Jimsmatrix

Bonnie's House Renovation Options

2011-05-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

Cheryl and I were thinking a few weeks back (52 of them), that Bonnie had thought of making an addition to the front of her house. So we went right to work on a few design options for her to consider.

This option has a happy little paved path straight to the front, with a trellis covering a front patio area between the driveway and front door. Notice the rooster guarding over the front door!

This one was my version of Cheryl's idea. Its a little more confined with a little wooden fence blocking out the space where you'd sit in the evening shade and sip your lemonade. The patio space will be a little bigger, being able to fit your, and another family comfortably (comfortable furniture not shown). The front walkway curves around to the driveway instead of going straight to the street, keeping visitors away from the direct front of your house, in case people from the street want to take pictures. To many people on the front walk can ruin pictures of houses, So I've averted them all to the driveway. It makes more sense cause there's always plenty to do in a driveway for people and cars. You'll notice a few ideas sketched on top of each other. Sorry about that, but the ideas were gushing out of me, I just had to get them onto paper! Oh, and none of these are to scale.

This is another one of my brilliant ideas. I was thinking to myself, what would I do, and I also thought on what Jacob & Austin might like. And yes, they both kind of remind me of pirates. Jacob would have the eye patch and the parrot, as where Austin would have a monkey and a striped shirt with the triangular hat. (remember the movie Swiss Family Robinson? The kid there and Austin are almost identical.) This idea was solidified as we were in Ft. Bragg, and they both desperately wanted to go to Capt. Jack's, the local pirate bar/pub/grill. As you see, part of the hull opens up to let you into the front door. You don't want visitors? Don't worry, they won't be able to even fine the front door! Waiting for house guests? send one of the kids up to the crow's nest and have them be a lookout! The driveway is cut in half and forms the drawbridge that allows people over the moat. The moat would encircle the house. On hot days the kids could swim laps in it! And then they could swing from mast to mast. Sure neighbors might call you 'Noah' as you're building it, but just think of the fun you'll have with the end result! And hey, if there is another flood, who will be laughing then! ha ha!

Here are a few other sketches on a smaller scale. The ship idea, then smaller patio on top, followed by a simple archway over the front door. Then on the bottom I figured you might like the facade of your house to look like our apartment building, so that's what the bottom is. Just throwing it out there.

Last but not least we have the Cathedral plan. With this option I wanted to turn your front hall & living room into something majestic. You will be forming your own gateway to a medieval history. The space would go 3 or more stories up above your house proper, and brilliant light would trickle in through the large stain glass windows. Most of the existing house would be engulfed inside of the Cathedrals Flying buttresses. The footprint of the house would act as the transept of the cathedral. The only problem I can foresee is that large stone enclosures are typically loud and everything echos a lot. I didn't see anything else like it in your neighborhood from the maps I looked through. And it will definitely be the house on the block that everyone will be jealous of. You can see I sketched the front, the floor plan, then the side of the cathedral, so you get a sense of its grandeur from all sides.

The Merry Christmas Family

2011-01-08T10:12:00.000-08:00

Hello Everybody. After I realize that I forgot to send these out, I then had to deal with the size of each. Just a little to big to email, so I now decided to post them and let you download them as you will. I figure its good enough for the whole world to enjoy.

(16x24) 15MB

(16x20) 13MB

Upcoming Movies... which are Repeats

2009-11-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

I was a little bored at work today and decided to look through upcoming movies at ComingSoon.net. It looks like there a bunch of good movies coming out this next year. Usually I just review this for the summer, but I noticed an interesting trend. HALF of the movies coming out are REMAKES! How unoriginal. I've cataloged the upcoming movies and Have commented after them. Red means it came from a Book, or its a sequel. Orange means that I think they took the idea from another movie, which makes it un-original. Green means I don't care and I want to see it.
My conclusion is at the end...

