HAPPY NEW YEAR

New Jeans

You ever buy a new pair of Jeans that you liked and now all of a sudden every pair of Jeans you already owned seems worn out and Ill fitting?

my submission: escaping the rat race (i honestly submitted this on wednesday morning but it would not appear on the blog)

The threat of violence hung in the air like cigar smoke in the backroom of a bar, all Bunny could see was the glint of moonlight reflected in their eyes, and the siloette of their shaven heads. "fuck off city boy" was the last thing he heard before the fist connected, and everything went white*. When he came round an old couple and a mix breed dog were standing over him, looking concerned, "are you alright love?" said the woman, "yeah, yeah" said Bunny standing up and brushing wood chippings off his Paul Smith suit. The first thing he thought upon looking at his face back at his flat was, what will they say at work?- it wasn't often anyone in the marketing department came in with two black eyes and a swollen nose. He wasn't exactly alpha male of the office, what with Patrick naming him 'Bunny' (due to his prominant front teeth), and his lack of anecdotes on the usual monday morning 'who i banged on the weekend' roundup. Thus Bunny didn't fancy going in and facing the questions, the sniggering behind hands and the inevitable call to Patricks office for a 'quick chat'. Patrick (MD) seemed to be holding more 'little chats' since they moved into the new office on the thirteenth floor of the Scitheon Building, maybe the magnifisent view was increasing his already bloated self importance (all Bunny could see was Craig's rapidly balding head bobbing around at the desk in front). The Scitheon Building was the tallest in the country- they'd used carbon graphite instead of concrete in the construction, reducing the weight, so allowing them to go higher.
It was too late to take holiday time off (that had to be applied for three months in advance, and ok'd by patrick), and if Bunny phoned in sick he'd either have to tell the truth, or try coming up with something that would give three weeks off (he thought the bruising and swelling should've gone by then). So fuck it he thought, "i've had enough of Key demographics and consumer surveys and craigs bald patch and being shown peoples new cuff-links and power point presentations and the whole fucking deal" he screamed inside his head. click went the mouse as he booked tomorrow mornings flight to Rio de Jeneiro- it was carnival time in Brazil and he was going to be dancing in the streets.
24 hours later a delirious looking man who used to answer to Bunny was stripped to the waist, waving his hands to the samba beat while the sky emptied rain and electric charge down onto Rio. 2000 miles away Patrick was leaving the fifth message on Bunnys answer machine, while watching a different storm roll in from the east. He could see the lightening arrowing down to the earth, the storm was almost above the Scitheon now. He hung up the phone as a spectacular fork of light hit the building, conducted through the carbon building, and as Patrick put the phone down, the air turned electric, and everything went white.

*in my experience when you take a heavy blow to the head everything goes white, i am just guessing about what happens when you get electrocuted.

Life Outside the Rat Race Essay Contest

Well, well, the gangs all here. I can see Lynlee is going to be a fine addition to our little society. There's just one thing, we have some invisibloggers don't we. Those whose names appear as contributors, but from whom we never hear? You know who you are. I offer up this chilling challenge to every single contibutor to this blog, new guys included. An essay. An anecdote if you will. A personal recollection. Whatever. Just make it funny and interesting, and no work stories unless its really funny. Lets say, oh about a page single spaced. The best essay, to be judged by an objective party will recieve the mysterious No-prize. Lets say one week from today, all entries due. I know what you're thinkin': "Pete, we don't all have copious free time like you do, I'm not writing a stupid essay!" Well, I say: "Nuts to you. We got into this business for one reason only...for my entertainment. So write for me Monkey boys... and girls, write like the wind! Just use that hour you spend everyday watching the scraping picking your toe nails and watching skinemax for something useful this time."

IT'S A SHAME

It's a shame that my first post has to be so...Hostile.
So the invasion has begun. If you currently live in, have ever lived in, or live in the vicinity of Pasadena, you know what I'm talking about. Oh yes, I mean the out-of-towners. Regardless of whether they are here for the dumb ass parade or the kick ass football game, they are still in my way.
Can I just mention that the other day it took me thirty minutes to get from 1st and Huntington in Arcadia to the Boat. Are you serious!? Thank God the boat has large cold beers with no line. Half an hour! What is that like two miles? Then yesterday I was almost involved in a head on collision when a man turned the wrong way on a one way and headed straight for me. The passenger was a kid, most likely the man's son. The kid just covered his mouth and his expression pretty much said it all. He looked slightly scared, but mostly embarrassed. Kid, you should be embarrassed, your dad is an idiot. There are street signs for a reason, and they're universal. Get it together people!
I'm also waiting for the invasion of the Texans for the big game. They'll all be here to watch their precious Longhorns get their asses handed to them by my awesome Trojans. I can't wait. I can almost smell their "I'm better than you attitude" in the air.
I understand that I may appear to be slighty angry, but I just needed to rant.
So, until next time...

