| Rememberance Day - Lest we Forget |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|10:15 am] |
In Flander's fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row.
That mark our place and in the sky the larks still bravely singing fly, scare heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
loved, and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe: to you from failing hands we throw the torch;
be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die.
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields.
It still feels wrong to be unable to wear a poppy today.
We must remember those who died, those lost, and those who sacrificed their lives. Unlike in the US, today is a day to remember the dead, and the losses, _not to celebrate those who lived and what they went through_. We must remember the pain and the loss, lest we forget the prices paid to live in the country we call our own, and the true cost of war.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them
Lest we forget. |
|
|
| Happy Bonfire Day |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|09:37 am] |
Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
God save The Queen! |
|
|
| Eurofurence 09 |
[Sep. 1st, 2009|10:23 am] |
Wow, EF was definitely a blast.
In short, it was a good trip. In long :
Arrived in Berlin after a few hours delayed at ORD. Berlin is definitely a clean, and feature rich city. The mixture of old and new, east and west, is just amazing.
We (Zotcoon, Rathiel, Catsby) and I did a bike tour one day and saw sections of the former Berlin Wall, and other notable sites. The city is definitely made for biking. The former wall was converted into a bike path, and the city is very, very flat.
But, the main reason for the trip was for Eurofurence in Suhl, Germany.
Now, this was a con that has a unique feel all to its own. The people there are all great to hang out with, and the party just never stopped (I tried to keep up with the Brits, but still had to call it a night by 6-7am each night) Discovered the (what I think) is a tasty Bananeweissen (Weiss beer and Banana pulp).
Met tons of great people, which, due to excessive alcohol consumption, names I will be struggling to remember as I sift through photos and notes and phone calls.
Better report and photo locations will be done on the weekend when I have time to think. |
|
|
| Shabu Shabu |
[Aug. 7th, 2009|01:38 pm] |
|
I'm going to Shabu Shabu tommorrow, Irvine, Probably late afternoon. If anyone wants to join, call. I'm up for the company. |
|
|
| Busker with Electric Violin and Loop Pedal |
[May. 22nd, 2009|09:39 pm] |
Just making a post with a nice youtube video. It still amazes me what such a simple thing like a loop pedal can do to a solo performance.
Also, more people need to play the electric violin. |
|
|
| Conspace |
[May. 19th, 2009|10:10 pm] |
Just making a general callout before making more personal inquiries:
Califur
Anyone have crash space available for Califur either in the hotel, or within a few miles of the con (someplace with adequate parking)?
Anthrocon
Anyone have crash space available at the Westin, preferably a bed. Or at worst as the 5th person in the room?
MFF
Anyone have bed space available?
People who have seen me at cons know that I'm in the room to passout between 3 and 5am and wake up 'round 9. Other than that, you rarely notice I'm around :3
|
|
|
| Bike Down ... now with damage. |
[Apr. 25th, 2009|09:53 pm] |
I'm fine, just a bit of bruised pride, and wrist.
Well, today was fun. Got up at the crack of dawn and took out the motorcycle and headed up the several hours to meet up with panth so that I could get some more guided riding donw and like, learn to use and operate the bike a bit better.
Since, all in all, with the San Diego drivers around, I've really have only ridden around in mid to high speed, and in congested mexican traffic.
Got up here, and Panth tightened up my clutch (apparently I had too much play on it) and then we fine tuned the alignment on my rear wheel. And out we went.
It was fun, and I was very nervous at it, Panth was going a bit too fast for me in places and I, slowed down (seeing the same turn ahead), and took it slower. Went for a while and I was enjoying it and getting more used to turning on the twisties, and just doing more curvy roads at speed (mulholland). Stopped by some biker cafe along the way, and then went to continue on the trip.
Well, we took --- to PCH and then looped back up on the 23 (Decker Canyon). He took me into a hairpin took quicky, and I think I was goin too slowly, and well, managed to run out of tire on the front, and then with the bike now firmly sliding on the ground, wedge itself under the guard rail.
If it werent for the guard rail, there would have just been scratches, But, the front was caught underneath, the post wedged between tire and lights, and the guardrail was now on the display. And the left handlebar and signal firmly drenched in sand and buried. Couldn't pull the bike out. Couldn't even move it. Had to break off some more of the plastic front pieces that were already craked and I had to lift the rearof the bike to an angle high enlugh thath Panth could then push and guide the front underneath the guardrail.
Shifter peg broke again (see Feb) The entire front assembly plastic pieces are mostly non-existant. The headlight assembly operational, but without all the platic around it, it a bit jiggly around.
