Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Reliance

Or, "Brain Retrain and Smartphone Dumbing".

In light of feeling like I might be too reliant on my smartphone, I'm going to buy a planner/agenda/whatever-they're-called. You know, the thing where you write (by hand!!!) phone numbers, events and appointments on the calendar, and things to remember in the note area.

I hadn't thought much of it until I realized how bad I can be with phone numbers. Do you know your best friend's cell phone number? I just barely do, and that's a recent development -- but I can tell you what his home phone number was ten years ago when he still lived around here. There are maybe a dozen (or two) numbers in my phone that I actually remember, at the most, but I can remember numbers that were cancelled by my friends' families years ago. Appointments and events? Not a chance, unless I write them down on the dry-erase calendar above my desk -- and I need a finer-tipped pen before I can do that in such small areas.

Obviously my smartphone will still be important, since I don't have internet access most days of the week. Emails like my pay stubs and for cooperation with people whose phone numbers I don't have will still be a necessity, and I still plan on using it to entertain myself and keep up with sites that I follow. For the most part, though, let's see how this next month or so goes.

Monday, June 25, 2012

The bus is alive...

... with the sound of muuuusic!

As I type, there are three people singing on the bus. The driver is singing something (kind of) quietly in his native language -- something from the middle east -- and a young couple is practicing choir songs. Occasionally, they stop to discuss a slightly off note, and other choir-y topics.

It's an interesting contrast to my own history as a choir student. I was a baritone/bass, and spent four and a half years in choir, at the same time singing in a church choir -- yes, I used to be one of those religious-y types. Really, I sang whenever I had the chance... unless there were people that I didn't know around. Yeah, stage-fright. The blogger who is way too open about his life has stage-fright, which is why I write instead of make thousands of dollars with YouTube videos... well that, and the fact that I'm not a "thousand dollar idea" kind of video maker.

So I sang in the privacy of my home, the seclusion of the choir classroom, or with a group in concerts. And dammit, I made that tux look good.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Ghost Rider 2: Thoughts and tweets

Time for some Ghost Rider 2 fun.... Sure, it's a couple days late, but I'm dealing with Safeway's wifi, so I think we've both been punished enough. Don't you? Plus, I was the one who watched this horrific piece. So, for those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, here's a recitation of my tweets while I watched the movie:
  • Mansplaining the entire first movie, Nic Cage?

  • Well, now I know which country to get hospitalized in, if the pain meds are THAT easily accessible.

  • This is the most horrible "interrogation" acting I've ever seen. "You're a BAAAAAD MAN! And this thing feeds on BAAAAAD MEN!"

  • HEY I'M NIC CAGE. I CAN SPEAK IN A LOW VOICE TO A KID AND BE TOUCHING TOO, RIGHT?

  • Oh, hey, Raiden/Connor MacLeod. You're kind of a dickhole. I guess that's why you're the monk with writing on his face.

  • Vomit fire into his mouth, young one! #Tonyism

  • That's f**king dumb. Wait, this IS Ghost Rider 2 we're watching.

  • F**king HORSES**T! "Demon's an angel", my ass. Feel how goddamn fast I return this to the Redbox, Nic Cage.
Yes, this movie was THAT bad. In a world where X-Men: The Last Stand and Spider-Man 3 both exist, this is by far the worst comic book movie that I've ever seen. I would rather watch the Transformers movies in one marathon viewing. This movie was so bad that Tony, who has a bit of a man-crush on Nic Cage and thinks he's a great actor, lost a bit of respect for him. Of the two of us, he was the one who expected this movie to be good -- I rented it just for the humor of seeing how bad it could be.

I stopped thinking that Nic Cage was a good actor a while back. One of my friends put it best when she said "We all used to think Nic Cage was a good actor, until we realized he was playing the same role in every movie". Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get some bleach and scrub this movie out of my brain.

Monday, June 18, 2012

The Daily Planet....?

I've mentioned before that I don't talk about my workplaces by name (anymore). Pseudonyms stand in for the real business names, and while I don't work there yet, I've got the ideal name for the local newspaper: The Daily Planet.