Here's a view from Echo Mountain taken with our new Digital Camera we got for Christmas.
Here's Me at the Echo phone. Yell into this and a few seconds later you get multiple echos from the canyon below. Apparently, I have leaky nipples.
Here's Lauri at the railroad ruins on Echo Mountain.

Just so you know I might get a little annoying with this new camera. I think I might start a new blog just for photos so you can have the option of experiencing my adventures graphically.

The Good Times are Killin me

There was a great article in last year's edition of The Best Science and Nature Writing. It was all about introverts and introverted behavior. As it turns out, I am an introvert. Some of the symptoms? I do not enjoy meeting new people. I cannot be the center of attention. I find most social situations mentally draining. This last symptom surfaced big time this past Christmas day. After socializing all day with family and friends, I was assailed by an overwhelming urge to kick everyone the fuck out of my house, or my parents house as it were, and sit quietly for about an hour. I just couldn't listen intently, look people in the eye, answer or ask questions anymore. This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the holidays, because I did. i just have to take my social gatherings in measured doses.
Anyway, so me and Lauri went hiking today. Actually we went to the boat because it was raining and then it was clearing when we came out of the boat so we figured we better go hiking. While hiking I realized that my stomach had been full since wednesday. I longed for a sense of emptiness in my belly, a chance to digest. So I'm officially fasting, I think through tommorow. I need to detox. As we were starting down from Echo Mountain, we overheard a group of parents calling Sherriff's search and rescue because they had lost two of their boys. Night was closing fast otherwise I might have volunteered to wander the trails around there to look for them. But then again I've been hking while the Sherriff's helicopter is looking for people, it quite a sight and those guys know what they're doing so I was confident the boys would be found. they were adolescents and probably just wandered off temporarily. I was looking forward to seeing that helicopter again, but the sherriffs were slow to mobilize, when we got to the bottom of the trail an hour later, there was no helicopter or searcha nd rescue team, only a black and white with a sherriff on the radio. As we drove down Lake the SAR jeep was just getting to the trailhead. I hope everything turned out okay. Seeing that brought back and old itch though, how awesome would that job be? Just hiking around the mountains, loking for people. I could get down with that for sure.

Monday night and a CD...

Hey everybody I was just at work and figured I might as well blog instead of staring at the clock or spending too much money on iTunes. So here I am.
This weekend marked Christmas as you all know. This Christmas was different than any other I have experienced before. This Christmas was not spent with my family. Unless you have been living under a rock you should know my parents live in Alaska and I unfortunately now having a full-time job with no vacation days spent the holidays here. Don't cry for me though I had a great Christmas Eve at Tim's house and a great Christmas Day with the DeClerks and the others who joined us for dinner and what not. So even though this Christmas was different than any others I have had. It was by no imagination a bad one or even slightly disappointing. Just thought I should let everyone know that. Anyway so last night after I got home I talked to all my relatives and wished them Merry Christmas and all it was typical. I also called some of my friends and wished them a Merry Christmas either in person, voicemail, or text message. So now until next year Merry Christmas time to move on to the Party of the Year New Year's.
So yeah New Year's is quickly approaching, do you know what you're doing yet? I don't yet but I am sure whatever I do I will have an awesome time. Worse case scenario I get toasted by myself on New Years but I highly doubt that happening(fingers crossed).
Today was super busy at work. I didn't really expect it to be but I was none too happy to realize it would be and while I am here till 10:30 with Kristian. Everyone else had a half-day. Can you believe that bullshit? Man I am getting screwed. Anyway so I have just been here reading EW's Best of 2005 issue and checking out other Best Of Lists on the Internet while taking calls from annoying people who don't understand anything about the computers they work with almost every day. It can become grating people.
So inspired by Pete making a CD I decided to totally steal his idea and make my own CD. Now while many of you probably don't respect my musical taste. This one is not all me. I actually while checking out the Best of lists I took some of the albums they had listed and took a song I liked from them. Now while some of these songs I already owned some I am now listening to for the first time right now. I must say so far I am impressed with my taste. So I realize I will not get you all clamoring for my CD like you clamor for Pete's creations but that is OK. Pete does have better taste in music than I do, there I said it. But just in case you do request one. You will receive an eclectic mix, kind of, of what I think are some of the Best Songs of the Year. Not the Most Popular so unfortunately no Gwen Stefani "Hollaback Girl", Black Eyed Pea's "My Humps" or D4L's "Laffy Taffy" which coincidentally happens to be one of the worst songs this year and possibly ever. So anyway gimme a shout if you want an eclectic mix of songs you may have heard of and some you may not have heard.
Alright folks this is beginning to become an overly long post and nobody likes those, especially when I start to ramble. So I am cutting it off here and am going to focus on something I haven't thought of yet. So Peace Out y'all and Happy New Years!!!

A Holiday Message

Peace on Earth.

Good will Towards Man.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

seasons greetings y'all

Greetings merry people of the west, hope everyone has a great christmas and new year, may nothing but good news arrive at your door.

