This Is My Life

4:47pm: FYI
Dear Everyone Outside of Newark, DE;

Delaware is where you go if you want to go somewhere else to have a good time. Granted, if it were our friends here, some people our age, we could find things to do, but if you're, oh, say, the age of Maria's parents and you come to visit, plan on sitting around a TV or a game of Scrabble for the entire weekend.

Going out somewhere nice for dinner is about as exciting as it gets. That, and maybe bowling, if you don't have a headache.

Thanks.

10:04pm: In-Laws
Sometimes, there are things in life that not only do you think "I'll never hear these people say THAT," but it doesn't even cross your mind that a discussion of these topics may take place with these people.

Example?

Maria's parents, two things that could have been overheard by a passerby at two very different times, talking about two very different, yet extremely similar, topics:

"Yeah Jeremiah, you're nuts are too small."

Six hours later:

"Our balls are big and firm."

And that's all I have to say about that.

10:39pm: In Other News
First, I was showcased at my favorite insect-related website two days in a row, which is pretty cool. I could have gone for the trifecta and possibly gotten a spider picture up on Friday, but submitted it a little late. So, as it is we have a big-nosed stink bug, and what I think is actually a wasp, but with no huge stinger.

Secondly, there is no secondly. I'm really tired and thought I could come up with something good, but really it's all just a vehicle to get you to go look at the bug pictures that are featured on chalain's site.

So, with that in mind, and the realization that leaving comments on those photos (at the site, not here, or whatever, here is fine too), let me leave you with this:

Go look at the photos!

4:22pm: Cyber-Bully
There was someone here that I read, and I can't remember who it was, who was righteously outraged by grown ups masquerading as a 13 year old boy to trick, taunt, and tease a local teen girl. It ended when, after making her think that this fictional boy was in love with her, they, through this disguise, told her they were breaking up, and that "the world would be a better place without [her]." She committed suicide.

At the time, the courts had no idea what to do, and there was even talk of doing nothing

This post is to let you know that something has been done, on a federal level.

2:40pm: Sway Me Away Today
Okay, so, federal farming subsidies are in the news because the President of the US opposes them, and the House and Senate strongly support them.

Now, my understanding of the situation with many subsidies, and somebody who knows more please feel free to step in and correct me, is that in many cases, farms are being paid to NOT grow crops, when they could be otherwise.

Is this true? I'm sure it's a gross oversimplification, but what I want to know is could it be boiled down to that?

If so, then I think this is one of the very few times I've ever agreed with President George W. Bush.

11:41pm: Cooking 101
Okay, I need your help folks, and I know there are people out there that can give me GREAT ideas. I'm trying to cook a nice meal tomorrow for Maria and myself. I'm not exactly stumped, and I have some thoughts as to what I want, but the exacts are missing.

Here's what I want: a meatless (yes, I'm back to eating meat, but we just don't have any right now) taco that is filling, and tastes fantastic.

Here's what I have: Kidney beans, taco shells, LOTS of cheddar cheese, lettuce, sweet tomatoes, most basic condiments (but NO salsa), and just about any dried spice I could ever need*.

How would you make this and have it be tasty? You have all day, as I don't need this until about 4 PM EST, and I'm posting it before midnight, so if you have to think, look around, research, feel free. I just need a little help.

And if there's an ingredient you think you need that I don't mention, let me know, I have more.

*Okay, so no Heart of Paradise, or whatever it is, but I only just heard about that like two weeks ago, and have never used it.

11:16pm: Up Late
I can remember when "staying up late" meant that I saw the sunrise through the trees of my friend's backyard, or getting home just before it was time to get up for school the next day. Usually, I'll admit, I ended up staying home from school when I was up that late, but I never would have considered midnight "late."

Then I vaguely recall, with a sense of someone possibly making up the memory because they think they should be able to remember it, when "up late" meant after 8 or 8:30. The disappointment when my parents suddenly realized that it was after 9, that the movie they were watching was probably going to give me nightmares for a week, and that I was gleefully watching it, quietly watching them to make sure they didn't notice me.

Now, it's eleven at night, dark outside, the dogs sleeping in the bedroom with Maria, and my eyes are trying to betray me. I want to go to bed, go to sleep and be blissfully unaware for a while. I could, very easily, and not regret it in the morning except for knowing that I could have stayed up later and gotten more done. A small regret, when all is said and done, really.

At midnight I'll sneak into the bedroom, slide under the covers next to Maria while quieting Monster down as she yips at me from inside her cage, and push MaiTai closer to the bottom of the bed where she normally sleeps. I'll drop off into sleep quickly, without all the normal nighttime tossing and turning that comes with going to bed before I'm really ready, and I'll dream.