It's actually not far off from the real name, and it keeps with the SUPERGEEK theme I have going... if, by "theme", you mean "life". Short story long, I'm not going to be a reporter for The Daily Planet -- at least, not right now. The few reporters they do have all possess many years of experience, and he said he'd need to see some published, formally-formatted writing from me, so he would know that I had the talent.

The new plan: submit things to weekly papers, rather than dailies like this one. Get a few feature articles, then bring my ass back to the Planet and say "See? I CAN do it!".  More of the story tomorrow, but for now, WORK.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

F***ing HORSES**T!

Here it is, almost two weeks after I posted last, and some of you are probably thinking I've fallen into a bottomless chasm. Well, maybe some of you thought that. Maybe some of you didn't wonder at all, and lastly, maybe some of you have been following me on Twitter, where I've still been active. Last night, I even (sort of) live-tweeted my first and only watching of Ghost Rider 2.

If you haven't seen Ghost Rider 2, I suggest you keep it that way. Even Tony, who expected to enjoy it, thought about giving up 2/3 of the way into it. When he found out that it was from "the guys who made Crank", all he could say was "Oh, god dammit". And, really, "oh, god dammit" and "fucking HORSESHIT" are the only terms that I can use to accurately describe the levels of fail that the movie reached.

Also, there's a (lame) excuse why I haven't been blogging: LOTS AND LOTS OF WORK. I had an eight day work week, then two days off, and now I'm on day four of a seven-day work week. Swing shift has a lot more work and a lot less podcast-listening than graveyard, but still... so much happier. So, starting probably tomorrow with a collection of my tweets and thoughts about Ghost Rider 2, I'm going to try and blog more. Wish me luck!

Monday, June 4, 2012

Drawing A Blank

Few things are more irritating than a blank piece of paper. It taunts you with its lack of words. You know you can write something, but the decision of what to write is the problem.

You can look at other notes you've taken, but some days, none of the ideas that pop into your head feel right. On those days, none of your thoughts feel right to write -- and not writing the right thing feels abhorrent, like blaspheming against yourself.

Today is day two of being swing shift on the regular, and I'm looking forward to it. It was great to be back at my Murphy's store yesterday, and some good exercise walking part of the way home. Hopefully tonight will be good too, now that I know about what to expect.

I'm noticing a definite improvement, being off of graveyard shift. Sleeping at night the last few days has resulted in me waking easier, feeling more rested, and feeling less drained when I'm done with my shift. It's a good feeling, not working graveyard anymore.

Lastly, I called to check on that reporter position again today. It's not in the paper anymore, so I'm not going to get my hopes up, but I'm going to keep calling and pestering every few days until I get an answer. One way or another, I'll know -- they'll either hire me, or tell me to go to hell. Either way, I gave it my best shot. :)

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Project: COIN BANK

In the true fashion of the supergeek, a project has begun! Someone bought me some small plaster coin banks lately, and I got bored yesterday -- so I started painting them.

The coin banks are in the shape of an elephant and a train, and when I started painting them, the idea came to mind. The glorious dream of coins being protected by the best among us -- those few elite metahumans that represent us. In that fashion, the train and the elephant are slowly revealing their secret superhero identities: The Flash Train and Superphant! Next time I go to the dollar store, I'm thinking about picking up more of these, and painting the core Justice League: Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman to add to the rest.

I'm definitely not the best artist, but it's still a nice little distraction from The Crap that's been going on. When they're a little further along, I'll post pictures, but I'm not sure how long that'll take. I work the next five days -- and I'm off of graveyard! It's about damn time I'm on a "normal" schedule! :D

Friday, June 1, 2012

I was on the news!

Sure, it's not quite reporting the news yet, but it's still pretty cool to have been interviewed for a local news story.

Over at Grays Harbor Down, I wrote an article describing my alligator sighing from Wednesday night. Today, Richard Thompson from KIRO-7 reached out to me on Twitter to interview me for a bit more detail. I didn't have much more to give him than I wrote on my own, but they found out a little bit more than I did.
Man spots alligator in Hoquiam river - KIRO 7
I didn't manage to get to a TV to watch the news story, so if anyone sees it online, please link it to me. I've heard positive things, and want to see how the full story was reported and played out. Did anyone else get a chance to watch it?