Loaded God Complex

Who says one man can't make a difference? On friday I wrote a letter to Senator Boxer calling for her to start impeachment hearings against the president and today she's on CNN announcing that that what she's going to do. I AM A GOD!

Mayhem

I'd like to start off this post by saying THANK YOU to all of you who came to my birthday night out. It was awesome! I got drunk (which is the main goal right?), and i got a drink spilled on me by some random drunk person. Fun times if you ask me.

I've been busy finishing my Christmas shopping this week, but other than that it hasn't been to exciting. On Saturday i had one of my last physical therapy sessions. Then i went to work that night. It was some Chinese Christmas concert. One of the oddest things i'll remember from that show is when a Chinese woman starting singing Feliz Navidad. I don't think i'll see that again in my life time. Then Sunday was my day off. I was going to go shopping all day and not come home till i was done! Well the day started off wrong when i woke up at 1pm. Not exactly hitting those early bird sales was i? After calculating the amount of money i could spend i hit the road. Now i fully expected to deal with crowds at the mall and the parking lot...but it was INSANE. I have never seen anything like that. I went to the Santa Anita Mall. For those of you who know this mall, i was in a car line that started at the freeway. So i stuck it out thinking that it was a huge exaggeration of what was really to come...it wasn't! I finally made it to the mall enterance near JC Penney/Race Track. I was going to park in the "boonies" section to avoid all people but that was jam packed. Everything was jam packed. I looked for a spot to park (along with everyone else) for almost 30min then gave up. If i tried any longer i would have flipped out. So then i got in a car line to get out of the mall. I can't imagine what the inside off the mall looked like and gathering from the view outside i bet things weren't pretty inside (clothes and shoes and children...everywhere!!) Pete called during this mess and asked me to work that night (see "Ode to Randy and Lauri") I figured i wasn't going to be shopping, so i might as well make some money. I went to work to help Pete. It went smoothly. Then we (Randy, Pete and I) went to Applebee's for late night happy hour. Pete was all wound up from the day. We all ended the day relaxed though.

I'm gonna be taking Friday off of work. I wanna relax. Plus a 4 day weekend ain't bad. Maybe i'll go to the beach, it is like 80 degrees here. No white xmas here in California!!

The Bob Loblaw Law Blog

does anyone watch arrested developement? if yes then you'll understand the title to this post. if no then you need to cuz that show is so damned funny! mondays at 8pm, channel 11.

it was good to see everyone last friday! it has been a long time since i've been out with you guys. and it turned out to be a night of firsts: i'd never been to the chalet or the buc before, i'd never shot a 'scooby snack', and i've never had my hair stroked by a random woman (that i can remember). anyway, i'll try to make it out more than "every other month."

sad news from megan's parents: their dog, charlie, died this past saturday. i guess he was stumbling on his walk the night before and wouldn't eat or get up after that. saturday morning they found him dead on his little bed :( poor guy... i'll miss him. he was my buddy.

work has been draining... i'm so over this place. if lauri and i aren't bored sick then we're pissed off at the retards we work with. and we just found out that another coworker is pregnant. it's getting a little gross now.

(hey pete, i'm compiling a list of new music for you to check out. you'll have it soon.)

Ode to Randy and Lauri

You ever had friends that you can call and be like, I'm in trouble and I need help and they drop everything and come down and help you out. Well I do. We had two sold out shows back to back on sunday and after the first show, i was convinced that the people I was working with were so fucking incompetent that felt I had to call out the big guns. I call Lauri: "I'll be there." I call Randy: "I'll be there." No bitchin' no whining, they just came down and worked the show with me. Needless to say, that shit went off like motherfuckin' gangbusters. So thanks guys, you saved my ass.
I'd also like to celebrate Randy's triumphant return to the Civic Auditorium even if just for one night. Every step on the auditorium floor was like a stomp in face to that hateful bitch. They'll never stop us motherfucker.

My weekend

Hey people it's Sunday and I am just here at work as per usual. I was just sitting around listening to my iPod and thought I got nothing interesting to say why don't I post that to the blog. So here I am.
Come to think of it this week has actually been a tad bit interesting. Well only the tail end really. My Saturday and Sunday which to normal people is Thurs and Fri.
Thursday - Today my brother left to Alaska for a few weeks(like2) and it was Lauri's birthday. So on Thursday after taking my brother to the airport I drove down to Sunset Beach to meet Tim, Emily, Lynlee and Katie came later. What we basically did down there was drink and eat. A good time was had by me, except for the whole sleeping thing but I won't get into that. Needless to say a Full bed is not nearly enough room to accommodate 3 people that is all I am saying about that.
Friday - Today we celebrated Lauri's birthday. We went out to the Boat for dinner. I didn't eat anything though, I just drank. That happens more often than not. Oh well what are you going to do. So everyone who was anybody was there for the most part, certain people had other obligations and what not so...you know. One person who I was really glad actually made it was Lauri's sister, Sheila. I hadn't seen her in like years. Not really that long, duh, but it had been a while. Maybe she can make it out here more than every other month? So anyway Friday night after the Boat we went to The Chalet, saw six shooter. Then we took Lauri home cause she was done. Pete, Sheila and I met some others at the Buc to finish off the night. All in all I had an awesome time on Friday and I just wanted everyone to know that.
Saturday and Sunday have just been typical days at work. I did buy some Christmas lights yesterday but other than that they have been pretty uneventful. Anyway I am going to go get something to eat now cause I am hungry and bored. So that'll give me something to do. Alright y'all it was fun but I am out. Remember... Happy Holidays!! and all that other stuff.

