Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween

And thank you, Ohio State. I know it was against New Mexico State, but it's always nice to blank somebody, especially with the second (and third) stringers playing the entire second half. Three shut-outs this year is impressive; if only we could rid ourselves of the two losses, I'd be happy.

Here are some Halloween-themed photos for your enjoyment:




Thursday, October 29, 2009

I Love LC

Today was one of those new-video-game-came-out-today days, so the ol' Xbox pretty much ate up my Thursday. I find it hilarious that I actually purchased a game called "The Ballad of Gay Tony." It's actually the final Grand Theft Auto IV add-on, which is kind of sad; the Liberty City saga will be over soon, but it'll always stand as one of the greatest experiences in gaming, as well as some of the most biting and spot-on sociological satire in any medium.

As promised, my work-day was quick and painless, which was super cool.

I was thinking today that I hope I'm not freaking any Airmen out whilst at work. You see, I often catch myself gazing dreamily at them when they come in the store in their ABUs. Aaaannd I'd better clear that statement up. It's not as though I have a don't-ask-don't-tell thing for guys in uniform (although, girls in uniform...), it's that I have an I-can't-wait-to-wear-that-uniform thing for the...uniform. I see it; I can't help but stare. Nothing...funny. When I first started the military-joining process, I decided that my first moment of overwhelming pride would be at the time I swore in. That turned out to be very much the case - the proudest moment of my life. The next moment, I think, will be when I first put on that camouflage and lace up those boots.

I'm now only six weeks behind on my comic books. I got a lot of reading done this past week when I was sick, and am hoping to get a couple of weeks read within the next couple of days. I managed to pretty much catch up on one of my projects (the Hello!Project project), so that frees up some quality reading time. I'm also trying to get through a stack of about twenty Stephen King books, so I have quite enough reading material to last me a good long time ^_^ Plus, I've really been itching lately to read Frank Herbert's "Dune" saga again, because four times through is not nearly enough.

Halloween is on Saturday and my mother still has not even started making my Spider-Man costume. I always wondered how Peter suddenly got the amazing seamstress (seamster?) skills necessary in order to create his outfit. As far as I know, spiders (genetically altered or not) don't possess any innate costume-design abilities; though they are rather keen at thread-work, so I guess that half explains it. Of course, EIC Quesada would just write it off as "magic." And since nobody got that joke, I'll stop here and go to bed.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Status Ailments Removed

I think I finally feel better. For real this time. On Sunday, I felt pretty good, but I guess I had a bit of a relapse yesterday, because I simply could not function at work and ended up leaving at 8:00 in order to come home and sleep all day. I'm not entirely sure how many hours of sleep I got yesterday, but it was a lot. And now I'm fine. I'm still coughing, but it's not sick-related; I got a piece of gummy candy lodged in my throat earlier and am still feeling the discomfort from that. It's a funny story, actually (though a little disgusting, for which I apologize beforehand). I kept swallowing, hoping to dislodge the candy, but to no avail. I figured since it wouldn't go down, I ought to try and bring it back up. After a couple of pretty weak coughing attempts, I bent over and gave one final mighty effort, expecting the object to come flying out of my mouth. It did not. But it was no longer there, so I assumed it had slid down (though I didn't feel it). Some time later and because I have a bit of a runny nose, I let in a sniffle, only to have the candy particle re-enter my mouth from where it had been resting in my nose-hole. And so far, that's been the highlight of my day.

Tomorrow promises to be a short day at work; one of those side-caps and revisions days. Then I'm off until Sunday evening at 10:00. After that, I work starting at 11:00 PM Monday through Wednesday (into Thursday morning), which I really don't mind. Working while the store is closed is much easier and much more productive; plus we usually get fed ^_^

Which reminds me: I'm hungry. All I've had to eat today was Pop-Tarts, ice cream, cheesecake, and some...nose-candy. Heh.

Monday, October 26, 2009

October 26, 2009

You know, I think I prefer the actual being sick part of being sick over the post-illness sneezing, runny nose and clogged sinuses part. Yesterday, I felt like I was back to 100%; then I went to work this morning and felt bad again. More than likely, I imagine, it was because of the shock of being active and actually having to walk and employ some effort for the first time in days. I actually started to feel better as the day progressed, but for a while there I just felt like going home. Or maybe it's all simply because I didn't want to be at work >_<

I need to give a one-day-late (I think) congratulatory shout-out to my MaMa and PaPa, as they celebrated their 57th anniversary! Sorry, I didn't make a cheesecake, but there's still some left from the last one ^_____^

I just realized that I need to update my "About Me" thing, since I now know when I'm going to basic and what AFSC I'm going into. But I'm too lazy to do it now, so I'll do it...eventually.