Morning will come, and hopefully, if my projection is correct, and I have actually been getting too much sleep lately, I'll feel refreshed and ready to face the day. I might stay in bed until after Maria's done getting ready for her day, since I don't have to actually go to work until nine or so, but at 7:30 I want to be up and out of bed, ready to face the day.



Yeah. Good luck with that. My other half that's not nearly as positive says quite plainly "Screw you! I'm going to bed now, sleeping in, and getting 9 hours of sleep!"

Guess we'll see who wins, both tonight and in the morning.

1:52pm: Thoughts
Which would you rather be, noting that one does not necessarily preclude the other, but outshines it:

Persuasive, or Well-Liked?

Very Attractive, or Very Intelligent?

Graceful, or Rich?

11:07am: Looking For...
Okay, so I'm working, and what this means is that I have two things open on my desktop right now: The program where I type what people say, and this browser. Normally, while I work, I have this browser open, and I read Livejournal, peruse comic strips, and look over my Google statistics for my other blogs.

But I'm bored.

Please, share with me some interesting sites. I need them to NOT include sound or video, but visual media such as art and comics are fine. Comics are okay, but interesting articles are even better.

Interesting articles that include comics are priceless.

Art is good, but it REALLY has to hold my interest.

What've you got? Hit me!

2:51pm: Good Idea
theferrett did this, and I think it's a great idea. I've also seen popfiend do it, so it's a trend, not just a meme, since the cool people are doing it.

I'd like to know what you look like. In a comment, please post a picture of yourself! Not an icon picture, a big one, a real one, where I can see you!

It's only fair if I do it first, right?



Your turn!

6:11pm: Go. Do.
photognome has a request.

If you haven't already, and you have even a tiny hope that it'll work, please read and do. It takes seconds to do it, I swear.

3:10pm: I Asked
I wrote an email to Maria, and asked if I'd be crossing a line. I'm always aware that there are lines, and some we shouldn't cross, but I'm never quite certain how close I am to it.

My teacher at UD is from China, and I don't know how many people have seen, but there was a horrendous earthquake at about 2:00 AM EST that has reportedly killed over 8,500 people. The last time, as that news article states, that China had an earthquake with a similar magnitude (7.8, give or take .3), the Chinese government didn't report the true amount of damage until much later.

I wanted to write to my teacher to express my hopes that everyone he knows is okay, that his family still over there (he talks about them often) are hopefully well outside the problem areas.

But...he's my teacher.

On the one hand, I'm an adult. I'm 28, and should be able to express sympathy/whatever you want to call it for his situation. If it were anyone else that I knew, I'd send an email in an instant.

Then, on the other hand, I'm a student. Is it crossing a line to say something to him? Where's the line, here?

Maria suggested I wait until Wednesday, and offer my wishes for well-being to him at class. In the end, I think that's a good idea.

That being said, my heart goes out to those people currently affected by this. I hope that, like many times with bad things, the death toll is being over-reported, and that less people's lives were lost.

6:41pm: Dinners And Dining
Maria's ill, having taken Friday off as a vacation day the Universe appears to have decided that it would be best if she were punished, and out cold on the couch with a stomach flu for the entire weekend.

She offered to buy dinner tonight for us, as I've been "very nice and helpful." Though I would normally jump at this offer, the other day we decided that, in an effort to save gas, we should make our shopping trips bigger, spending all at once what we would normally space out over a couple times in a week or more.

$220 later, we have a house full of food. I'm not sure I've ever spent that much on groceries for two people, and if this doesn't last us for quite a while, I'll be a bit disappointed. For this reason, I thought going out for some dinner might be rather frivolous.

Of course, that doesn't mean I feel like cooking. For lunch I made a spinach, shrimp, and cilantro salad, with tomatoes and crunchy bits out of a shaker. That was enough cooking for the day, really; mind, the shrimp was cooked yesterday.

I love cooking, but some days I just don't want to bother with turning on the stove. Anyone else feel like that? What do you normally do when that feeling comes around? Do you just go out for dinner, or make something simple? I'm thinking tater tots and pre-made pirogies, a fantastically unhealthy, but ridiculously simple dinner if I just nuke the pirogies and do the tater tots up in the oven.

But somehow even that seems like too much.

Some days, I actually start to think I'm lazy, and that I should do something about it.

(Wait for it)

Then I realize that would be too much work.

12:49pm: Storms
Southeastern US friends, please check in? Hope all is well.