P.S. Nothing in this blog was meant to offend anybody or embarrass anyone either. Just in case.

Well, folks...our president has broken his oath of office and in doing so had violated the law. President Bush's announcement that he authorized the National Security Agency to spy on American citizens is a clear breach of our fourth ammendment protection against illegal and unwarranted search and seizure. In his oath the president swears to uphold the Constitution of the United States, not to use executive authority to trample it.

What are you prepared to do?

Here's a suggestion, write your senators and congressmen and express your disgust. Here's the Links.
http://www.house.gov
http://www.senate.gov

King Aslan and King Kong

Hey what's up peoples from ALASKA. I was just here when I forgot to give some movie reviews. I caught King Kong and Narnia L,W,W before I left. They were both really good. Both had a great story. Special effects were great. Acting was done well too. When I saw Narnia I expected a kid movie and that's what I got. But I even enjoyed it too. So much that I'm reading the rest of the books now. Now King Kong I was really excited to see this movie with all the critics hailing that it was great. So I expected a lot out of this movie. I got most of it. I din't get everything I expected But I still thought it was good. Narnia I have to say was more enjoyable. But King Kong had more action which kept my interest. The story in King Kong I thought wasn't that good. Narnia was a good story once you say it's a fantasy with elements of magic and abandon reality. Well I have to help make cookies I'll blog later. Happy Holidays!

Solitaire

Does solitaire help with memory skills? My memory is totally shot. I'm not sure how it happened or when it actually got bad, but it sucks. According to books that help with memory, i need to be less stressed, exercise more, get more sleep and play games. So does solitaire count? I've been playing so much solitaire this week its ridiculous. This week has gone by very slowly and the only thing keeping me busy is game after game of solitaire.

Tonight my pals and I are going out to celebrate my birthday, which was yesterday. Its gonna be awesome! Yesterday Pete and I went out to dinner and i got my presents from him. Sheila gave me some cool stuff too. By the way, one of the gifts Sheila got me was from Yankee Candle Co. Its lotion and its the best smell in the whole wide world (as far as lotions go). Its Clean Cotton scent. It smells like a dryer sheet. Oh man its incredible. And it smells the same when used too, not just from the bottle. Ok enough about that. So yeah, partying tonight. Everyone should start getting pumped up starting........now! See ya there!!!!!!!

So long and thanks, for all the fish

Hey so, I can't find any new music that I like. What are you people listenin' to, and can I borrow your CD's? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (no country or polka please)
On another note, I broke down my fish tank the other day. I just decided that a fish tank requiring monthly maintenance was too much responsibility for a 29 year old man. Fear not for my remaining fish, they are now living happily in Lauri's slightly smaller but much cleaner tank. I still get to see them on weekends.
Thats it, no real news from me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LAURI!

Update

Hey y'all. I told you I would give you an update on the apartment when I knew more so here goes.
I went to daqy and saw the apartment. It's nice, it feels a lkittle smaller than the one I have now but that could just be me. It does have a nice little patio that would be cool. and a nice setup between the kitchen and dinig room. Like separated. I can't explain it well but it's cool. Now the price is not $900 as quoted by the old lady yesterday. It is an even grand if they don't refurbish it and to tell you the truth it doesn't need to be. It is 1100 if they do refurbish it. SO I am going to say leave it alone. I have the applicationsright here in front of me. I am going to fill it out tonight and have my brother fill his out and then drop them off in the morning and ask how long I have to wait to get a response. Hopefully not long. A new place would be a great Christmas present to myself.
So anyway that is about it I just wanted to update you on the apartment happenings. Besides that just typical work stuff. So rather than boring you I am going to get outta here. Peace and keep you all in the loop. LATERS!

The Birthday Boat

Lauri's Birthday is coming up and we'll be getting together Friday to celebrate. We're gonna meet up at the boat around 6pm. Where we go there will be up to Lauri. So Come to the boat for some birthday cheer. WOOOHOOO!

