My parents sent me a piece of newspaper with a quote from Jay Leno:

“Due to increased terror level, security has been stepped up at the Sugar Bowl. Officials will be looking to stop anyone who doesn’t belong. USC turned in Oklahoma.”
-Jay Leno

For reference: I’m “red/green” and “Randy” is my Dad.

(08:54:58) red/green: Lauren says she wants a bookshelf
(08:55:05) red/green: and if you could crank one out that’d be great
(08:55:11) red/green: now she says NOOOOOO
(08:55:16) red/green: I was just KIDDING
—
(08:55:18) Randy: What kind of bookshelf?
—
(08:55:34) red/green: a larger bookshelf
(08:55:44) red/green: with like 4-5 shelves
—
(08:55:54) Randy: How tall?
—
(08:56:16) red/green: six feet tall
—
(08:56:52) Randy: How deep of shelves?
—
(08:57:26) red/green: a foot-foot 1/2? It’s actually to hold books
—
(08:58:01) Randy: How urgently does she need it?
—
(08:58:06) red/green: not at all
(08:58:20) red/green: we would have got one at the auction if it was cheap
(08:58:26) red/green: and if we had something to move it with
—
(08:58:48) Randy: OK, I’ll put it on my to do list. I have a couple of projects ahead of it though.

Man, I shoulda asked for a motorcycle instead.

“I’m too hot for the hot tub, too cool for the pool.”
-Laruen Reierson

“…if I can sell tickets to my movies like “Red Sonja” or “Last Action Hero,” you know I can sell just about anything.”
-from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s speech

In reference to why all the tech jobs are being outsourced to countries like india, china, and the like:

“The problem is not a lack of highly educated workers, the problem is a lack of highly educated workers willing to work for the minimum wage or lower in the U.S.”
-Scott Kirwin, founder of Information Technology Professionals Association of America

The new american dream: Go into severe debt in college only to get a job that pays less than minimum wage. excellent…

In honor of The Mayfly Project and because I’m behind on my blogging I will summarize some of my more interesting past days in EXACTLY 20 words per day.

NOTE: The standard picture to word value ratio of 1000:1 shall be ignored. One photograph is equal to a single word for the duration of this post.

January 2nd:
BYE LIZ! Work sucks but at least they pay. Chad and Crystal! LA International Auto show. Ugliest Car EVER:

January 3rd:
Tijuana! First time in ANOTHER COUNTRY. Fish tacos and margaritas. They know my nickname! Last glass I’ll ever need:

January 6th:
Auction. People are nuts! $12.50 for a trash can, $5 for a box of vintage vinyl. My prizes:

And now you’re pretty much up to date. Though I should mention I got the cameras for $55 and $50 respectively, and though the T90 doesn’t work, the lens fits the other camera just fine.

Once in a while you’re involved in a project so dauntingly large that starting it would just be a depressing realization of how much work there really is to do…

So you procrastinate.

This is the current state of my blog. I’ve done so much in the past several days that I don’t know where to even start putting it all down. I intend to remedy this situation very soon.

Just not now…

January 1st was the most unhealthy day of my life. The first thing I ate was a krispy kreme donut and the last thing I ate was a bacon wrapped hot dog. In between those two meals it was not much better, many peanuts gave the shells off their back to keep me happy.

The rose bowl parade was impressive, but way too early in the morning. The high point was seeing the Stealth Bomber do a fly by. The six year old in me fainted as the excitement was too much. I also got to see the Cal Poly float for the first time. If you don’t know, half of the float is built in Pamona and half is built in San Luis Obispo. It’s pretty obvious where it splits:

As for the game? Well, just another USC dominated event. They ended up winning 28-14, but that doesn’t reflect that in the middle of the third they were up 21-0. With this win USC gained a portion of the National title and I went home happy.

My new years resolution is 1280×1024.

In honor of the pure testosterone driven battle that is football, I give you this quote from the man with quite possibly the highest levels of testosterone and the smallest amount of compassion in the history of the world.

“Man’s greatest joy is to slay his enemy, plunder his riches, ride his steeds, see the tears of his loved ones and embrace his women.”
–Genghis Khan

…and go USC!