8:09am: Non-Zombie Related Skills
Does anyone out there know of a good tutorial to help me learn how to draw?

Like so many people these days, I have what I think could be an awesome idea for a webcomic or similar, and just don't think my stick-figure drawings will cut it. They could, as my stick-figure style is similar to Order of the Stick and a few other popular poorly-drawn strips, but for the seriousish tone that I want the strip to have, it just doesn't work well.

So, do you know of anywhere I could look to get a good idea of how to draw a human head/face? How about bodies? Backgrounds? All done, of course, in a comic-like style. What that means, I have no idea.

Also? I've had caffeine this morning because today's going to be very busy learning about how to help stay "Green" and save the Earth. If I use up the extra energy from the caffeine, I'll be fine. If I don't, I'll get cranky. If I forget why I'm cranky, and post something to that effect, someone please remind me that I'm being dumb.

Thanks.

1:13pm: A Few Good Things
The dogs just got back from their first day at Doggie Daycare, and from all reports, things went great. The dogs got some exercise on a dreary day, and Maria and I got to go out to breakfast without worrying what the dogs were destroying at home. It's good that this is working out, and we're going to make Fridays their usual playtime there.

~~~

I just started Project Flower on my picture blog, and would LOVE to see people on livejournal partaking in it as well, if you're interested.

Basically, it's ten days of flower pictures. Nothing complicated, just pretty.

Also, along that note, for those following Zombie Defense Contractors via the LJ Feed, there is now a weekly poll embedded on the site, so if you want to partake in that, please visit the site and put in your vote/opinion/statistic!

~~~

Maria, because of all of the days off she gets from working at the awesome college, has started taking off Fridays, meaning she's only working 4 days a week and getting paid for 5.

Lucky lady, isn't she? And I get her all to myself. Lucky guy, aren't I?

2:41pm: A List
Things I am grateful for this week:

Nice weather

The puppy play date went well

People realizing that Hillary Clinton has gone insane

We booked a trip to go to Disney in late July/early August

So did my parents

Being able to talk to old friends via email when I'm missing them in real life

My garden is growing nice and big, quickly

Making new friends through the local gaming shop community

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I have right now.

What brings you a smile this week?

8:46am: Interesting Things
Before I write a snapshot of my life today, I'd like to mention that ulitave has something to say, and I think it's worth a read. It has to do with vegetarians, and while I do still eat meat (I went back to meat now and then) I think it's a fantastic read. Go check it out!

...

I want to write about what's going on, but don't have a lot to say. I'm trying to push my boundaries, and make new ones for myself. Trying to change my life for the better, even though it's already great. If it's great now, will it be awesome when I get done with it? I hope so. I like awesome. I also like adventure, and interesting times.

So a question then, for entertainment.

If you could be on one television show, what show would it be? What role would you play in it?

1:54pm: Interview For A Game
(Sort of pinging theferrett on this one, if you have time, since I'm pretty sure it was you I got this idea from. That being said I would love help from all gamers on this one, please.)

I'm thinking of starting up a D&D 3.5 edition game, run weekly on Thursday nights at the local gaming shop. I have a home made world, have a general story that will weave in and out of daily life of the players, and some really fantastic ideas that I think will improve the play of the game. I'm completely set to sit down, start some level one characters, and run a game long enough and fun enough to keep them interested well into the high teens of levels, if not the ever-elusive Level 20.

But, well, that would require players.

We've lived in Delaware for a while, but I haven't taken the time to get to know anyone. I simply don't know anyone well enough to say "Yes, I want you in my game." Thus, I would like to make an application for the game. I don't want it to come across as rude, but I want to make sure that the player is going to fit the game. Yes, I can and will change the game to suite a different playing style, but I will not change my code of "if you're creepy, I don't want you around" as GM.

I'd like my gaming application to be 1 part about the person to every 2 parts about the kind of gamer they are, if that makes sense.

Can anyone help me out in figuring the best way to do this? I'd like to start running a game soonish, as I'm really missing my RP fix these days.

...

That all being said, I'm also considering an online game via some chat program. I don't know if I could run that, as I've never really tried and it seems as though it might be difficult, but I find the idea interesting. Would anybody be looking to get into something like that? I'm considering either using a voice chat or a conventional text chat, depending on what people think is best.

1:04pm: Well, well, well.
I don't normally do these, but taoangel put me on her "tagged" list, and she's said nice things about my photos, so I guess it's only fair that I give this meme a shot, eh?