End of the Year

Yesterday i had my dreaded end of the year review given by my boss. It actually went pretty well. He had nothing negative to say about my job performance throughout the year. He did however have something to say about me, personally. He told me i needed to relax. He said that i get too angry and stressed out about things around here. Its a stressful job. I told him that i couldn't exactly go skipping through the hallways all the time. He said, "i don't think you like your job" and i said, "do you like your job?, its a job, no one likes to work". That's right i said it. Well to make a long story short, he's concerned about me. Give me a freaking break. He just wants to make sure i don't call in sick to work to often. He may be perceptive on some things but on other things, he's oblivious. Sheila is in right now with him getting her review. He's most likely saying the same thing to her. We have a tendency to freak out a lot here and he's finally catching on as to why. Oh then he asked "where do you see yourself and the company in 2 and in 5 years?" NOT HERE! I wanted to scream. But i didn't have a PC answer so i have to get back to him, and he wants to get backed to. In other news, Pete and I went to the movies last night. We saw Syrania (is that how you spell it?). It was ok. I thought there were too many different stories to follow. That's just me though. I haven't finished my Christmas shopping. Oh and speaking of Christmas. On Sunday was the annual work xmas party. We went to the Coco Palms, formerly called Copacabanna. It was fun. Sheila drank lots and just talked and talked and talked. It was funny. We played games and gave our Secret Santa gifts. It was your typical work xmas party. But back to shopping. I haven't finished, i've barely started really. I'm waiting to get paid on Thursday. Then Sheila and I have to go crazy cuz we have to ship gifts to our parents soon, very soon! Well i think i'll wrap it up here. Sheila is still in her review, i think it's coming up to an hour now. That could be bad, or good, i don't know mine was kinda long too i guess. Anyways, have a good day!

Apartment & Stuff

Hello everyone. I am just hanging out at work and thought that blogging would be a great way to use my time of not doing work effectively.
So today before work I went to check out that apartment in Sierra Madre that Pete and Lauri had told me about it this weekend. So when I got there I went and knocked and the landlord's door, I guess...? It was an old woman, a very old woman(off topic why is that apt. Landlords seem to always be old). She said if I wanted to I could come back later this afternoon and look at it if I wanted to. Obviously this was not an option due to the fact that I had to go to work at . SO I asked if I could come by tomorrow at the same time and take a look. She said the person should be there so to come by. So my apartment visit was pushed to tomorrow. I found out that supposedly the rent is $900 which I find hard to believe and am much more inclined to believe Lauri and Pete's quote of a grand. But who knows we'll see, right? No pets allowed which doesn't matter cause I don't have any so non-issue. So anyway I have to go back tomorrow. Just thought you'd be interested.
Today at work was more or less uneventful. We had a lot of shipping though. We ship out replacement parts to stores when their shit breaks. For some reason today we had a lot, but whatever. Other than that exciting tidbit just been answering calls and listening to my iPod. Listening to my music at night is such a lifesaver. So that was my work I could tell you more but I would bore even myself.
So Alex is off to AK this Thursday he is going to be gone until the 29th I think. So it'll be a "Blue Christmas" for me. Hahaha. Sometimes I am so not funny it's scary. Anyway that was just a little info for everyone so you can mark it down on your calendars.
Well I guess that's it I just wanted to let you know about the apartment visit I will be sure to post tomorrow and keep everyone updated on my apartment adventure. Yeah so uh... Later.

Busy times in the land of the Dragon- i have been working an almost normal monday to friday type of schedule, which i havn't done for over two years, but i'm actually enjoying it. between the working i've joined the 'welsh coast surf club', performed for the first time with my drum group ( it wasn't technically perfect but we got everyone dancing and i guess that is the most important thing), been reading about 3 books a week (i'm like a screaming black hole sucking in all literature around me), painted my Bass a rather tasteful combination of purple and orange (Timmy D- your picture is next), and this week i'm going to sign up as a youth worker at a local youth centre type place which was set up by a woman whose son got hit by a train while tripping on acid.
Has my 100 beers plaque been put up in the crown yet? i think it should have a grand unveiling, with a little draw curtain and speeches by local dignitaries, or am i being a bit self important? anywho, a copy of my debut album (if i get round to making it) to anyone who can name the band/song this lyric is taken from- "it's easy to laugh, it's easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind"

The Long Goodbye

Its 1:39am and I'm up because I ate a bag of cheetos with my dinner and it gave me diarrhea. I'm telling you this because we're all friends and I believe that we can be honest with each other. Also because diarrhea is funny. Its also funny that I had to run a spell check on this post to see if I was spelling diarrhea correctly. I wasn't.
It wasn't one of those variety pack bags of cheetos, but it wasn't the full bag either, it was one of those 99cent jobs that you might find at a liquor store. Anyway, I thought it was only the flaming hot limon variety that did this to me, but apparently not. I used to laugh at people who said they couldn't eat certain foods because it messes up thier stomach. Now I am one of those dudes. I have to now swear off eating cheetos, which is a shame because I like cheetos. I like the fact that you get more cheetos in a bag than you would, say, baked Lays. I also like the durability of the cheeto. When you get a bag of BBQ Potato chips you get three whole chips and a bag full of crumbs. Not so with the cheeto, the cheeto is durable, the cheeto is strong, the cheeto could be made of asbestos for all I know as long as they put that cheese powder on it, thats all I ask for in a snack food.
Across the street from where I work they sell thse sandwiches that I like to stick cheetos into to make them crunchy. No use dwelling on the past I guess. Well, goodbye cheeto. You were a good friend and a good snack product of dubious ingredients and origins when I needed you.
I haven't had to visit the bathroom yet while writing this and thats encouraging, but I know this isn't over yet. After all, it was the 99cent bag you get at the liquor store and not the little bag from the variety pack, this could be a long goodbye.