Yesterday I got to watch what will more than likely be the only Buccaneers game I'll get to watch this season, which may not be such a bad thing. Watching Tampa Bay is an embarrassing and painful experience. Yet I try to convince myself that there is potential there that just needs a couple of years to grow. We'll see.

Ah, yes; I have to mention this. On this day in the year 3019 of the Third Age, the Council of Elrond took place. The Shire date is October 25th, but that corresponds to October 26th on the modern calendar. I messed that up on a Facebook post yesterday and am rather ashamed of myself :P

Aaaaannd...I'm a geek.

Frodo lives!

<_<

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Captain Trips?

I woke up on Wednesday evening and my throat hurt. Then my head started hurting, so I felt like crap all day at work on Thursday. Then I felt crappier all day Friday, but at least I was off work. When I woke up this morning, my throat wasn't so bad, but the pain decided to move into my ears, all the while remaining in my head. And neck. And back. And eyeballs.

I hate being sick.

I've felt like I was getting sick for the past couple of weeks; lately I've just kind of felt like blegh, but I guess it finally decided to really happen. Basically, I feel as though I've spent the last couple of days doing nothing but sleeping, showering, not eating, wandering around aimlessly, and not getting anything done. My sense of concentration was better today, though, and I was able to read a bit, do some item crafting in Infinite Undiscovery, finish my Hello!Project backup discs, and watch Ohio State finally do some good (at least in the second half) against Minnesota. I finally felt hungry too, and ate some pizza, which is much better than my last-48-hour diet of oatmeal and tomato soup. That's two different food items. Oatmeal. Tomato soup. Not oatmeal-and-tomato soup. That would be gross.

So now I only feel like semi-crap. Hopefully this'll be over very soon.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

^_^

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Abbey Road, Risa-san, and...something,,,

I cannot for the life of me remember what I was going to post about today. Hmm...I was at work today and I remember thinking, "Ah! Great! I have to write about that on the ol' blog this evening!" And now I can't seem to recall anything about what that particular topic may have been. I guess it wasn't important.

Work was ridiculously long today. It was actually only a ten hour shift but seemed twice that. Plus, I only managed to get through two-thirds of my work. One easy, non-frustrating, sunshine-and-rainbows day is all I ask. *sigh* At the beginning of November my job as I know it is over. I'll never have to set another planogram after the Christmas set goes up. We're going overnight for that, which means I'll have to sleep during the day, which is something I despise, but oh well, right? The boss is sure to bring in food during that week, like she did last time we were on that schedule for the electronics department overhaul. Ribs. Please. Yum.

The entire Abbey Road album was released today for The Beatles: Rock Band. Someday, I'll have to make a set list and play through the entire thing in one session. Father and I played through a few songs this evening. Always fun, and I like showing off my amazing fake-guitar skillz; I'm not a half-bad drummer either ^_^ I do need a new drumset, as mine is one of the original Rock Band sets and has seen quite a lot of usage. The RB2 drums are supposedly better, and I really need a Guitar Hero set, which is significantly different than what I have now. What I don't need, however, is more than one drum kit cluttering my living area. Between my four Xbox guitars, my three Dance Dance Revolution mats, and my drums, I am developing quite the horde of rhythm game peripherals. Thankfully, DS rhythm games just use a simple little stylus.

Aaaaaannnd, I can't possibly not mention the fact that today is my favorite Morning Musume member's 21st birthday, so this is me mentioning it. Happy Birthday to the lovely Niigaki Risa. Yatta!!!


Yes, folks, I've completely lost it. I no-baked the girl a cheesecake. I blame my inner wota ^_^

:P

Monday, October 19, 2009

Three Months

Three months from today I'll be in basic o_O

Also, I'll be out of Target. That place is beginning to drive me up the wall. For the umpteenth time in the last few weeks, guess who had to stay later than the entire rest of his team and finish the stuff that they couldn't? Ugh...my nine hours worth of work was done in about five; a co-worker's three hours worth was still being worked on after seven hours, then I had to go finalize it, as he had to go to his other job. Every day it's like this. Grr...

But I purchased Guitar Hero: World Tour for twelve bucks today on clearance, so that was very cool. Plus, a great new AKB48 Undergirls video came out, which was nice to see.