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Jeremiah
2. Miah
3. Jere (very few people call me this)

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1. JFargo
2. Lecroix_D
3. LARPUSA

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. Calves
2. Eyes
3. Face

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. Stomach
2. Arm muscles (lack of)
3. Thighs

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. People
2. Places
3. Things

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. The dark
2. Zombies
3. Someone harming my family

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. Computer (EVERY DAY!)
2. Sunlight (Yes, I used to shy from it, but now I love it)
3. Fun

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. An orange Hawaiian t-shirt
2. Blue Hawaiian shorts
3. Headphones...not Hawaiian

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS OR MUSICAL ARTISTS:
1. Plain White T's
2. Those guys who sing that one song that goes ba ba ba bada ba ba...yeah.
3. Those girls with the sexy voices.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
1. Honesty
2. Friendship
3. Trust (I know, "gag me with a spoon," but it's true.)

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (in no particular order):
1. I'm going to Disney late July for my brother's wedding.
2. I think I can.
3. Sometimes, I just want to sleep all day, for a week.

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE PREFERRED SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. A sense of confidence.
2. Boobs. Sue me, I'm a guy, and I like nice boobs.
3. Different-ness

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. Photography
2. Reading
3. Writing

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. Sit with a friend over a drink and talk for hours.
2. Say "screw this" and stop working WAY before I should.
3. Build something

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING/YOU'VE CONSIDERED:
1. English Professor
2. Pizzeria Owner
3. Entrapeneur, but first I have to learn how to spell it.

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. The Ocean
2. The Beach
3. Home

THREE KIDS NAMES YOU LIKE:
1. Daniel
2. Michael
3. Jamie

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. Travel to Egypt, all US States, Mexico, South America, Japan, Thailand, and some other places.
2. Make a name for myself that will live on for at least a few decades after I die.
3. Become wealthy through my own machinations.

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL:
1. I react emotionally rather than logically with most issues.
2. I love to cook. (It SAYS stereotypically!)
3. I tear up very easily to sappy TV/Movie/book moments

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A BOY:
1. When it comes down to it, I want to be working with my hands, building stuff, even if I'm horrible at it.
2. I love video games, when I get time to play them.
3. D&D and LARPing, need I say more?

6:05pm: Out of Nowhere
Blindsided by rage. No reason, no explanation. A few stupid bad things (little, tiny things that I'd normally not care about) suddenly seem huge and insurmountably angering and seem to be the cause, but logically I know they're not.

So what is it? Imbalance? Will food help? I don't mean comfort-wise, I mean am I low on blood sugar or something similar and thereby need some food to help stabilize whatever's going on.

Intense emotions like this out of nowhere are ridiculous.

I'll be fine. Writing about it is helping, but it's there. Maybe I just need to go on a long bike ride and look around the neighborhood, get some fresh air.

Right after pizza.

ETA: Time to switch back to decaf coffee. Was trying to save money and only buy one kind so that we could make it all at one time, but I think I'm going to have to brew mine separately from Maria's.

1:51pm: To Do
Lots of things going on, with my new default setting of reldon*. I have work that has to get done through my day job, so that'll take up until I have to leave at three for Monster and MaiTai's vet appointment (they have to get a shot to be up to date and able to go to puppy daycare).

After that, though, I'll be busy in all sorts of ways. It's going to be kind of crazy if I actually strive to get everything done tonight, but if I don't get it all done I'm going to kind of feel like I failed. Does that make sense?

Thankfully the vet visit should be short. I know that's like saying "nothing could go wrong," and I should knock on wood, but in this case I don't think I need to. It's just a quick shot for each of them from a vet tech, payment, and we're done. It should be short, which gives me more time to get things done around here, which is obviously a good thing.

There's little simple things, like cleaning up the dishes from the day, and making a nice sauce for the pasta tonight, both of which should take little time, or at least little effort. Simple, nice, and productive. Watering the garden too, since it hasn't really rained enough lately to help my plants grow. Nothing too difficult.

Then there's the house stuff, and that's where things start to get busy.

Tonight I want to get everything out of the third bedroom. Now that I took out all the wood paneling, and we've revealed the ugly walls beneath, it's time to get everything else out of the room in preparation for painting. This will involve some vacuuming of things that are coated in dust (from an unrelated project) and finding a place for all this vital stuff we have in that room.

Plus, I want to get some more wallpaper down from the hallway. Our idea of "one room per weekend" was shot down, but if we do enough work during the week this week we might be able to get two "rooms" (one room, one hallway) done.

I want to clean up in my office, which won't take long, but I also want to organize my workroom better. When we moved in I kind of put everything in that room that went in the room, but not in any order. For a long while the wires, foams, and cores that make up my business have been dormant, sitting in piles. I need to change that so I can go back to doing more of what I love.