Freakin' Weirdos and People Who talk to you while you pee.

I've always held that a good quarter of the population is just this side of sane and that another quarter is jst the other side of sane. When you see three thousand people a day as I sometimes do in my job, imagine how many of them are freakin' wierdos. The nutter that I ran into today wasn't even at my job, he was at the market across the street. I was in line at the checkout, and I always choose the wrong line, and this guy comes and stands right next to me. Not behind me or slighty askew of me, but right next to me. At first I thought he was trying to cut in front of me and if that was going to be the case, I was going to jail that night because I've had just about enough of that lately. But no, as I moved forward he moved up wit me. When I came to the register he was standing so close to me that I could feel his breath on my ear. When the cashier greeted me, he greeted us, saying, "How you guys doing tonight?" then he asked, "is this together?" as in our groceries. I said no, paid and went on my merry way. So was he just one of those that are just on the other side of sane? Was he a sociologist doing an experiement on social norms? Or was he some dirty German with no sense of good ol American personal space? German would be my guess, I hate those dirty Krauts.
Then we got the guys who talk to you while you're urinating. Got one of those today. He wasn't even in the stall next to me, he was a few stalls over, but he has to say Hi, even though was doing my manly duty of staring straight ahead. When your in the bathroom, junk in hand, just shut up. Just don't say anything. Lest you get grouped in with the nutter at the supermarket.

You can all keep the gay jokes to yourself by the way. Jeff, I'm looking your direction.

Saturday

I noticed nobody usually posts on the weekends. So I figured hey post on the weekend. So here I am posting on the weekend. Unfortunately I don't have much to say though, as usual.
Work is pretty slow and annoying today. Lots of people having replication issues and if you really are interested in what those are? Ask me and I will more than gladly tell you all about them. But I am not gonna bore you in this blog. I can't wait to go home, not gonna dwell on that though.
Last night Pete, Lauri and I went out to El Torito for happy hour which was cool. Then we relaxed at my house for a bit then traveled to The Crown to meet up with friends and have a good time. I think we accomplished those goals. I didn't get drunk which is good sometimes. I had a nice little buzz though so that was cool.
So Lauri and Pete were telling me about this cool little place in SM. An apartment for only $5 more than I pay and nicer. I am definitely checking that out very soon. Not that I don't like my little Arcadia place cause I do. But change is good for the soul, right? I think so.
OK seriously I got nothing to talk about and this blog has got to be boring you people to tears right about now if not earlier. So everybody have a great day whenever you read this or a great night. Just great in general. Bye now.

Just Released! New Mixed CD

Here are some lyrical highlights of a new mixed CD I just made entitled "Songs You Might Not Know...But Should." Subtitled: " For contemplative moods only." This is not a party CD

"I'll sit and wonder at every love that could have been if I'd only thought of something charming to say"

"I'd like to go the distance, but not one of us is gonna, you see no one is wise enough to turn this ancient boat around.."

"Gonna find another place, maybe one I can stand"

"I'll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon and another girl to take my pain away"

"talkin bout what we gonna be when we grow up, I said "what you wanna be?" she said, "Alive""

"All those I respect and trust, I guess they were just kiddin'"

"I'll be here when it all gets weird"

"please don't confront me with my failures, I have not forgotten them.."

Intrigued? All this and more on my new CD. Who wants a copy?

work ethic: a thing of the past

it's only 10:15am and i'm so irritated by all the lame brains i work with! little miss jennifer took the day off because of a cold. a cold! take some damn sudafed and get your ass to the office. i guess that pisses me off because i'll end up covering the phones for her this afternoon. amber, the baby who had a baby, is back from maternity leave on monday. and the worst part is that our company christmas dinner is this sunday night. so i'll only have one single day of coworker-free life in a two week period. ugh.

speaking of our company dinner, i can't believe you aren't coming, pete. that makes me sad. but what's really sad is the fact that a free dinner and open bar couldn't even get you to go... lol.

i've seriously neglected my obligation to blog. but i was inspired this morning when i opened the page to see alex and randy had posted! so i'm back.