Still runs. So, I took the lead and we took the entire length of the 23 north doing 20-25, and then back in real city streets, Panth retook the lead and aimed us to his parent's place. (He was obviously feeling a bit overly caustion going 35, instead sf the speed limit -- and on major roads, I was doing just fine [even with needing to hook my foot to shift -- I had practise -- (see feb))
http://tinyurl.com/ice-bike-accident
Photos when I get myself home tomorrow, by riding this bike the 3-4 hours back south, since plans this evening to crash somplace halfway down failed. |
|
|
| Saturday |
[Apr. 19th, 2009|10:23 pm] |
Well, this weekend was fun.
Adding on to Friday night's report.
Saturday
Slept in and was covered by cats (which eventually woke me up)
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) 3catsjackson (Trey) started off by getting himself and redhaski (Chance) to Charter to get their cable working.
I just talked with arrowtwolf and colsongrainger over lunch while they prepared to go take some photos.
When Trey returned, we ventured out to have some Ethiopian food. It was indeed, very, very tasty.
Then, to Psycho Donuts. *drools* They did have a wide assortment of really good (pricy) designer donuts. Wish I had time to consume more.
Afterwards, we eventually meandered over to Barefoot Coffee House, where we happened to run into Dizzy, ... pup, and.... someone. (Please fill in names)
After this 3 hour excursion, Dizzy et al, Trey, and myself went back to Trey's place. For some delightful relaxation.
We made a venture to some Indian Ice Cream, and then regrouped back at the house for some hottubery with the existing group + ... dog, brokken, ...bunny... + one, ... and others (I suck at names that aren't repeated a few times)
Then, round 10pm, left to the party that was going on with Kiba, Denali, etc. Met up with akseawolf ,luphinus , cubstatik , and met nekomon for the first time (that I can remember) and someone by the name of JD (he liked his jack daniels apparently)
Sunday
Went to Korean for some bi bim bap. Not sure how this compares to the one in Irvine. It was tasty, but obviously more americanized. But good.
Then, the drive back south. Traffic was steady, but not light. So, speed was pretty well capped at 85 the entire way, with a few bouts of 50 near Bakersfields, near the I-210, and a slow patch near the 91.
Now, just getting ready for sleep as it's going to be a long day at work tomorrow.
|
|
|
| I need a hottob in my back yard :| |
[Apr. 18th, 2009|12:21 pm] |
Well, the drive up was long. And long.
Never expected to take 4 hours just to get from San Diego to North LA (Magic Mountain). But then, Friday afternoon didn't help.
But. Upon arriving. Trey, Kaysho, and I went to gather food. Ended up getting good Indian buffet food. But, with a 15min time limit. So, plenty of food around.
Back at the Trey house: It was game night. So, Arrow, Chance, Colson, Jimmy, Torrle, plus about 10 other people who weren't playing Power Grid were here. And thus -- it meant we needed to be elsewhere than in an overcrowded living room.
A night in a hottub outside. That was so relaxing. There is a very big lack of houses in general (furry or not) with hottubs. I don't see why this is the case.
but, A new day. |
|
|
| Weekend |
[Apr. 16th, 2009|06:59 pm] |
|
Well, I'm going to be in San Jose tomorrow (Friday) through Sunday. Anyone care to meet up and or have suggestions for someone to see/do? (Never realy seen thebay area before outside of FC) |
|
|
| And the day starts off |
[Apr. 16th, 2009|09:26 am] |
Drove to work today.
Arrived 45 min late.
Sometimes traffic and parking just don't work with you. |
|
|
| Updates |
[Apr. 12th, 2009|09:49 pm] |
This will be the beginning of a series of posts (of varying visibility)
Well, firstly, I have been quite off these past couple months. In many senses of the word. The most noticeable of this being my lack of visibility online. I haven't been avoiding people, nor has real-life come and swept me away. I just needed to be away from the Internet and people for a while.
Been hanging out with ferrel whenever his innate plan-cancelling skills fail him. This also means that I have been drinking a lot more. Or at least trying to. I need to cut that out for a bit, as I don't think my liver is doing so well all things considered. For, my alcohol tolerance has severely and suddenly plummeted. On Saturday, 3 drinks had me in a state that should very well take more than double the alcohol -- and it really caught me off guard.
And I have been doing a lot of sinking these days. I mean thinking. And I really only get to clear my head and think in one of two ways. Long drives. And going to the gym. And judging by the sheer number of miles placed on my car since New Year's; and recently, the hours in the gym, before and after work -- I have been doing a lot of thinking.