November 6
- The Box - Possibly a remake, definitely a Take-off. It sounds like so many other old scary movies.
- Collapse - Documentary of Economic Collapse, wow, I sure want to hear that crap again.
- Disney's A Christmas Carol - This one's been around for a LONG time. Who hasn't heard of it.
- Endgame - True story of Apartheid south Africa.
- The Fourth Kind - Alien Abduction, Close encounters...REPEAT
- The Men Who Stare at Goats - Its being called a True Life story.
- Precious: - Based on NOVEL
- Splinterheads - ... carnival con artists... Hmmm (?)
- That Evening Sun - looks dumb
- Turning Green - distasteful foreign film.
November 13
- 2012 - Like this hasn't been done 3 times in the last year! Nobody likes these stupid Scary tactics movies.
- Dare - High school friends must find themselves - Looks really dumb, and its been done before.
- Fantastic Mr. Fox - Kids Book - Maybe
- Love Hurts - Romantic comedy, like all others.
- The Messenger - War drama
- Oh My God? - Documentary, Ever seen the History Channel?
- Pirate Radio - True Story
- Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon - Teens growing up in Poverty...Seen it!
- Uncertainty - Looks dumb
- William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe - Documentary-esque
- Women in Trouble - Looks dumb
November 18
- Red Cliff - Han Dynasty war action, I'll see it though.
November 20
- The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans - Looks Dumb!
- The Blind Side - True Story
- Broken Embraces
- Defamation - Documentary on Racism, its been done plenty.
- Fix - Inspired by TRUE events!
- Mammoth - foreign
- The Missing Person
- Planet 51 - Hmmm
- The Twilight Saga: New Moon - From Books! - its not like I'm gonna read it.
November 25
- Me and Orson Welles Documentary
- Ninja Assassin - Kung Fu fighting! - I can't wait
- Old Dogs
- The Princess and the Frog - Every kid has heard/seen this before.
- The Road - Post Apocaliptic earth, fighting for survival, Hmmm, I saw Mad Max in the 80's.
November 27
- The Private Lives of Pippa Lee - No-way
December 4
- Armored - Whats this, Oceans 15?! Everyone's seen this before.
- Brothers - Wait a minute... I just read this plot summary, while composing THIS Blog! (see The Messenger)
- Everybody's Fine - Remake of a foreign Flick.
- Serious Moonlight - More adulterous affairs, blah blah blah...
- Transylmania - Take off. Anything Transyl-whatever related means Dracula.
- Until the Light Takes Us - Documentary of Heavy Metal in the 80's. Orange for most. New for all the youngsters.
- Up in the Air
December 11
- A Single Man - I don't know... It seems like Brokeback Mtn, part 2 to me.
- Invictus - Another South African re-unification story, thanks Nelson.
- The Lovely Bones - Based on a NOVEL.
- Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year -
- The Slammin' Salmon -
December 18
- Avatar - and its a FOX film.
- Did You Hear About the Morgans? - Hugh Grant, need I say more. Every character of his is the same.
- Nine - um... its a Musical.
- The Young Victoria - at least they chose a New Queen - Netflix maybe.
December 23
- Police, Adjective - Cops and drugs
December 25
- Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel - I grew up watching these cartoons!
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - weird
- It's Complicated - looks dumb
- Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros. Pictures) - Who hasn't heard of this already?! - could be good.
December 30
- The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond - a play written in the 50's
- The White Ribbon
December TBA
- Nutcracker: The Untold Story - Who hasn't heard of this already? So someone tries to add to it.
January 1
- Case 39 -
January 8
- Crazy on the Outside
- Daybreakers - And even MORE Vampires...
- Leap Year -
- Youth in Revolt - From a Book
January 15
- The Book of Eli - Another one that I've seen today, Post-apocolyptic america, must fight to survive, then find the key.
- Fish Tank - weird
- Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil - I liked the first one... - i loved the first one.
- The Last Station - Remake of 1990's NOVEL
- The Spy Next Door - Its a Jackie Chan movie. Same as ALL his others.
January 22
- Creation - After a BOOK
- Extraordinary Measures - From a 'True' Story
- Legion
- To Save a Life -
- Tooth Fairy
January 29
- After Dark Horrorfest 4 - Numbers 1-3 weren't enough
- Edge of Darkness -
- When in Rome -
January TBA
- Pyaar Impossible (limited)
February 5
- Dear John - From a NOVEL
- From Paris With Love -
- I Love You Phillip Morris -
February 6
- Untitled Bob Marley Documentary - Documentary
February 12
- My Name is Khan -
- Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief - looks interesting.
- Remember Me -
- Valentine's Day
- The Wolfman - Oh ya, another brillian remake. could be good.
February 19
- Shutter Island - Escape Prisoner, Ohhhhh.
February 26
- A Couple of Dicks
- A Prophet - Foreign
- The Crazies - A Reinvention of an older, dumber plot.
