Birthday week, baby!

It's a late birthday present from Jynni!

So, I've been kind of absent. Sure, there was the post on Friday, but that was totally a written-in-advance-and-scheduled thing of awesomeness! I've enjoyed doing the Fifty on Friday thing, and look forward to this Friday's, as well.

This weekend has been good. My bonfire on Friday night ended up being pretty "meh", but I cooked some steak strips in my homemade teriyaki marinade, and then Saturday was my birthday! I'm 26 now, hereafter (maybe) referred to as "closer to 30 than 20", and thank you everyone on FB and Twitter for all the birthday wishes. It was a good day, spent with Wendy and Jim, and listening to Jim sing and play guitar at an event he was hired for. I tried to get video to put up here, but that failed.

I tried to compensate for my camera's bad audio by getting it closer to the speakers, and put it too close. The video looked great, but the audio was so garbled that you couldn't understand even a little bit of it. Guess I'll have to get some video of him and Wendy practicing, or something!

"First night that we're a couple, and I'm sick." - @jynnigirl

Oh yeah. That happened, too! That's right, I'm off the market, and I know that there are so many people that are disappointed, but I'm pretty happy. Granted, it's only a day in, but she is able to match sarcastic comment with another sarcastic comment, and she makes me laugh.

Last thing that has happened lately: I have an opportunity for formally-published writing experience! Some of you might remember that being the biggest thing preventing my employment with The Daily Planet, but L. has approached me with an offer: she and I brainstorm ideas related to her work as a realtor, and I write the article (with shared credit) for a local free newspaper. Her business has a guaranteed spot with them every issue, so it's not just going to be a one-off article, either.

All cards are coming up "Justin" right now. I'm okay with that. :)

Fifty on Friday #2

Ready for another week of me giving crappy answers to questions that should be making me think, or challenging the way I look at things?

Well, me either, but it's Friday. So, that means it's time for another five questions, or Fifty on Friday! This week, the randomizer spit out the following numbers for me to answer: 41, 1, 20, 6, and 8. Let's see if I can come up with something more profound than I did last week!

(Source)

#41. If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?

Who wouldn't I visit? If I had to, I would steal a car to get to the people that weren't close by. But, if I had to pick one person, I'd have to say my grandma. She and my grandpa were the people who raised me, and I wasn't there when he passed. I wouldn't want to be aware of her impending death, and not be there when she passed.

#1. How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

It took me a second to get what this question was asking. If, by some form of amnesia or something, I forgot my age, how old would I look/feel/be? Honestly, probably about the same age, give or take a couple of years. I look like I'm in my mid-20s, which is good, since I'm one step closer to 30 as of tomorrow.

Think I'm not understanding the question? Feel free to share your interpretation, because I'm not sure what the hell it's asking, if I'm reading it wrong.

#20. Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?

Maybe I'm more patient than the person who asked this question, but no, I just push the elevator button once. I'll think mean thoughts at it, if it's in a tall building and stopping at every floor between it and me, but just the one push is enough.

I will admit to one super-nerdy thing, though: when I used to work at the hotel (hereafter referred to as "Inn Hell"), and doing my graveyard shift security walkthroughs, I would catch the elevator to the top floor and walk down from there. While I was on or waiting for the elevator, I would make hand gestures like I was Magneto and controlling the motion of the elevator itself. Really, it was because it made me chuckle, and there was no camera in the elevator. Yeah, I'm a super-dork.

#6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?

Writing. Or cooking. Or making music, even if I'm not very good at that anymore. It's the main reason I'm writing now, and making serious efforts to get published -- I'm writing for my own benefit, even if I never get paid for it.

And I love to cook, too. My grandma and I were talking about my grandpa earlier, and she told me that one of his favorite things to do was play around with flavors and foods, and make new things. That has me written all over it. Every time I create something awesome, I feel a bit of a connection with him, and that means the world to me.

#8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?

Well, for one thing, I'd be much more in awe of folks like my grandma, who are in their 60s. But I would definitely work harder at the things that make me happy, and spending more time with the people who make my life better just by existing.

You know what? I think that round of questions went a lot better than last week's; I actually feel like I got some emotional/mental benefit from answering them, this time. Just in time, too, since I'm 26 in less than fourteen hours! If you have any good add-ons, feel free to leave a comment! :)

Be well, my friends.

:(

It took a while to sink in, but after hearing about the tragic events in the early morning hours in Colorado, I'm filled with an immense sadness.

I don't know any of the victims, but the reality is that I could have, and that is terrifying. Most of the time that I think about how the internet has resulted in some of the best friendships with some very amazing people around the world, I forget to think about this part -- if something happened in their part of the world and they were caught in it, would I know? How would I react, or even properly grieve?

One friend did mention that, while she wasn't there for the Dark Knight Rises opening, that this was her usual theater. It's scary to think that someone that I went to high school with, someone who had me be the minister at her freaking wedding, could have been there when this happened. For me to be that horrified at the potential of something like this, I can only imagine how horrible things must be for the family members of those that were injured or killed by this one, crazed gunman.