Really overdid it at the gym this week. Started going running (well, jogging/walking) again. And damn are my legs sore. It was very painful to walk Saturday night, even more so Sunday morning. I really should have eased myself back into it, but -- too many things on my mind to deal with.
But I have come up with nothing.
By this point in time, I'm sure most everyone has probably noticed it. I just can't keep up the happy facade anymore. I really want to break down and have someone to talk to, someone to be comfortable around. But, there really aren't many that I would feel comfortable with. And no, talking over the phone/Internet just doesn't cut it. Some things need to be done face-to-face.
Just an update...
|
|
|
| Weekend. |
[Mar. 7th, 2009|11:40 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | 92126 | ] |
Well, Let's see.
The original plan:
Head to SLO. Pick up things. Day trip to Bay area, see people.
Go hiking and enjoy the scenery of SLO. Stick around and give massage when friend returned Sun night.
Drive home Monday morning.
What happened:
Got to SLO late, excess traffic.
Slept in (not a bad thing) But had a nasty headache.
Started to pack my things and get ready for day trip. Sliced thumb open.
Clinics in SLO are mostly closed Saturdays. The one that was open, was closed for lunch. Went to the ER, and got stitches (not looking forward to the bill)
Didn't want to sleep in someone else's bed where gauze could come off (don't wanna sleep in my own bed--it's a nasty thought to get blood on bedding), so headed home (and hiking and massage are both out as the thumb is very important in doing things, and don't want it to get infected or anything -- also, it hurts like a bitch <.<; )
Got back to San Diego at 11:30. Was in the car for.. almost 8 hours. Traffic sucked from Pismo Beach, all the way to LAX.
What better way to kick off unemployment and celebrating not having even the semblance of health insurance (last day was Thurs) than needing to get stitches. This also means, that I need to get some coverage asap, so that if it does become infected or anything I can see someone. Or at the very least, so I don't have to take out the stitches myself ><;
(As a side note, the insurance coverage we had through mp3tunes did suck, as it had a $2500 deductable before benefits kicked in -- so if the bill comes out less than that, it would make no difference whether I had the insurance or not...)
I wonder what else can go wrong this birthday week ...
I so need a drink, and a relaxing vacation x_x
|
|
|
| Weekend Update |
[Mar. 2nd, 2009|12:19 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | 92121 | ] |
This weekend was fairly quiet, all things considering. Haven't been able to really reduce the stress via my normal means this past week and a bit, and it's been affecting me. Started getting the stress-induced chest-pain, and the debilitating bring-me-to-the-ground feeling that someone is stabbing my ribs with a knife. May go see a US doctor about it, as the Canadian doctors were like -- it's stress. Loosen up a bit. But, US doctors actually get paid, so they may be more motivated. Haven't experienced the sensation since moving to California, so it very may well be stress-related -- if I do, my crappy health-insurance plan (cover 75% of of all costs until $5000 spent) does expire on Friday, then I'm in limbo for insurance until April 9th or so. Need to not get injured over the next month. *nods*
Thursday
Activated my new replacement phone. Yay.
Saturday
Had dinner at Zen Buffet in Long Beach. It was amazing food for a $13 sushi-asian buffet. Again, can't belive I've never been there before. but then, it is in LB and I'm down in SD. So, not worth the commute just for food. Stopped at Haze's place after, had tea and some strawberry-passionfruit hookah, and then back to Zot's. Where we watched ...
LA Riot Spectaular. Great movie. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g52ZSnNB500 The entire movie is on youtube, and presumably somewhere in the depths of the Internet, or NetFlix.
There was some, wouldn't say drama. But there was a good 2 hr talk via AIM with Rex about Leo between 1 and 3am, and what my motives are about him. He seems very protective on this... complication situation he has with Leo (who is still with Raj).
Sunday
On the way to JJ Bakery to get a blueberry cheese breakfast bun, I dropped my phone, cracking the screen, rendering more than half the screen as black nothingness. x.x Going to use the insurance I put on the phone on Thursday, pay the $5 and have it replaced.
Went out with ferrel to grab some drinks after he got off work. We went to Pizza Port in San Clemente for pizza and pints -- and founded the cool klub on a napkin, (Great place, I can't believe I've never heard of it before now), to a place in Newport Beach for another pint. There the table next to us had a 6 L beer .. pipe, and a spigot. And well, the more loosely dressed girl got underneath that, and started to (repeatedly) chug straight from the tap. Snagged some video. Continuing on, looked for some other place to drink, and drove by "BAR" in Costa Mesa -- but the pedolific van in the parking lot looked a bit creepy. -- So, to the Santa Ana Double we went. The bar was closed (or at least seemed abandoned). Not to let this stop us, we ended up at the Lazy Dog for another pint in... Orange? Too many useless small cities in Orange County. Night ended with a bottle of beer.
