Monday, March 30, 2009

Overwhelming feelings of being Overwhelmed pt. 2

There's a scene in the Disney Movie Bolt that I know is a riff on something, but I can't figure out what it is.... The Scene where Rhino Says "Knock, Knock. Who is it? Destiny? I've been expecting your call!" The bit where he cracks open the gerbil ball, and his hand tentatively reaches out and touches the ground.... wtf is that!?
On a side note, Stink (The 2 year old) almost has the entire movie memorized, and tends to quote it in his own inimitable way... quite funny.
Anyways, back to what I'm reading:
2. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds - Charles Mackay, LL.D.
Originally published waaaaaaay back in 1841, this book was loaned to me by a friend. The title is probably the easiest thing to read in this book, as it deals with group psychology and examines the way societal fads can rip through groups like nothing else. Covers such incidents as Alchemy, Tulipmania, and stock speculations.
3. The Devil's Dictionary - Ambrose Bierce
If you don't know what this book is, go out and buy a copy; This is from the early 1900's and is freakin' dense.
4: The Principia Discordia or How I found Goddess and what I Did With Her When I Found Her - Malcalypse the Younger
My Bible: read it, if for nothing else, just a good giggle.

Gonna go grab some lunch with the stinks and LW.

Emergency Update

Alright, I'm back for the time being. Dropped LW off at the vet with mom-in-law and brought stink and little stink home. Took a quick shower, and figured I would update.
As of this posting, info on the dog is in a holding pattern. Wait, lemme start at the begining... Got a call this morning from m-i-l, wanting to speak with LW (who was still snoozing, no big), after talking briefly, went back to work on book.
About 30 minutes later, m-i-l calls back, speaks to LW (now awake) who starts talking all mater-of-fact (big clue that something's up). Turns out m-i-l's dog is sick and (allegedly) pooping blood (update: not pooping, vomiting... more on that in a minute). We bundle up stink and little stink, drive to the vet, and wait for m-i-l and LW's sis to show up.
After a few minutes, they show up, I leave LW at the vet, and now we're up to date from where I started typing.
Just got a call from LW:
Not sure what's up with the dog, m-i-l going to take little bugger home, bland, almost liquid diet, some pepto, see if things get better. If not, dog goes back to vet tomorrow.

Overwhelming feelings of being Overwhelmed

So, just came out of the weekend, and I'm feeling a little buried in tasks and projects. First off, I'm reading (I kid you not) approximately 14 different books right now (ten are graphic novels, but still they're books) and the other four are dense, confusing, or just plain hard to follow.

Book 1: StarWars Trilogy (The Original stories)
These are the ones that started the entire franchise. While Lucas writes well, his use of phrasing and pacing makes it a little uneven. Plus, having grown up on the movies, it gets a little difficult to reconcile the movies to the stories - especially the fact that in the first story, Darth Vader seems to be less than "Scariest Fucking Villian Ever".

oops family emergency, bbl.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Fast Food and Potholes

I was listening to NPR today on the way home from work, and they were talking about some city (The name currently eludes me) that KFC approached the mayor and offered the city $3000 to fill pot holes, as long as they could put their logo on the pothole patch.
That's what the title has to do with anything - the journalist stated "Fast food and potholes". just that phrase caught my attention. It sounds like a song or something....

Blizzards blow hard,
snow falling sideways,
Got miles to go,
living on fast food and potholes.

And that's why I never became a songwriter.

The blizzard bit is due to the fact that the metorologist on the news was talking about a spring blizzard that has pretty much all but shut down the Eastern section of the state. And the baby just started beating the snot out of me with a small plastic basketball; he'll beat me in the face with the ball, and then he'll put his head on my shoulder, almost as if saying "Sorry". Then he turns back around and beats on me some more.

On another note, we live in a very conservative section of the state (lots of oil rigs and gun nuts), and it just so happens that we supported Obama (DW put a bumper sticker on the back of the van in support) during the election. So, as I'm pulling out onto (US) 6 & 50, trying to merge into the left lane, this local power truck pulls up beside me. I've had my blinker on since I got out onto the road, and this dude slows down. I mean, to the point that I cannot get into the lane I want.
So, I slow down a little, and this jerk slows down as well.
I speed up a little, jerk does too.
realizing that I'm going to miss my turn, I look over, and jerk looks over, smiles one of those smug, self-important smirks and waves, then takes my exit.
....
....
....
So I take the long way home.
I tend to forget how cool the edge of downtown really is. All those cool old pseudo-Victorian houses down there. Half-way home, I realize that I should be furious with Jerk, but I'm not, and this suprises me. I mean, this guy actively went out of his way to inconvenience me, and I could really give a damn less.
Thinking about it tonight, at first, I thought it was just that I was done with humans and the human experience altogether. Then, I thought about it some more, and I realized that I didn't care about the human experience anymore, I jsut had more important things to worry about than some Jerk who felt vindicated by trying to ruin my day.
Well, as it is getting late, and I have to open again, I now go to bed.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Back in the saddle.... again!


So, here I am, back from who the hell knows where.
Been a while since I sat down and written out what's been on my mind, I figure now is as good a time as any. soo....

- Introduction

<---- This is me
(No, that's not my finger in the picture)

As you can tell, I'm terribly photogenic, so this is probably the only time you'll see a picture of me.
My name is Nathan. I'm also known by my online alias "Lankylurkr" a tag I aquired in the late 90's from playing Quake 2 at a call center that will remain nameless. The job didn't last, the nickname did.
I'm listed as being fairly tall (6'2"-3") and reasonably thin (Ha! like I'm gonna tell you my weight). I've been married to the same wonderful woman for 10 years now - Sorry ladies (and men who swing that way).
I have three great kids: Big Stink (10), Stink(2), and Little Stink(1). In case you couldn't tell, that's not their real names, but they're young, and they don't need their names splashed all over the net.
I work at a big box store in lower management (which I just <Sarcasm>absolutelysarcasm> love). I'm also working on a reference book (goddess willing), and aspire to write for a living (ain't dreams grand?)
I'm also a geek: Comics, role-playing games, computers, internet, etc. If it has no real redeeming value, I'm probably into it. Lately, I'm spending way too much time on twitter and Kongregate. In between wasting time there, I'm researching graphic novels for younger audiences.

- Latest talking point

I have no idea. I had a bunch of thoughts racing around earlier, but now that I'm thinking about them, I can't remember any of them. The onlything that is running through my head is "Will Wheaton" and how cool he actually is.
Sure, he was an actor who was in a reasonably good movie or two, and he had a stint on that space show, but that is not Will Wheaton. Now, he's an author, a blogger, a gamer, not to mention a dad.
He's got one up on me (technically, two: I don't have time to role-play), but hopefully, I'll be published here before long....

For the time being, I'm gonna have to call it a night.