The Elephant In The Room

Maybe it's because I work at a convenience store with firearm keychains, and also because of some of the people in my life (both digital and real), but the gun issue still hasn't really gotten dropped from my sphere of influence. Now, I figure I might as well put my attitude about artillery out there for the world to see -- address the gun-shaped elephant in the room, I guess.

A quick browse shows that this probably isn't a site I'd be interested in,
but here is the source anyway....

I don't want a gun. As far as I'm concerned, the only purpose for a gun is to hurt or kill something, and I have no desire to own one.

That being said, I also don't give a shit if you want to own one. More power to you, own a hunting rifle or handgun. My attitude, though, is that there is no need for a civilian to own a semi-automatic or fully-automatic weapon. People will bring up the Second Amendment, but the gun-crazy folks don't think about part of the problem with that: the Constitution was written in the time of muskets, bayonets, hunting knives and the like. By all means, I support your right to a musket.

When the Second Amendment was written, our war for independence was still fresh in the minds of lawmakers who had either experienced it, or had family who did. The Second Amendment was written when the weapons with which we killed each other were far less efficient.

Really, I just wanted to get that off of my chest. The rare customers that agree with me and thinks our keychains are ridiculous makes me feel a little bit better.

Do any of you want to own guns? I've got no problem with it, I'm just curious to hear other peoples' reasons why they do or don't want to own one (or more). :)

Every movie would be better with dancing Goombas!

With that title alone, this final post of 2012 makes me proud! It comes from the thread on 20SB for "so-bad-they're-good" movies, and it is part of my defense of Super Mario Bros. as awesome. Call it horrible all you like, but I will always love that movie.

You know what? Now that I'm talking about it, and thinking about it, I need to figure out what box it is in. The VCR is hooked up, the universal remote is programmed for it, now I just need to find this, so I can have fun with dancing Goombas and an ensemble of overacting celebrities that have done much more impressive work since.

Right now, though, I don't think finding this movie should be my priority. I'm working on my first pizza dough, and by "working on" I mean "finding something to do online while I wait and see if the dough will rise and I didn't fuck it all up". Maybe I should do some sort of year in review post like other, better bloggers....Nah. I'll stick with trying to not-fuck-up pizza dough, and having a back-up plan of breadsticks or crackers or something if it didn't turn out right.

Has anybody out there made pizza from scratch before? Any tips for me?

Or, on the other hand, any people aside from me love Super Mario Bros., the movie? I can't be the only one!

Yeah... about that? Sorry.

Remember that whole "two jobs" thing? Well, it's back down to one now, entirely through faults of my own. Want a protip? Don't take a job without thinking about whether or not it's the right fit, just because the money is (a very small amount) better.

So, I quit the new job after two days, because it felt wrong. While I can't legally go into specifics, I felt that the clients they were going to have me be caregiver to deserved someone who had an actual interest in the work. There was a bit more to it, but the main deciding factor for me was that I think it would have taken me a while to not feel wrong about taking the job for financial reasons alone -- and, despite appearances (and my own opinion) to the contrary, it would seem that I have something resembling a conscience.

There's been a lot that has happened in the ten days since I blogged last, and not just in my neck of the woods. I'm not going to go into detail on the sad events in Newtown, because I'm sure you've all heard about it. Instead, I'm going to step over that, and highlight a couple awesome things involving some great people I know:

• V/H/S, a movie with Jas Sams from Smile Big And Pretty in it, was in the local Redbox. I rented it solely on that, and while it wasn't the best movie, it had some great parts to it. I might've liked it more if I liked the whole "found footage" thing more.
• Lauren Danger, the awesome rocker-chick that fronts (and is the only consistent member of) The Want Ads, put up a new music video for "We Don't Know How It's Ending". You should watch it. How can you not love a band that includes a hand-written thank-you note when you buy the CD?

I'm sure there's more, but it's 1:30 in the morning... what more do you want from me?! 

It feels good to be posting again, and hopefully I'll have something good for you soon! Like maybe a story/recap (storycap?) of my D&D group's adventure soon? Hmmmm....

Anyway, I'm going to go work on WKH? and then talk to the woman I love. I hope your night is going as well, if not better. :)

To the Danger Room, my X-Men!

"I can't decide what's worse: having a forum but nothing to say
or having something to say but no forum."

-Lorraine from Late to the Party

This is really the only quote that fits. I've had internet for about a week and a half, and also haven't blogged in almost that long. I've just had little to nothing to say, so here's the low-down on what's happened lately:

• I'm currently in Olympia to see Jim & Wendy, and to make a short stop at Danger Room Comics, one of the best comic shops I've dealt with
• Speaking of Danger Room Comics, I've started the Sympathy for the Devil blog! If you haven't checked it out, it's for the DC Comics character Blue Devil, because I think he's awesome, and previously had next to no representation online!
• WORKING MY ASS OFF (figuratively)
• Exercising by HIKING MY ASS OFF (not quite literally yet)
• Reading because I just started a free trial of Amazon Prime
• Writing and researching articles for a local free monthly paper, to get some exposure
• World-building and writing Who Killed Hermes?

There's probably more stuff to mention, but it's midnight while I'm typing this up, and I've been up since 6am -- after having only gotten 4 1/2 hours of sleep last night. Really, I'm surprised that I can words together string to coherent make sentences.

Oh, yeah, I should probably mention the whole "having internet now" thing.

A week or two ago, my roommate had a friend with some issues where he was staying. She offered him our couch to crash on for a few days, and he decided to have his internet and TV service moved to our place so he didn't have to be without. When he left, he decided to leave it as long as we keep the bill paid, which my roommate is doing since she's working again. Essentially, I have internet again without having to pay the bill for it -- huzzah! Feels good, man.

"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*