That Dylan Christmas album that I was sort of poking fun at turned out to be rather extraordinary. I gave it a couple of listens and, though I'm not even close to being in the mood for Christmas yet, I absolutely enjoyed it, and am certain that it will be spun many times come December.

Marvel Comics' January solicits come out tomorrow, which is going to be strange, because I'll be able to start to see all the books that are going to be released while I'm in basic. I'm finally catching up with my reading, though. I just read Amazing Spider-Man 603 (608 came out last Wednesday), so I still have a ways to go; I've been missing some really great stories, too.

There was a cheesecake in the house, but now it's gone. I loooove cheesecake. I think I may have to purchase and create a new one tomorrow. Now that the sister is back in Waco, it's more for me ^_^ Plus, tomorrow is Risa Niigaki's birthday (she's the one in the picture on top of this page), so it's a good excuse for cake.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

"We did this for the show."

^Quote of the month. Thanks, Balloon Boy!

So let me get this straight: This Heene family, (allegedly) thinking that their two appearance on Wife Swap were not fifteen-minutes-of-fame enough, (allegedly) hoaxed the country by (allegedly) causing everybody to think that their six-year-old was floating away on some experimental home-made helium UFO/balloon thing, when in fact (not allegedly), the child was doing his best Anne Frank impersonation by hiding in the attic. This, of course, was discovered to be the case only after all the king's horses and all the king's men were called in to bring Balloon Boy down safely. In the aftermath interviews, Balloon Boy was interrogated by Wolf Blitzer as to why he wouldn't come out of the attic. Well, here:

"You guys said that we did this for the show." Ah, priceless. They say the darndest things, do they not? The "OMG we're so screwed" reaction of the father is an amazing thing to behold. And as if this whole thing couldn't get any better, the kid goes and pukes on The Today Show the following day. File this one under "You Can't Make This Stuff Up."

I can't believe I haven't posted since Tuesday. I'm so ashamed. On Wednesday, I pretty much slept all day, and on Thursday, I got off work late, played Halo, and went out for sushi. Yesterday was kind of a boring do-nothing day, so I guess there really hasn't been all that much to post about ^_^

(This space is left intentionally blank and is where I would have written something about the Ohio State game earlier, had Ohio State actually decided to show up and play a game earlier).

Back in July, when I was sent home disqualified from my initial military processing and qualification, I sent in a request to get my medical records from St. Louis, as I was told that I still had a chance to be...dis-disqualified if I presented my records. My parents also had the hospital on base request them, which is where I was able to pick them up after only a couple of weeks, much to the surprise of all parties involved. I was then able to go back down to Dallas to finish the process and swear in. Today, in the mail, I received a copy of my records - nearly three months after having requested them!!! If the hospital hadn't gotten them...yikes.

Speaking of three months, I have almost exactly that amount of time until I'm outta here. Yikes again.

o_O

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Panic

I just woke up thinking for a brief moment that the time was actually 7:00 AM of tomorrow morning. That would have been bad.

I came across (was directed toward) this today:
Moderately Confused
The writer kinda cheated, as "no direction home" is a lyric and not a song :P I looked at the actual track list today and I absolutely must hear this thing; picking it up tomorrow, methinks.

I've pretty much felt like crap all week; seems to always happen right around this time of year. I'll go through my day sort of feeling that I'm kind of outside myself; like my body is somehow lagging behind my mind (or maybe vice versa). It's almost as if I'm spectating on myself as I go through my daily routine. It'll pass, though; and I have actually managed to keep myself in a good mood in spite of feeling blegh, so that's cool.

I'm gonna go eat some Johnny Marzetti ^_^

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will catch up with all the things I've been trying to catch up on. I promised myself I would do it all over the weekend, but didn't quite make it. And now my stupid computer's stupidness has gone and cost me two hours of work, which was heac-inun to beit.

Sorry about that. That was meant to say "headache-inducing to begin with," but my keyboard just decided that it needed new batteries. This is the kind of day I'm having. Grr...

It hasn't been all bad, though. Another good sermon this morning; I've always been fascinated with the life of David and learned some stuff that I had never discovered before. Plus, my viola cooperated with me this morning, which is always nice. I came home and watched last week's service on the television, as I missed it last week. Also good. Ohio State's defense beat Wisconsin on Saturday. Also good. I finally got to see C-ute's "Everday Zekkouchou!!" dance-shot PV; also good. I got another Firefight achievement; frustrating but good. My mother made chicken pot pie. Extremely good (hi, Mom!) :D Um...I'm currently drinking orange juice...also...good. Alright, I'm done.

