Don't mind me, I'm just gonna walk into this wall

Have I mentioned before that I wear glasses? And that I'm pretty much blind without them?

Yeah, it was a lot of fun this morning, when I went to put my glasses on, and a lens popped out. I thought "No big, lenses pop out sometimes, I'll just pop it back in...", until I realized that the frame had broken. So I had to spend $10 that I don't really have to spare, to get the Wal-Mart optometrist's assistant to put my lenses in an identical frame. They said I'm lucky; they only had the one duplicate of my frame available still.

So that was my morning crisis, and even a short time unable to see makes me appreciate my glasses again. I kind of want contacts again, but I don't have $60 to spare at my normal optometrist, and it's more spendy at Wal-Mart's optometrist.

Now, it's almost Jeopardy time, which will be followed by Smallville time and Supernatural time. Figured I'd blog it up now, so that I don't forget. I'm using commercial breaks to organize my music. Didn't think I was serious yesterday, when I said I could go on and on about my Zune and music collection? I could, and it'd be easy.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try for a job that I probably won't get, and hopefully hang out with some local friends for their daughter's birthday party. Fun!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

In fearful day, in raging night…

I have good news and I have bad news. The bad news is that today’s probably going to be a little bit boring to read, because I’ve spent most of my waking hours at (or on the way to) work. Which is good, because I’m making money – even if its not really enough to pay bills, or any of that.

 

That’s kind of why I decided to go with the Blue Lantern Corps oath, as inspiration for this post’s title. For non-geeks, it’s a DC Comics thing tying into the Green Lantern comics, and Blue Lanterns are symbols of hope, which is something I could use lately. A ‘trademark phrase’ for them would be “All will be well”, something that I need to keep reminding myself of – despite money being tighter and tighter right now, all will be well in time.

 

I mentioned good news too, right? Can’t just be depressing and shit, right? The good news is that today is the end of my work week, which means the next three days off to find… something! Something to do, something to blog about doing. I’ve got some things I need to do (like job searching), and some stuff that I want to do (like get some exercise, and hook up my SNES).

 

There was one good part about today – I made a new YouTube account that I plan on getting some video up on to, and when I was subscribing to people, I found a new show to love: Platoon of Power Squadron. It’s about a group of twenty-somethings with superpowers (electric manipulation, time control, telepathy/telekinesis, and self-cloning), and it’s really funny. I found it when I went to subscribe to Wheezy Waiter (AKA Craig Benzine), who is one of the actors in it. I recommend checking it out at http://www.youtube.com/pineappleboyfilms

 

All in all, today was nothing special, though. Tomorrow, I’m going to try for some adventures, and hopefully be putting something fun and exciting up here. Unless you guys want me to talk about my Zune library, which I could do for ages. :D

Un-blogging: Relearning how to just be me

It’s been a long time that I’ve been blogging over at Random Ramblings. I started it in early 2009, but it didn’t see regular use until May of that year, when I successfully blogged an entire month, for National Blog Posting Month. It was a lot of fun, and really sparked a love of, respect for, and desire to BLOG – and to blog regularly.

 

So, I did. I made the decision to blog every day, which de-evolved into six days a week, then to “this day = this topic”, which eventually became what it was most recently: as many posts as possible across wide and varied topics every day. I never really felt like I found my voice as a blogger, though, like I was putting the words up there and making an effort, but never really managed to.

 

Now I’m going to go back to blogging on here, which I know I’ve said before, but this time… I really will. :)

 

I want to start by writing like I’m not supposed to, to unlearn my Random Ramblings bloggery ways, so help me out; how should I go about it? Bad spelling and grammar for a post? Something else similarly awful? Help me unlearn that by suggesting ways that I can “blog badly”! :D

The one where I’m Super Excited!

YES! It’s true! Despite the various woes of life and the dreariness of job-searching in this little town, I really am Super Excited!

 

What’s got me in such a great mood, you may ask. Is it the fact that I’ve got Random Ramblings back to regular updates after some serious slacking off from mid-December until yesterday? Maaaaybe. Is it because I have my payday this Friday and get my income tax the following week, which means I’ll be able to buy the plane ticket for my trip? Maaaaybe.

 

But what is REALLY causing my Good Mood and general Super Excited-ness is… WRITING! I’ve been looking at submissions guidelines for comic book companies, and came away from it surprisingly hopeful! This got me brainstorming ideas, and I’m happy to say that I’ve started outlining one of them.

 

As per most of the companies’ submissions guidelines, I’ll be outlining the entirety of the story, which will probably mean going with a miniseries instead of an ongoing. Completely cool with me, since limited series have a much higher chance of a company risking money that they would waste if they had to cancel an ongoing due to shitty sales.