- Takers - More Bank Robberies?
February TBA
- The Red Riding Trilogy - Adapted from Books
- Saint John of Las Vegas -
March 5
- Alice in Wonderland - REMAKE - maybe
- Brooklyn's Finest - Another Cop show, different city.
March 12
- The Back-Up Plan
- Green Zone
- Hard 10
- Our Family Wedding
March 17
- Mid-August Lunch
March 19
- The Bounty Hunter
- Hot Tub Time Machine - dumb!
- Hubble 3D - Documentary, and we've seen the stars show before.
- Last Night -
- Season of the Witch -
March 26
- Clash of the Titans - REMAKE - but definitely on my list.
- How to Train Your Dragon - Actually looks good to me.
April 2
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid - IN BOOKSTORES NOW!
- Furry Vengeance
- The Last Song- From the Bookstore!
- Mary, Mother of Christ - Documentary
- Repo Men -
- Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too - Oh no, not another one!
April 9
- Date Night
- The Losers
April 16
- Death at a Funeral (Screen Gems)- ReMAKE from 07
- Kick-Ass - looks interesting, but based on a Comic Book!
- MacGruber - They got this idea from a Saturday Night Live sketch.
- Piranha 3D - Sorry, I saw the National Geographic special of this too.
April 22
- Oceans - Documentary, same as the show EARTH.
April 23
- Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps - Its been a while...
April 30
- A Nightmare on Elm Street - Another one? Really? Are you sure?
April TBA
- Waking Sleeping Beauty - ReMAKE
May 7
- Iron Man 2 - This better be good! Definitely!
May 14
- Letters to Juliet - More Romeo and Juliet crap...
- Untitled Robin Hood Adventure - Do they really need another one?
May 21
- Shrek Forever After - I hope this one is good too! - Oh Yes!
May 28
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - Pirates of the Caribbean, except in Persia.
- Sex and the City 2 - OH Dear, Remake of a Remake
June 4
- Killers -
- Marmaduke - ideas from a comic strip in the 50's
June 11
- The A-Team- Oh ya, watched this one growing up! - I hope its good.
- Get Him to the Greek
- The Karate Kid - Not another one! Too Many!
June 18
- Footloose - Kevin Bacon better be in this REMAKE!
- Jonah Hex - from an old TV SHOW
- Toy Story 3 - Its been a while, guess they wan t more money! - I'll see it though.
June 25
- Grown Ups - Seen this one before today too, high school mates, reunite to relive the past.
June 30
- The Twilight Saga: Eclipse - From Books, as you could guess. - I guess so.
July 2
- Knight & Day
- The Last Airbender - looks interesting, but sounds familiar. - Could be good
July 7
- Robert Rodriguez's Predators - What happened to Arnold's Predators?
July 9
- Despicable Me
July 16
- Inception (conventional and IMAX theaters)
- The Sorcerer's Apprentice
July 23
- Dinner for Schmucks
- Salt
July 25
- O Apostolo 3-D
July 30
- Beastly
- Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore - continuing another dumb story.
- Little Fockers - REMAKE
- Morning Glory
July TBA
- Hairspray 2 - Not ReMAKE
August 6
- The Other Guys - I hope its funny!
- Step Up 3 - Oh Boy, another one?
August 13
- Friday the 13th Part 2 (3D) - They really just need to stop it already!
- Ramona and Beezus - based on a series of NOVELS
August 20
- The Expendables - Remake of every old guy action film ever made
August 27
- Resident Evil: Afterlife - Sequel # 4
September 10
- The Town - From a NOVEL
September 17
- Flipped - adaptation of a NOVEL
- The Roommate - 'dangerous obsession', heard of Single White Female?
September 24
- Guardians of Ga'Hoole - Based on Childrens BOOKS
- You Again
October 1
- Alpha and Omega - they should really rethink this animation about Dogs.
- Priest - Adapted from a Tokoy comic book
- Your Highness - looks funny, but so did Monte Python
October 8
- Going the Distance - looks pointless
- Secretariat - Based on REAL events.
- The Zookeeper -
October 15
- Faster - The ROCK, just out of jail, out for revenge. Sounds like Walking Tall, another movie he did, exactly.
October 22
- Prisoners - parent after kidnapped child won't stop till they find them... sounds all to familiar.
November 5
- Due Date
- Oobermind
November 12
- Unstoppable
November 19
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I - Yaaaah, from Books! But I'll definitely see it!!
- Red (Summit Entertainment) - Based on a Comic Book
November 24
- Burlesque - Remake of Moulon Rouge, which also looked bad
- Red Dawn - One of the greatest movies, 20 years ago! Ya, I'm gonna see it for sure.
November 27
- Bruce Lee - Bruce has been done before!
December 10
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Yaaah, Another one! Hope its good. Books were so so.
December 17
- Tron Legacy - Blast from the Bast more like! - I'm gonna see this for sure too.
- Untitled James L. Brooks Comedy
- Yogi Bear
December 22
- The Green Hornet - Um... YA! But it still used to be a TV Show, and comic book
- Gulliver's Travels - Big Screen adaptation!
- Life as We Know It
December TBA
- Rapunzel - Yup, never heard this one before

