new layout

New Christmas layout originated from here, but I tweaked it up a bit and turned it into a banner. They have other stuff too, not just christmas, so go check out SL-DESIGNS. :)

happy thanksgiving from your friendly neighborhood hospital

you know its going to be a strange thanksgiving when you spend the early hours of it in the emergency room.

thankyou god -- no broken bones, no cracks, just major major swelling. a full recovery is expected, and i will be back to playing guitar and typing with two hands in no time. no black friday for me though... so close!!!!! oh well, i have other things thar could have been worse. almost lost my finger if i hadnt been wearing my ring. :)

and because the injury [crushed hand] involved metal, i got to have this conversation at 1am ----

doc: when was your last tetnis shot?
me: i dont know?
doc: today, thats when
me: really? i dont think i remember that
doc: [holding rather large needle] i know, but i remember so its ok. [giant excited looking yet scary smile]

so i have one good hand, and i feel like i got hit with a baseball bat on my arm. ugh...

but im ok, as long as i keep it elevated and apply ice. :)

anyway, happy thanksgiving to all. stay out of the emergency room today. its packed, they will take a long time to get to you, and they dont have turkey in the vending machine.

fortune: As we live, so we learn

Pictures for the Lifers

Since photobucket is weird and won't let me hotlink on the RLC forums, I shall share the pictures here for them to grab!

I know they look funky and small but if you right click and 'save as', it should save it in its original format. If not, leave me a comment with your email and I'll be more than happy to send. :)

Thinking Pose


Regular Pose


Jazz Hands!

Who is the Jazz Guy???

Trip to Lockhart was a blast, and this post is a bit of a tribute to the newfound friends I made there. :)

Fortune:

THE MEANING OF LIFE CAN BE FOUND IN A CAN OF ALPHABET SOUP.

Dear Science Channel....

I'm watching 'How Its Made', and the announcer is saying that the grinders used to shape and sharpen these giant screw machining shanks, are made of diamonds so that way the the tools they are sharpening/creating are also as hard as diamonds...

Ummmm..... how??? The actual tool they're making isn't made of diamonds?? Its metal? Formula does not compute...

And furthermore... they always show how 'this machine shapes X material to be formed into X part that will then go through this other machine, and it will shape the X part into a Y part, and then this other machine sends it through yet another machine to be cooled and pressed..'

My question is this....

How the heck do you make the MACHINE that makes stuff?? How do you make a machine that reads handwriting on letters and automatically sorts them?? How do you make a machine that shapes metal bottle caps? Or the machine that cuts noodles?

How do you make the machine that makes the stuff?

And before the machine...... how did you make it without that technology?

Oh come on, don't roll your eyes at me.... its a good question!!

Fortune:

DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE

For a friend...

I was faced with the painful task of speaking the words that people would remember my grandfather by... standing up in front of a crowded room, pain gripping at my heart, and having one last chance to say to the world what this man meant to me... and what kind of person he was.

I was the one who was going to give light to his legacy one final time.

How was I supposed to do that? It wasn't possible to even *try* to show a room full of friends, family members, and strangers the lasting imprint on my heart that I received from him, for it was special and unique... just the way the imprints on their hearts that he gave to them were indescribable.

How was I to tell others how much he meant to me... when I was still in shock and pain, and didn't even realize the magnitude of his impact on my life... until the day he went away?

How was I supposed to comfort others, and be the pillar of guidance at such a sad time when I couldn't even find comfort for myself?

In the midst of it all, when I couldn't quite figure out what to say without choking up in front of everyone, I came across a poem...

In it was the comfort I needed in that difficult time.

It became the words that I would speak that would sum up his legacy.

I hope you can find comfort in it as well...

more diet stuff...

I just slapped myself in the face a million times....... my breakfast calorie count was more calories than I ate all day yesterday.

HELLO NICE BIKING WEATHER!!! Time to shed some calories.......

So far though I've walked 3 miles today. Which helped with the breakfast [but hardly!!] since it took a mile to walk there and a mile to walk back to the car shop.

Status of the car is still in limbo... I was given some 'medicine to administer' and we'll see if it 'cures' it, hahaha. I mean it!! It felt like leaving the doctor's office with a prescription. 'Go to Autozone, go buy this kind of additive. Put it in this spot in the car once its cooled off. Do this twice today'.

Only difference is that my insurance won't cover the cost, nor can I go resell it to someone who wants it more than me.

JOKING!!!

Anyhow thats my cue to go shed some calories.

Fortune:

SAY NO TO DRUGS

The plan...

Here's the workout log:

Walking - 4 miles [approx.]
Stairs - 10 flights
Pushups - 10
plank - 30 seconds

not much I know but come on now.... its friday!!! LOL

and once again the car was not repaired, so I think the filling and refilling of about 20 gallons of water qualifies as weight lifting, hahaha. Anyway time to go to sleep and hopefully get the car fixed tomorrow. weeeee

Fortune time:

A HEN IS HEAVY WHEN CARRIED FAR

Bag of Dreams

I have found it! I have found it! The tote bag for my on-the-go photo studio! His name shall be Maxfli!

You see, my car needed to be left with the mechanic again today so I needed to go do something that I could walk to. Hello thrift store!

I walked in expecting to smell the moth eaten old clothes, trip over old toys, and wonder if the rows of tvs and various electronics was actually in working condition. But to my surprise, it was a much different thrift store than any I'd ever been in.

Figured it was worth my time and I'd take a look around...