See? Not so bad. As the very very wise Eric Idle said, "Always look on the bright side of life."

^o^ - *whistle*

Friday, October 9, 2009

A Robert Zimmerman Christmas?

I just got off the phone with the sister, and she informed me that Bob Dylan has a Christmas album coming out next week. How the heck did I miss this? "A Hard Snow's A-Gonna Fall," perhaps? Or how about "I Dreamed I Saw St. Nicholas"? "Stuck Inside the North Pole With the Memphis Blues Again"? "Tangled Up In Tinsel"? But seriously folks, apparently it's a proceeds-go-to-charity thing and actually and truly consists of his renditions of classic Christmas tunes. Very strange, but I can't wait to hear it.

Speaking of music, I fell in love with a new song today and ended up looping it and listening to it over and over while I worked on some stuff. It's from a group called ZONE: a four member, all-girl, basic set-up (two guitars, a bass, and drums) band from Japan (duh), who were active from 2001 to 2005 before they disbanded for some reason. I was thinking today that it was about a month ago that Oasis broke up, but since then I have discovered two groups that have become new favorites, one being ZONE and the other being The Gazette, which I mentioned in a post sometime last month...September 3rd...with a video of their goosebump-inducing song "Cassis." This is ZONE's single "Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~" and is equally goosebump-inducing:

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Momma Knows

I spent the better part of yesterday at my home-boy (home-boy? really?) Andy's house. It had been quite a while since we had gotten together to play some guitar, but it was really nice to be able to go do that. We discovered, however, that our hit song, Momma Knows, is rather rusty, and it took some brainstorming to even remember the words. Sometime here in the next couple of months, we need to get a decent recording done of it so it can go on Youtube, but before that, I feel that the song needs to be tweaked and re-worked a bit; it needs polishing, and I kinda feel that some of the parts of the song don't seem as funny six years later. The version that we came up with on one fateful night in the Mardel parking lot is pretty much the version that we have accepted ever since; not really any revisions to speak of, so it's probably a good idea to sit down and polish it.

The Bonus Track, however, is perfect ^_^

I was just playing Firefight with some friends for over an hour when I lost my online connection, which I believe means the game ended for everybody. I bet they're quite perturbed at me. I shall be sure to avoid them, as I do not wish to be pummeled.

Morning Musume's Kimagure Princess PV was made available for viewing today, but that's a topic for my other blog (although I did embed the video in a separate post below this one).

When did I play in the compost? Saturday? Because the yard still smells of you-know-what. Seriously. Five days later and the stench refuses to dissipate. I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever be safe to go outside again.

My co-workers and I managed to finish everything early this week, so we're off tomorrow. This will be the first three-day weekend in a couple of weeks, and I'm glad. I need sleep.

I like trees.

Kimagure Princess PV!!!

^_^

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Tough Decision

And everything was going so well.

I now find myself in the position of having to make a very difficult decision regarding my immediate future. Due to a recent happening, I have discovered that some changes may be necessary; and I am not generally a fan of change. But these things seem inevitable. Every action has consequences, and I need to find the courage to suck it up and do what has to be done.

Are you ready to hear this? You'd better sit down. It's a big one.

I...

I changed my blog's title picture and now it doesn't match my color scheme.

I am quite fond of my gray background and my orange title text and my blue link text. The pictures of me and my violin are suitable and very earth-toned, and the old picture that I had in my title worked, as Konno was wearing white and it was a bit desaturated. Then I went and put this Risa-san picture with her bright yellow bow and her very colorful necklace and a hint of her bright blue shirt, and...it just throws my whole palette off. I don't know what to do. I saw the picture and I said, "Yep. There's my new blog banner, yessiree Bob," but I didn't think it through. Do I change my color scheme to suit the photo? Do I try to desaturate the pic a bit? Do I *gasp* use a different picture? But I really like this one. I mean, look at her. Actually, now that I think about it, I only have about a million pictures of her, most of which are much less colorful. I may try to find one of those. But this current one screamed out to me; it just seemed to want to go on my blog. Oh well. Maybe I'll fix it tomorrow.

See? Tough decision.

^_^

In real news, I got my car back today, and it's good and fixed. Turns out the passenger side door sensor was screwed up, which is why my car always thought I had a door ajar when I obviously did not, and explains why my alarm kept activating randomly. I only had to pay 90 bucks, which is cool, so I'm pretty happy about my transportation situation now.