 

I’ve also got a semi-local friend who might be doing the art for my project, provided she’s interested in what I come up with! If everything goes according to my very loose time-table, I should have a submission ready to be sent off by summer – late summer, if things deviate from the plan.

 

Hope you will keep following along! If everything works out, I’ll spoil little bits here, like whatever the final title ends up being and such. Maybe even some art here and there! Wouldn’t that be cool?

GAAAAH!

Ever been in a situation where money is a liiiittle tighter than you’d like?

 

. . .

 

Fuck, who am I kidding? The state that this country is in, the majority of us are struggling to pay bills. For me though, the struggle just got a wee bit harder. As in going from “paying bills and almost able to start saving again” to “FUCK! My boss cut me down to 12 hours this week!”.

 

Yeah, that’s my oh-so-wonderful work schedule for this week – two days, from 4pm to 10pm. What’s really sad about it is that I’m hoping it’s that high next week, and that my boss doesn’t decide to schedule me for only one day, or no days at all.

 

So I’m in the process of trying to find a new job. I’m hopeful about the application I put in with the bank I go through, and they seemed surprised that I called the day after applying. I’m hoping that’s a good thing, as I plan on calling every other day until I get an answer, one way or the other. I’m also going to file for unemployment, as they’ll (hopefully) help cover what I’m not getting, hours-wise. And my next day off (Thursday) will see me stopping by both of the employment offices in the area, to try my damnedest to get a different job.

 

. . .

 

I’m trying to be hopeful, though. Everything will work itself out in the end, which I’m reminding myself of whenever I start to stress out about money. Best case scenario, I get a new job that pays similarly to my current job, and don’t have to cancel my trip this April. Worst case scenario, I become homeless. In the event of that happening, I’ll have to work on a skill, like that “golden-voiced homeless guy” that’s been in the news.

 

OH YEAH! I’m also working on a novel. Or starting to. I’m in the “idea” phase, and intend to start outlining by the end of the first week of February. As the plan stands, the first few chapters should be finished by the end of February at the latest. I would try and work faster, but I’m also attempting to work out ideas for pitches to comic book publishers, and find work In Real Life until that works itself out. So, there’s that.

 

I’ll try and post more!

Kal-El-mas Eve 2010

Another year, another Christmas Eve family get-together. All the insanity that I’ve grown used to over the years, despite one of my aunts making an attempt to keep us all organized and to keep the chaos to a minimum. 

Aunt D: “Okay, now everyone calm down, and let’s all be patient.”

J (sister): [Laughs]

Me: “You do realize that we’re crazy every year, right?”

Aunt D: “Yes, but this time, 95% of us are adults.”

That didn’t work out as well as she expected. She didn’t make that much of an effort, either. Things started off sort of orderly with everyone in the room getting a gift from the same person, and all of us opening them one by one, and then proceeded to devolve into chaos. People started talking over each other, and weren’t waiting until everyone got gifts to open the one they’d just been handed – so, business as usual at my Grandma’s house on Christmas Eve.

 

Despite not getting what I was looking forward to (and had been led to expect), I still had a good time appreciating my family’s insanity, and being thankful for the gifts that I did get. And as far as I’m concerned, I had a pretty good haul this year: a DVD player (which I’ll be letting my mother use, so I can take my PS2 back from her), an amazingly comfortable robe (or is it ‘housecoat’ when it’s a ‘man-robe’), pajama pants, black slippers, a box of five different kinds of hot sauces from boring jalapeño to a yummy habanero (which I’ve gotten three years in a row now, and enjoy), a nice button-down shirt, and a gorgeous wolf-themed knife.

 

The wolf knife is one that I’ll have to put up a picture of, when I can get one. The aunt that bought it never asks most of us what we want for Christmas, but as far as I’m concerned, always buys some of the coolest shit. A couple years ago, it was a collection of small wolf sculptures of varying colors, with tribal designs on them. Last year, it was a wool wolf blanket.

 

This year, the knife she got has a handle made to look kind of like bone, with a metal-etched wolf set into the center of the handle, and a wolves-in-the-snow scene painted on the blade in a great-looking set of metallic paints. It’s probably the coolest thing I’ve gotten from her, ever since she found out that I really love wolves and eagles. Before that, she used to get just random cool stuff, and a package of socks. I kind of wish that she still got socks, because they’re always disappearing. And they’re not nearly as pleasant to replace when it’s your own money paying for them.

 

So, how was everyone’s Christmas this year? Or if your family hasn’t had their Christmas get-together yet, what are you expecting? Any funny things that usually happen? Or any gifts that you’re reeeeally looking forward to? Let’s hear it!

 

And lastly, merry Kal-El-mas.