Finally Mileage and Scrubs

Well this whole week I've been busy if not working buying presents for people on my christmas list. Let me start from the beginning.... MONDAY I worked on the David Fincher film Zodiac but now called Chronicles. It was just so-so. I was hyped cuz I love David Fincher movies, The zodaic killer sounded like a coolsubject, and David Fincher upgrades his extras. But that didn't happen nothing really happened. I waited til I was finally called on set and did nothing. But one thing happenedthat was wierd and cool. I had to walk past the actor and keep walking til the director said cut. So i walked and didn't hear him say cut till I was all the way on the other side. Now it was at Ontario Airport I literally walked from Gate 1 and 2 to the exit. Then they said reset I ran to get back but only got halfway and the 1st ad is all stop all right turn around and start there. The next take was a mess up and i got closer to my original but still didn't get there. The 1st stepped in again and then I heard a guy behind a tv say it's all right just get back in time and I went to my original start mark. The guy behind the tv was DAVID FUCKING FINCHER. I didn't mess up again. But the fun didn't stop there when we were waiting to be checked out the drivers were last after 100 people. They only hadone person checking out people and he was so slow! This fat old guy who looked like Wilford Brimley started talking about how he better paid for mileage for driving to ontario. He was I'm gonna call sag I want to be paid for mileage, i'm gonna call sag i want to know how far ontario is from the studio, Im gonna call sag how much is mileage. I was sick of it. I said we could get out sooner if we had more than one slow person checking people out. They should have a PA help. Wilford talked again PA's cant sign people out I'll call sag and they'll tell you. I was like whatever and went to the restroom to kill time. Finally I was checked out and yes we were paid for mileage. It was 6pm and kinda didn't want to work so I called My Call -in service and said to check before after saying that 5 minutes later they were wondering if i wanted to work "Scrubs" Now for all you other extras say Scrubs is the best show to work on. The crew is laid back, they feed you good, the actors are cool, and there are couches in holding and you could watch movies (holding is where you stay til they need you for the scene). So I said I would work it. TUESDAY Well all of that is true. I was a orderly so I could throw fun in. It was fun and for lunch Steak! Steak for lunch and it was real steak and so good also fresh made pasta. When we were about to shoot Donald Faison was shouting wrestlers I don't know why but he said a bunch and said Come On Guys so I shouted some out and he was like good job (they were mostly older wrestlers). The old doctor said some really old guy that we never heard of and explained him to us and said he busted people all the time. Donald said that still happens with guys like Raven ( who is crazy and blood is gauranteed in every match). He then said wrestling Fake HA! Later on I was called by my Call-in service and booked me on scrubs again I was like yes! WEDNESDAY got there and had some pancakes changed in my wardrobe and waited. The PA didn't pick me for the first scene and mostly everybody elsewas picked. I talked to my friend Reggie and said i think Josh (The PA) doesn't like me. He said Naw! it's just one scene. I was like yeah. So I waited and waited and waited. The people had rest and I always asked if they were done and they said no. It was lunch at 1:45 they still weren't done. The scene was 4/8 of a page. But they had some stunt well woohoo. Anyway they got done at 3:30. Then all of a sudden the PA pointed to me after talking to the 2nd AD. I was picked to be a maintenace man and friend of the big janitor guy. Only 3 other people were also picked. Also the 2nd Ad asked if I could come back tomorrow. Thank you Krista (the 2nd AD) but as I was gettin done changin Josh is all Hurry up getting dressed and I did but they didn't even need me right then. But I was finally used and it was great. Ok after that scene the PA said I was wrapped I was ok one scene whatever. To double check I asked the PA if I was working Thursday he said call central it was 6:30 central is closed. I asked again he said call the message box (where you call to get info about your show you are booked on). I said the call time change box or the info and he said call the box. I was getting frustrated and I returned my wardrobe and they asked If I am coming back I said Probably. So I just assumed from what Krista asked me. It turns out I was. But I needed my call time. So I asked Josh and he said Check the Box I got my voucher signed said thanks and walked out frustrated. I had to call my call-in service and get my call time cuz it never said on both boxes. They called back and said 5pm I was like WOW! Oh wait The box just told me my call-time and it was changed to 7 pm. What am I gonna do with all that time? Anyways I love scrubs and hope to be a regular and it's okay if the PA doesn't like me cuz The 2nd AD does. Soon everyone will!!!! HAHAHA!!!! Especially WHEN i become FAMOUS!!!

I thought cuz Tim said everyone should say nice things to people on the blog I thought I should say nice things to everyone:
Pete- You are a really smart and great friend. Really funny too. Finishing college.
Lauri- You are the coolest girl I've ever met.
Tim- You got a nice body (i'm not gay) and is funny sometimes. Fishing college too.
Randy- You are my bro. You know I love ya. You have always watched over me and kept me safe and on my toes.
Sheila- When I see you you are cool (just kidding) except the cool girl part I guess it runs in the Cuypers blood.
Owen- A cool guy I wish I got to know more. Your blogs are so good and poetic.
Tom- Welcome to the blog. Another funny DeClerk. Smart guy. Finishing college also.

I said the college part cuz It's important and I just quit maybe I should go back...
hhhmmmmm....... NAAAHHHH!!!

Two new quotes

I found these two quotes in a book my parent gave me when I graduated from College. I am just posting them for the heck of it they aren't exactly thought provoking or even that good but I am bored, so

• We are all born originals -- so why is it so many of us die copies?

• Though no on can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

There you go, enjoy or don't. I don't really give a fuck.

Hmmm...