I get to play in the furniture aisles at work tomorrow. That calls for a sarcastic "Yatta!" Last time I had to work in that part of the store, I managed to just about knock myself out with a metal bar. Ah, such fond memories. I had a gash on my forehead for weeks. My cow-orkers thought it was hilarious, though.

=-[

Monday, October 5, 2009

10/05 Random Thoughts

I was self-conscious all day at work today because I, dummy that I am, wore my work shoes the other day when I was knee-deep in that pile of sh...er...compost.

The smell lingers. The neighbors are preparing their uprising, and we will be driven out of town; I just know it.

I dropped my car off at the service center today to get it fixed. Hopefully I'll get it...fixed.

I didn't let my co-worker drive me nuts today, although I did have to work with him/her. The usage of "him/her" is not to question his/her sexuality or gender - that would be rude. I'm merely attempting to maintain some semblance of anonymity, though I honestly have no idea why. It's not like he/she (it?) reads this.

My Fallout 3 bobble-head collection is growing; I finally have ten of the things.

I have a theory that there are actually two girls named Sugaya Risako, who are exactly the same age and look like distant cousins, and one just happened to be around as a replacement when the other decided to leave Berryz Koubou.

2009-1994=19

I want Final Fantasy XIII, and I want it NOW.

Same for Golden Sun 3.

Every day, I become more and more proud of my decision to join the Air Force. Much of that has to do with the fact that I can tell that everybody who knows me - my family, friends, church, co-workers - are just as proud. There are times when I start to think about it, and it completely freaks me out, and I'll lose a bit of sleep over it; but I suppose that's to be expected. All-in-all, I'm really not all that worried because I know that it's the absolute right decision. I was talking to a co-worker about basic training today, and told him/her :P that it was going to be strange walking out of the house, on my way to being gone for months, and taking only a half-full duffel bag with me. Scary thought. But any frightening notion can be countered by considering that the most important part of me can never leave me or forsake me. The knowledge that I have a Friend in Christ, whom with I have a literal walking/talking relationship, keeps my spirits up every step of this journey. I consider it miraculous that I was even able to get into the service, as the "rule book" says that I'm disqualified. But I never worried, because I knew that this was meant to be. When the path is clear, the path is clear.

The verse I live by is not a well-known one, and is kind of buried in Isaiah (30:21):

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Oh; and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I want that as well.

:D

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Zombies, Japanese Girls, Compost, and Football

That was my Saturday.

I have a strange array of interests. Actually, compost is not really an interest. Plus, it smells really bad, and the smell refuses to go away after a long shower. Why compost, you ask? That would be my father's fault. He brought home a giant pickup truck-load of the stuff to spread around all the plants, and I shoveled it out of the back of the truck. Somehow, I couldn't help but think of this guy. In some odd way, I actually kind of enjoy doing stuff like that. But now I stink and I have a headache; I think something in that pile of...stuff...got to me.

I managed to get some things done today that I've been meaning to get done, and was even able to catch up on some of my Japanese cuties' recent television appearances that I missed :D

Other than that, a buddy and I killed a few hundred zombies in Left for Dead earlier today, and I just finished watching Ohio State beat Indiana. I hate when a team scores on us with mere seconds left, making a blowout seem like not such a blowout. Actually, I hate it when teams score on us, period. Ohio State has a way of being frustrating even when you know they're not going to lose, and they have a substantial lead. Such is the way of defense-oriented teams, I suppose. Tampa Bay was the same way a few years back (when they were actually good); even in their Super Bowl year. We manage to win, but sometimes it feels pretty sloppy.

I think I'm going to go take another shower.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Three in a row?

How great would it be for Ohio State to shut out Indiana tomorrow evening?

Pretty darn great, if you ask me. But a win's all I really care about.

This week seems to have leveled out a bit after a rough start. I actually ended up having to work this morning, which makes two five-day weeks in a row. Next week is probably going to be pretty heavy too, so at least my paychecks are improving. Before too long, my fellow Planogram team members and I will be done for the year, as there are no resets done during the Christmas season. As soon as Christmas is set, we have to matriculate to Flow for the remainder of the year, and I can already tell that that's going to feel a bit awkward for me, seeing as how I was in charge of Flow last year. Or, I was set up as a proxy last year, or something. I'm not entirely sure what happened. But I'm over it. Really. I am.

Really.