Then suddenly, like those terrible cliche movies where the light at the end of the tunnel is overly revealed to the main character, and a heavenly chorus sings "aaaaaaaaaa", I saw the bag!

I ran as fast as I could, as there was a crowd gathered around him... only to find that they were in awe of the jackets and sweaters on top of him, not the actual bag. Poor bag!

I grabbed the bag, full of golf clubs, and said I only wanted the bag... the clubs have no use. The sales lady answered me in such a tone that I had to assume I'm not the first person to give such a request. 'Bag is priced as marked with or without the clubs.'

Are you sure, I say.... this club has a dollar sticker on it.

'Price as marked with or without the clubs.'

Okay I'll take it.

Poor Maxfli had a horrendous coffee stain, lots of dust, and a strange yellow film on him due to sitting in the same place for so long. Looked like the 18 wheeler I was driving behind the other day that was so dirty, someone drew the following message on it: "Also available in white."

Almost wasn't sure if it was worth my time...

But having gone to Academy and seeing him -- the exact bag -- for almost 200 dollars, I figured that a little elbow grease for the 5 dollars I paid for him was worth my time after all.

Lo and behold, he is good as new!! See for yourself!




He shall be my photography companion for as long as he will hold up. :)

And now, its fortune time.

IMAGINATION IS THE EYE OF THE SOUL

It's here...

The Diet Plan!

My goal is to lose... well ok I don't quite have a pound number, but I do know that I have some nice pants I used to be able to fit into that are practically brand new that I can't wear anymore.

I'm kind of going for some inches... Because really, it doesn't matter if I weigh like a million pounds, I just want to be small enough to fit into those magic pants like I used to, ya know? ;) [keep in mind I'm thinking along the lines of Metal Mario when I say this, hahaha]

Anyway, Monday was supposed to be the start of the dieting, but when you sleep two hours the night before, kind of puts a damper on the diet and exercise attitude.

First off, eating habits have been AWFUL! So we're going to change that.

I've been moving, so I've been eating food cooked by others (*coughtacobellchickfilawhataburgercough*) since I didn't have dishes unpacked or power to cook... So I've been eating a little badly. You too can check up on your eating habits at a fantastic website called Calorie Lab. Go ahead and check on your favorite fast food and restaurants.

Along the lines of calories, My Calorie Counter is a cool website to help you keep a diary of what you eat, what you exercise, etc. You know, because that's the big thing that dietary experts are saying nowadays -- KEEP A DIARY OF WHAT YOU EAT.

Also, The Biggest Loser Club has some cool stuff if you're willing to shell out money.

But hey, you're reading this thing, you want whatever's free right? LOL

Now for the exercise...

The Plank, One Hundred Pushups, Les Romack's Free Workout Vidoes that require NO workout equipment at all -- he has his own website as well, and I'm going to also do some good old running, biking, and stair climbing.

I do have access to a free gym, but I want to start with stuff that most people don't have access to themselves. You know, something you can do in your own home.

Today's workout was kind of blah, and I didn't eat well at all, so we'll call it a cheat day.

Hey I know -- we all have cars, right? Pushing that is a fantastic workout. Man oh man do my arms and posterior burn today! I knew that the car breaking down in an inconvenient spot would have its benefits somehow.

We'll start on the official logging and whatnot tomorrow. Why on a Friday? Because even though its a 'party day' its less of a party day than Saturday... because on Saturday you'll say, I'm too busy I have plans... and Sunday is Church day... I know -- how about Monday? But in reality, when Monday arrives you're too tired from the weekend, and then you say you'll do it tomorrow... and then its the middle of the week and inconvenient and off balance.

News flash - LIFE IS OFF BALANCE!

If you don't do something when you say you're going to, it won't get done... because there is no tomorrow, and there is no later. It's only what you do and do not allow to happen.

Alright. Stay tuned next time. Right now, its fortune time.

And on a side note to Ondrea, I swear this was a real fortune I got. This one is especially for you :)

YOU WILL HAVE THE STRANGEST URGE TO SAY 'YEEEEEEHAAAAAAW'

It is done!

Say hello to new fall layout! Available here for free use. No hotlinking, no selling, profiting, etc... They've got a TOS you can read. :)

And remember, only 22 days left until Black Friday!

No fortune for this post... this isn't quite a post, just informative blah. :)

I have returned!

I'm back!

Today was all kinds of crazy, and going home didn't end it. Nope, got stranded on the way home. Actually broke down several times getting home. Thank goodness though -- I broke down AFTER I got the starbucks!! WOOOO!

And then on the way home I think I broke down in England.... seriously -- like three british people stopped to ask if I needed assistance. And then I think a German person stopped too?? Who knew that the other side of the atlantic was just a few blocks away from home!

So many of you are cheering today... and many of you are booing today. But its all over now, so we can all be friends and stop hating eachother because the person we voted for wasn't the person that someone else voted for. We don't need to vandalize anyone's signs, or puncture tires of a vehicle that has the 'wrong' support sticker on it.

Oh yeah! --- Tina Fey - you can stop freaking out because you can continue working on your show that no one really knows the time slot for anyway. You should get on those NBC people, Earl gets more commercials than you do. I might even watch it sometime if I knew when it came on.

Anyway I know my layout is kind of screwed up. I'm working on getting a new background in place and making it a bit more pleasing to the eyes.

The mouse went unclaimed, and was sent into the wild.

Stay tuned this week -- I'm going to start logging the diet!

With that being said, its fortune time.

IF A MAN IS WORTH KNOWING AT ALL, HE IS WORTH KNOWING WELL