This Week
Going to set up a dev machine at home to start out with some drupal development, and learning more about that. Finally set up my scanner on the box in the garage, and will get around to uploading newer art to FA.
Will hit up Stone Brewery tomorrow with Kit, barring anything happens.
And get to the gym more than twice this week.
|
|
|
| Week in Review |
[Feb. 27th, 2009|09:20 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | 92121 | ] |
It has definitely been an exciting week.
Thursday
The day everyone got the news about evil_dwagon . Quiet day. Went to a small gathering with zotcoon , cubstatik , nonamecub , zotter , ferrel , and grau. Crashed the night up there and commuted to work the next morning.
Saturday
Attempted to take my bike up to SLO to visit panth but that was cut short about 180mi into the trip when I dropped the bike. Broke the shifter peg, so was unable to really do anything except be in 1st gear. None of the gas stations in the area had duct tape so I called Kit and he ferried up duct tape and nailclippers, and we went to his place.
En route back, apparently my rear seat cowel came unlatched at some point. It popped off and landed somewhere on the 405S. Kit, who was trailing behind me didn't notice either. But, whatever, not that big of a part to replace. What was, was the windows mobile phone (HTC Titan/Sprint Mogul) that vanished between getting on the bike, and getting to Kit's. The cowel was recovered on an onramp by LAX.
[Duct tape and nail clippers -- good as new]
We ordered pizza upon getting to his place, and called it a night.
Sunday
Went to the shop in the morning where we put in a proper shifter, and got me a temporary cell phone to make calls on, since I would still be on the road for a good while. I went back up to LAX where I lost the cowel and phone, and looked around some more. No luck on the phone. :\ My plans for the weekend were terribly delayed, and unable to make it to SLO on Thurs, Fri, or Sat, kinda made it moot to try. Went home without incident.
Monday
Another day at work. Had a job phone interview in the morning that went very well. Let's see how things go.
Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday
Uneventful days. Work, commute after work to Riverside County, return. Bought myself a new phone, and still need to reflash it, and start collecting all the phone numbers of people I talk to. This may take a while, but it's slowly rebuilding. The problem is all the people I only knew in person/SMS and never once got any email/IM/other internet means of talking to.
Put in my notice at work. Last day here is Friday the 6th.
|
|
|
| Lost Phone |
[Feb. 21st, 2009|08:47 pm] |
It has been a hideous week. And things just got a fair bit worse.
Anyhow, more details of today's many events to come later.
If you can read this, reply with your phone number (comments screened) so I can rebuild the 171 contacts that were in my phone :\
My phone was lost in LA just north of LAX, in a not so decent part of town. So, will need to get a new phone in short order. |
|
|
| Requiescat In Pace |
[Feb. 19th, 2009|06:00 pm] |
Furp was a good man. We had met off and on at cons, and online to various extents. And heard plenty of stories while he was in Kyrgyzstan. But, it wasn't until this Christmas when he was back in California, getting ready for his next job in Twentynine Palms that I really got to know him well in person.
He rejuvinated my desire to get a motorcycle when he purchased his Ninja last month. We both went gear shopping at the wonderful Orange County Motorsports in Santa Ana. It was a great afternoon, followed by a full evening of Shabu Shabu, and then shooting the shit for the remainder of the night.
He always had a great sense of humour, and was very sarcastic, but it worked.
Last week, we both (by chance) met at OC Motorsports again, chatting with Kit. I was just on my way out as he was pulling in. But seeing him get so excited about the new GPS unit he purchased for the bike, and going to get it installed before the furry gathering that night. He truly enjoyed life. Still makes me chuckle thinking of him wearing his fleece pajamas underneath his clothing under his gear to keep warm for the the long bike ride through the desert.
He was kind and considerate of others until the end. Making sure that everyone was tended to, that there wasn't any more he could offer. And I'll remember him for this.
May you rest in peace. |
|
|
| Post Con |
[Jan. 29th, 2009|04:29 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | 92121 | ] |
Further confusion was a blast. Met plenty of faces, both old and new, and I'm sure that you'll see the antics that were around on everyone else's journal. So there isn't much need to be reiterating them them here as well.
Also over the FC weekend, I did manage to get myself a bike. So this is probably the most expensive FC weekend to date. However, I am now the new owner of a nice SV 650/S
Just need to now -
get gear;
figure out the ins and outs of owning a motorcycle;
install the frame sliders when they arrive.
and yea.
Also need to find myself a new job. Current company is now on its deathbed. :\
Ice
|
|
|