(23:07:05) Me: so
(23:07:12) Me: knowing nothing about the football teams
(23:07:19) Me: pick the winner and the score tomorrow
(23:07:24) Me: usc vs. michigan
(23:07:42) Heather M.: uhh… USC, 1 billion to 42.5
(23:07:47) Me: hahahahah
(23:07:51) Me: that’s ridiculous
(23:08:00) Me: usc would never allow 42 points

“It appears on 99% of the return envelopes provided by creditors with monthly billings. It’s especially annoying when enclosed in a rectangle drawn in the upper right corner. (What if you miss?) And then…they inform you that ‘The Post Office will not deliver without postage.’ Can we legitimately claim to be a superpower if we need to be reminded to put a stamp on an envelope?”

-Dennis K. McDermott, from the Banished Words List :: 2004

Auld Auld, a. See Old.
Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. Scot. &
Prov. Eng.

Lang Lang, a. & adv.
Long. Obs. or Scot.

Syne Syne, adv. See Since.
1. Afterwards; since; ago. Obs. or Scot. –R. of Brunne.

2. Late, — as opposed to soon.

So “Auld Lang Syne” means “Old Long Since.” or “Old Long Afterwards.”

I don’t get it….

I think people were originally really trying to say “Old Long Since,” but they’d had one too many new years margaritas.

“A true artist will let his wife starve, his children go barefoot, his mother drudge for his living at seventy, sooner than work at anything but his art.”
-George Bernard Shaw, seen here.

i can just see my mom squinting at the screen, shaking her head, and saying to herself “You do NOT let your wife starve. That’s just horrible.”

William “Kirk” Shatner has created a follow up to his critically acclaimed 1968 solo album, The Transformed Man, featuring guest musicians including Ben Folds (Ben Folds Five), Henry Rollins (Black Flag), and Brad Paisley (i dunno.).

Rumor has it this record was inspired in part by David Hasselhoff.

Read about it here.

heh.

Yesterday!

Was quite boring.

But I did accomplish one long term goal. I returned a library book that I checked out some time in august. The original due date was September 10th, so you do the math. Having nothing to do this week I really wanted to go to the library and get something to read, but my fines have grown to the point where that is no longer an option. As of this writing, I owe the Los Angeles public library $52.59. Screw credit cards, it’s library cards that are dangerous. For my aunts and uncles reading this, don’t believe the lies that the elementary schools will tell you, reading is a horribly expensive and life draining habit!

Having gotten that monkey off my back I went home and changed the strings on my guitar, for the first time in four years. I’ve actually been playing quite a lot recently, and the fact that the strings have lost their finish and started to rust finally got to me. I celebrated by learning to play “American Heart” by Piebald.

Inspired by hearing about Lindsey’s new record player [as seen below], I decided to go to Amoeba records to see if I could find some cheap vinyl for a belated christmas gift for Lindsey, and I hit the jackpot. I can’t post pictures now, as it would ruin the surprise, but one of the 45’s is a limited edition with only 1500 out there, and the other is an eaaaarlly recording one of her favorite bands. Good times.

so this post sucked. but I was bored and writing is fun.

I’m on hold right now.

I need to get pictures of my car taken for insurance people. When I called the place that’s supposed to do it, the conversation went something like this:

Her: “Hi, you’ve reached insurance collision center. How can I help you?”
Me: “Hi, my insurance compan…”
Her: “Hold Please”
Me: “[Expletive Deleted], I swear if you don’t let me finish my sentence the next time you see me I’ll have a crowbar in hand.”
(“Songs of the humpback whale” drifting through the receiver.)

Fortunately, the last part was more of an internal comment.

“When things don’t work, it never hurts to try illogical ideas out and look for logic afterwards.”
-Thomas Stichele of Planet Gnome

I took a TON of pictures for the holidays. My two favorite are below:

These are three of my four little cousins all opening presents christmas morning.

Lauren, Shana, my new jacket, and me all at the ice skating rink in downtown San Jose.

If you want to see the rest of the pictures I took, you can check here for the pictures I took in San Jose and here for the pictures I took with my family in Sacramento.

Enjoy. I am too tired to post more.

“If you folded a map of nowhere twice, my house would be where the creases meet.”
-Rachel G.

This is from my freshman year of college. Better late than never.