So as you can see, there are PLENTY of movie remakes to see in the next year. In fact, 79 direct remakes of books or other movies, and 36 Take-offs. That's 115 remakes out of 180 total movies. Thats 63 % of all movies listed to open between now and next year are REMAKES. Less than half of Hollywood is original, and they are mostly UN-ORIGINAL. So forget writing a screenplay for your director friend. Write a good Book, and then someone will probably see it, and then shortly adapt it to be their movie! You want to know why Hollywood isn't doing as well as in previous years... That's right, there's nothing original. Then there's the few gems like Batman, Iron Man, Toy Story, Shrek, stuff like that that earns Tons of money. Sure its fun to see, but people will quickly grow old of #4, 5, 6, and 7. Look at the 'Friday the 13th' series. Its one of the best and most original horror shows, but they haven't bothered makin up anything new yet. Cause they are lazy. That's right, milk it for all you can, before you use your mind again. by then it will have rotted probably. And just think of all the shows I did watch when I was younger that they haven't remade yet! And in a few more years they'll probably try to remake the re-made movies into TV shows, or cartoons or whatever. Oh Bother.
Come up with something new already! 37 percent of the people already are, now why don't the rest of you!

Decorating Cakes!

2009-09-21T10:31:00.001-07:00

So last week we had our first 'actual' Cake Decorating Class. It was the second of four, but the first class was just an orientation of what to bring, and how to bring it, etc. And funny thing, is that on Tuesday night I got a call from that Cheryl girl and she asked me if I would be driving to Santa Monica the next evening, and I told her it was funny cause I was indeed planning to. Then she told me that she was taking this class and she wasn't sure if her car would make it therefore needed a ride, and since I live just around the corner it only made sense. So I then told her that I was taking the very same class too! Who ever knew that she of all people would be in the exact same cake decorating class! It was all sponsored through Michael's. We carpooled over there, and Cheryl was starving so we decided to stop at Tommy Burgers, which was a slight error cause we left at 6:45pm and the class was at 7pm. We really only had time to go straight there, but we (she) decided we needed food first. After wolfing down our deliscious chili-grease burgers we raced over to SAnta Monica. We would have been alright, but it was after all, Santa Monica, and it was 9-9-9, and for some reason meant that they were having a big party on the Pier, which made parking $15, or off-limits. So that made me mad cause I hate paying for parking, but after 20 minutes of circling and not finding anything we (I) finally broke down and payed $6 at some distant lot. We were almost the last people there, arriving 15 minutes late, but one more crazy lady came after us.

Most of the class is younger girls... (I should tell Jeff and Josh about that class)... and then one or two crazy old women. Our teacher is Some funny Nigerian lady who's accent can throw you off if you don't pay attention.

The next class we had was last Wednesday. We brought all our stuff, cake included. This time there were 4 new yentas. One old crazy one who wasn't there before, and three yappy retarded girls from the Tuesday night class, and man were they LOUD. I seriously considered turning around and picking up their frosting and spilling it on the floor, then sticking my finger in each of their cakes. Luckily for them they shut up fairly quickly. The other group of yappy old ladies was at the other end of the room, and I didn't think throwing the other loud girls cakes at the far end loud women would have gone over to well; but i did consider defending myself against their retaliations, if it came to that.

If all you want to see is pictures, you must visit Cheryl's blog.