PLUS, I need to find out how to create a business in Delaware. Maria's helped me by pulling up some good links for me, and that'll be great. I also need to look into what it takes to start a food business, which is different. Did you know you can't find good pizza and wings anywhere in this town though there seem to be dozens of pizza places?

So, lots to do, not a lot of time to do it in.

On top of that, I should probably really do more work for my day job, since I'm only a little more than halfway through the 400 records I would normally do in a day.

I think I need to start today over in order to get everything done, but it should be interesting to see what I DO get done.



*Yes, I was kind of serious.

10:41am: Doggie Update
I'd normally think that a test getting over so quickly (the one I just wrote about for the dogs) would be a bad thing, a thing that meant failure. However, this time, the dogs surprised me, and passed with flying colors! I rewarded them with a carrot when we got home, and now they're wondering where their new friends went.

My wife and I got to watch them on a little black and white monitor. The funny thing was that when MaiTai was on a lead, she was very nervous, didn't want to walk around or meet anyone, and went into shut-down mode, curling into a little ball. For some reason, this prompted Kelli, the lady who was walking her, to take MaiTai off the lead and let her socialize that way. I thought it was a weird reaction, but apparently she knows more about dogs than I do because MaiTai immediately sprang to action, and made friends!

It was great to see my dogs getting along with other dogs.

Speaking of tests getting over quickly, I'm almost done with my class at the college. My final is on the 23rd, but the last class is next Friday. I had a test on Monday, which I'm pretty sure I did fine on. Without the curve I'm guessing I got about an 88%, and with the normal curve (assuming it stays at the average) that'll bring it to over a 90%. I was the first one done, and feel pretty confident. While I wish I could say I was confident I'd have the highest grade in class, there were a few questions that were unexpected.

It looks like I'll be passing the class with about a 3.5 if things go well on the final, but I just don't know for sure. I'm excited to be done with my first ever college class, and look forward to possibly taking another one over the Summer season. Probably a math class. Bah, math, who uses that in the real world?

9:35am: Doggie Daycare
Today we're going over to The Doggie Playhouse with our two dogs, and we're getting a temperament test done to see if they'll fit in. We're not allowed to go in the room with them, but can watch how they react via a monitor hooked up in a different room while someone else holds their leads and walks them around a room with other dogs in it.

I'm nervous like the teenager who's just getting their driving license's parent.

MaiTai doesn't react well to other dogs when she's around us. She gets over-protective and nervous. Her nervousness comes out as barking, sometimes even snarling. She loves people, and understands that WE are in charge when it comes to meeting and greeting people, but with dogs she seems to think she's in charge.

Monster's a big Old English Sheepdog, big and klutzy. She's not going to hurt anybody, and loves meeting new puppies/people/cats/birds/spiders/whatever. I'm not really worried about her except that she might get over-exuberant and run over the dogs that are smaller than her. I understand there's a Great Dane* there and so hopefully that will rein her in a little bit if she gets a bit over-the-top.

That being said, time to round them up from the backyard and get going. Cross your fingers for me! I don't want to come home with one dog missing half an ear because she started trouble and the other limping because she decided to try and jump over the Great Dane.

*For non-dog-lovers, think Scooby Do-sized.

3:55pm: Super May
Maria and I started something this month, calling this month "Super May." We made a list of ten or so "Super" things that we wanted to focus on, and every day we have to make sure we do at least a few of these items. They're not "To Do" items, more like a list of categories that our actions should fall into.

For example, the few I can think of off the top of my head are, in no particular order:

Super Savings
Super Suppers
Super Productivity
Super House
Super Us

Super Savings would be eating at home instead of going out, making sure we turn off lights, buying stuff on sale as opposed to the other stuff, etc. The others are similar.

It's fun, so far. We haven't done so well on Super Savings, but the other bits have been fantastic. We'll be working on Super Savings starting tonight, with me cooking a Super Supper of vegetable stew, made from all fresh ingredients.

Well, mostly fresh. The spices I don't have fresh yet, so those aren't. Everything else was fresh. I like making things fresh, and have only recently realized that this is the best way to go for health, taste, and fantastic meals.

What's my point?

I don't really have one. Too often I think I write without a point, try to make one up, and fail. So, I don't have a point. I'm just letting you see a little bit into my life, and thought this would be interesting to share. The next month should be pretty interesting if we really stick to doing things this way, which I'm thinking we will.

Oh, yeah, Super Healthy too. Which is why I'm dressed for the gym as I leave now to pick up my wife from work.