was good times.

I think the stress has subsided now, which is so great. I've been working on what was listed on the last post. Not easy, but it's been pretty good so far. Anyway, Is any one else psyched that halloween is on a friday this year? Meh, I'll probably end up editing this anyway. I'm tired, so here it is for you all.

Ch-Ch-Changes!

So this week has been pretty eventful. It's involved a lot of thinking, doing, and just crap happening. Let's start with something that should touch any one regardless.

TRANSPORTATION!

My poor truck began to suffer from some transmission trouble Tuesday afternoon. I can't shift gears properly and can only accelerate at a snail's pace. $1400 to get the transmission dismantled and put back together (Including labor). So far I've been getting around with the family vehicles. I so feel like a tank operator driving the yukon around, but we'll see how long those cars are available to me. So there goes some of my freedom. I miss you truck!

I also have been evaluating some of my investments lately; intrinsically and relationally and whatever else I invest in even! There are just some things I can't afford to spend money on because it's practically useless/expendable. Not really the hardest decision to make for me. I've also 86'd some video games/console. It was a hard decision to make, but I think I'm going to get rid of my Wii system. I just never really got excited about the system and the games. I'm sorry to say, but the new Zelda game didn't even get me into it. So there goes that.

So there are a number of relationships I need to re-evaluate my investments in. God comes to mind as the top of my list. I think having a relationship with God gets lost in the day to day business of going to school and coming home and doing work and so forth. Sometimes it seems hard to sit down and "chit chat".

I must confess that I've never been good at sustaining relationships. It's really tough for me actually. I think a lot of it is having someone who is concerned about you on the other side of the table. That's the great reason for working to keep a relationship going, and after understanding that about God it makes the whole thing worth while. I've got a book to basically tell me that God is concerned about me and wants to be involved in my life. It should practically be a no-brainer to put some time into developing that. Things like to get in the way, but it's something I've been working on.

I think I've been neglecting a couple of other relationships too. Sometimes I get too busy or too lazy to sit down and chat with some people or even pull up the aim window. Half the time I have no idea what's going on with everyone else. Good information to know for sure. Something I want to make a habit out of. Changes for the better for sure.