This title is appropriate because I am thinking about what I can possibly write about and I got nothing. It is sad that my life is so unfull of adventures and just interesting things in general that when I get on this blog to tell you what's new, I can't think of a single thing.
I finally caved in and bought some Christmas tunes for my iPod. You know tis the season and what not. I haven't done any X-Mas shopping yet but I think I will get started on that this week and finish up next week. I don't have many people to buy for.
Ummm...work has been normal I guess. I just come in, do my shit and hang out till it's time to hit the road. It's not too bad, I get a lot of hours without having to do much work. They probably think I am lazy, yet I am pretty sure I have the least amount of open cases so they can kiss my white ass. Just cause I know how to get shit done efficiently is no reason to be mad at me, right?
Nothing on the girl scene so I will just skip over that one.
I think I might take a walk tomorrow. Maybe instead of driving to the mall I will walk. It's not too far it'll be good exercise. If I decide to leave the house which at this point is up in the air.
So I have started to make up like a fake week kind of. I figure that this is now my Friday night because I have tmw and the day after off. Those are like my Saturday and Sunday. And then on Saturday my new week of work starts so Sat is really Monday. It's not really interesting, I know. But I am running out of stuff to talk about and I still have 2 hours left.
Alright well I have bored you enough by now. So people I know it's the holidays and people tend to get frustrated by the masses and maybe even down on humanity. But lets try to keep upbeat and not kill the supid retards who are over running the world.
Happy Holidays!!

24 days left

Looking at my blotter this morning i saw that there are only 24 days left in the year. Then we start all over again. That's the bummer of it all. This morning i had to go pick up a co-worker at the local auto body shop. He was haggling about the price and afterwards i had told him to go to Marcos. He actually remembered Sheila talking to him about it and he plain forgot. So he'll go next time i guess. I am super over due for an oil change, i wouldn't be surprised if my oil light went on. Ok i'm exaggerating about the light coming on, but it's still been to long. Plus it dawned on me that i got my new tires last year around this time and i've never had then rotated. I'm just asking to break down somewhere. Today Sheila and I are doing more shopping during our lunch break. Yesterday's trip was pretty successful. I have to work tonight, its Warren Miller time again. On monday i took the day off. I was stressed out. I even got a cold sore from it. I felt bad not coming in on a monday and leaving Sheila to deal with it but i was not in good shape. Then on Monday...wait i have to back track. On Saturday Pete discovered that my toilet tank had a crack and it was leaking water everywhere. So i went to my manager and he said that nothing could be done until Monday. So monday came and they put in a brown toilet with a white lid. Everything in my bathroom is white. Not to mention, this brown toilet is much smaller than my old one and you can see on the wall all the different paint colors the bathroom has been over the years. I asked the manager if he had the white paint but i guess he doesn't. My bathroom now looks ridiculous. Pete and I went looking for apartments for me and nothing is affordable. I called a couple of places nearby and around town. Its all expensive and they aren't anything special either. So the search continues. And my gynecologist has retired. It hasn't been a good week for Lauri. Sheila's kitty is doing great after she had been snipped. Gretel is nice and calm now. Its starting to snow in Texas. My mom and Leslie said it was sleeting. My mom took our family dog, Millie, to the vet today for a routine checkup. She's getting old and i guess she is getting cataracts. Poor baby! Well this was an interesting blog. I covered many topics, and in no particular order either. But that's what's been happening in the life of Lauri!

http://wakazashi.blogspot.com/
Check out the second post on this blog. Its a Star Wars Gangsta rap video. It is Hilarious.

oh where oh where has my little blog gone

i don't like what this blog has become. everytime someone posts, someone else has got some damn negitive thing to say about it. so everyone think of something nice to say about someone else in the blog. thank you.

My Comic Book Conundrum

In and around 1990 right after the time when the Tim Burton Batman movie came out, I became interested in Comic Books. I was told that not only were comics an enjoyable read, which a lot of them are, but that they were also a good investment. I was led to believe that someday I could sell my collection and make tons of money. So I was not only a reader, i was a collector. If a new title was coming out and they offered four different "collector" covers, I bought all four. Yep, four copies of the same comic. When the X-men came out with a new title around '92 they were issued in plastic bags with a four different collector cards. So I had to buy all four, plus one that I could open and actually read. All on the promise that these things would skyrocket in value after some years of careful storage. Bags and boards @ 15 cents a piece, to keep your comics in near mint condition.
Here's what I've recently come to realize: The period I was buying comics was the height of the comic book collecting craze. The publishers were very aware of this and were printing millions of copies of these comic books. We all know what happens when a market is flooded, don't we? Thats right, the value goes down. And believe me, the comics I bought 16 years ago have not appreciated one cent in the seller's market. Oh sure, I have a few titles that might fetch me a few dollars over the cover price, but what am I going to do with the other 1000 comics I have? No one wants the damn things and more than likely, no one ever will.
As my tastes have matured I came to realize that, as with everything, 99% of comics are crap, and boy did I buy a lot of crap.
Know anyone who wants a bunch of worthless comics cheap?