If anyone connected to this tragedy sees this, my heart goes out to you. You are in my thoughts, and I wish you the best of luck recovering from the aftermath of this sad event.

It may be hard for some right now, but be well, friends. Both old and new, even if we've never met, or even talked -- I love you all.

Fifty on Friday #1

One thing that's popular among the blogosphere is the 50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind.

To quote the page itself, "These questions have no right or wrong answers. Because sometimes asking the right questions is the answer".

I've wanted to answer these questions for a while, and it's even on my 101 in 1001 list at #42. Clearly, questions that make me think being randomly at the number that is the answer to life, the universe, and everything is important. I will gain enlightenment, and become aware of the true nature of the universe... or I'll just think a little bit to answer them. So, for the next 10 Fridays, I'll be doing this. Five questions per week from the list, but with an added twist: unlike everyone else that I've seen do it, just going down the list, I've decided to randomize the numbers, and answer them in that order. This week, the numbers are 15, 16, 43, 31, and 2.

#15: What's something you know you do differently than most people?

I write the first draft of everything by hand instead of using a computer, for one thing. And navigating my computer is a mess of folders, because everything has to be correctly categorized. Some things have as many as a half-dozen folders in the path to the file.

#16: How come the things that make you happy don't make everyone happy?

Because people are different in every way, shape, and form.

#43: What is the difference between being alive and truly living?

"Alive" is a physical state, with all the necessities for survival, like a beating heart and breathing lungs. LIVING is about doing what makes you happy, and challenging yourself every day, in some way. The bonfire, with A. and C. and E. -- that was living.

#31: At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?

I felt most alive during the thunderstorm last night, when we took off because of the huge, VERY close crack of thunder. There was adrenaline racing, and we were moving fast away from our quickly-dying fire, and the edge of the bay with all its driftwood.

My most recent feeling of being passionate about what I was doing, was working on Project: SAMSON. I've gotten a few more characters detailed, and the second draft of the script is underway. It's an exciting thing, to be creating your own world.

#2: Which is worse, failing or never trying?

Without a doubt, never trying has got to be worse than failing. I've done both, and even when I fail, I know that I tried.

"Not the moneymaker!"

That's A.'s rule, when throwing something at someone: not the face, "the moneymaker". Or, as he put it, "if they're pretty, don't hit them in the face".

I learned this rule last night at Mac's Tavern, when I made a smartass comment that got his girlfriend to (lightly) throw a hacky sack at my face. My response was "Well, I'm not one of the pretty folks, so no worries!"... A. had to agree to disagree.

Last night was a lot of fun. It was good to see A., a friend I've known since I was eight or nine years old, before he leaves town for a few months. He works on boats, and is going to be fishing up in Alaska this year -- I am a little worried for his safety, but know that he can handle himself. I think what I'm most worried about is his emotional well-being.

"Last time we were up there, I had to save the captain's life," he told me last night. The captain fell off of part of the ship during some heavy weather, and A. grabbed him out of the air as he was falling, and dragged him back on to the ship. It was weighing on him considerably, it seemed, but he was trying to soothe his mind, and his anxieties regarding his upcoming departure.

"You are the only one who can control your own happiness."

"You are a beautiful man, inside & out, own it"

Those are the words of Kelly Hogaboom on Twitter this morning, and they kind of made my day. :D

No, people in my life don't just throw out random praises of my magnificence. I mean, sure, they're earned. And I wouldn't complain, because, let's face it -- I'm pretty great.

"I've seen mirrors, I have eyes. Let's face it,

buddy. I have a body that makes men wet. "

Actually, all joking aside, that one was brought on by my dog being kind of an ass. She always barks at people/dogs/bikes going by the house, even if they're across the street. I've tried to teach her not to bark at people, but my roommate kind of undermines that, so I've given up. That whole "old dog, new tricks" thing.

When she started barking this morning, I go to see what she's barking at and get her in the house. Turns out that she was barking at Kelly and the newest member of the Boom family, Hutch. And she's not kidding when she says that this dog is huge. It was my first time seeing him today, and holy crap he's a big dog. So, Kelly won the morning by seeing me shirtless. That's where the quote comes from!

Really, I just wanted an excuse to use that Cat line, and remind people just how much of a Red Dwarf nerd I am. Because Red Dwarf is fantastic.

How speedy is it?!

Can't you tell that I'm just so thrilled to be here?

My dryer finally broke last week. It's been pretty well-used in the last five(?) years, and still sort of works -- it just doesn't put out any heat, so I have two options: buy a new dryer to replace it (not happening!), or spend $50-$100 on a heating element... which I'd then have to learn how to properly take apart my current dryer to install. That one is probably what I'll eventually do, but for now...

SPEEDY WASH.

I guess that's the new name of the local laundromat. They have a card-based system now, rather than lugging around a dozen or more quarters, which is nice. And there is WIFI! Sweet, glorious WIFI!

So, yeah... that's what's up in the world of Justin, while it seems like every person that I freaking know is headed to San Diego Comic Con. And no, there's no jealousy here... none at all.... It's not like the artist for one of my favorite comics is selling trifold covers of an upcoming issue. Or like the casts of so many shows that I know and love will be there. *twitch twitch*