It was pretty fun. I still need plenty of practice, but I sure did get plenty of complements from our instructor as well. Things like "You sculpt icing amazingly well for such a novice." And "Wow, I've never seen anyone do such wonderful things with their cake icing before!" So just you wait to see what I can accomplish further down the road!

Jim's Blog entry on behalf of Joe & Tiffany

2009-09-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is my brother and his wife. They are looking to adopt children. If you know pregnent people who want to get rid of their kid, let them know.

You can see by Joe's versatile hair that he will be a good parent. It helps keep him young and ambitious. Just from these pictures we can see that he likes Edward from Twilight, Tom Cruise from Last Samuri, that Tad Hamilton guy from Transformers, ... weird hippie hair from the 60's, and of course The Fonz (well, a Japanese version anyway.)

Man-Box 2.0

2009-08-13T13:13:00.001-07:00

Its finally happened! I have a Man-Box! Was it 2 or more years ago that Josh Jeff and I originally started our first version Man-Boxes... ah, I can't remember anymore. And I'm still planning on putting the finishing touches on that Box that I started carving on, made from a rich mahogany. But something better came along many months after. I was casually browsing the internet, and for some reason I was looking through Pirate Chests. And all of a sudden, this one website showed me the coolest thing that I'd ever seen (well, almost the coolest, but it ranks pretty high!). Once I saw it, I knew that it had to be mine, and I knew that It would replace the original Man-Box.

Here is my Man-Box

Here is my Man-Box with the lid open.

Here is the top of my Man-Box

Here is the side of my Man-Box

Here is the back side of my Man-Box.

It measures 27"X15"X15". And I'm far from finished with it. I plan to make inserts for all my super cool belongings. As Cheryl has so often suggested, I will have a pull-out shelving system for all my sunglasses, and also real glasses now, as well as a small bottle of cleaning solution and a small rag for wiping down the lenses when the occasion warrants such a need. On the other side I will have a series of racks for hanging my large supply of beautiful watches! You will be able to pull each hanging Watch-carousel out and twirl it around and see the many sparkly watches that I have. I will then be able to select which watch I will accessorize with that day. The middle portion is reserved right now for an undetermined number of things which right now rest on top of my regular dresser.
I was thinking of having cool top-secret stuff like my gun and loads of bullets in there too, but then I realized that if there was a break in it would be to hard to get to, so I'm still going to leave it under my pillow for now.
In addition, the insides, although nice, won't be left unfinished. I have selected a wonderful asian style fabric from JoAnn's that I will be lining the box with. Not that I need it, but it will be more like a Treasure Chest, similar to my Man-Box 1.0 idea.
It is so cool.
I got it from Woodchests.com if you want to look further.

My Baby Dragon

2009-04-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

This is my Baby Dragon Abraxas.

I'm not exactly sure about the name Abraxas, but its cool, and its one of the first Dragon names I found that I liked. I'm considering a few other names too, but it has to be one of the coolest names ever, cause he's one of the coolest dragons ever!

And yes, he is a dude. Don't let the thorny eyebrow/lashes throw you off. His whole species is quite deceptive. His eye lashes could bat your arm right off. And if he were to squint at you, you'd see two rows of sharp, war hardened, thorny spines point toward you, and if he were to actually strike at you in that mode... you'd be done for. And the rescue team would have trouble finding enough pieces to identify you, so be careful around him.

If you were to look close, you'd notice his powerful lashing tongue. It sparkles in the light, and its tough as nails, literally. It has to be to tolerate the intense flaming fiery breath. He could also wrap his tongue around you and squeeze you to death, even if you're wearing a shiny suit of metal armor.

Notice his beautiful copper tones on the underside. They shimmer like a bronze torchlight. Oh his fiercely hardened other scales, you can see the green scales sparkle in the light as well. But this sparkle is like the dew on morning grass as the sun rises. But don't let their beauty

Here is what he looks like from behind. And don't be mistaken, just cause you can't see his eyes, doesn't mean he can't 'see' you. His devilishly forked tongue can sense disturbances in the atmosphere, similar to a snake, as well as his concealed ear holes that provide for razor sharp hearing.

Here is a belly shot, in case you want to see what he looks like inside. This of course is after the clay is baked, and most of the foil structure is removed. I'll never get it all out.

Here is my living room work space, where my Baby Dragon was born.

Oh, don't let me forget to include parts 2 and parts 3 of Abraxas. Here is his curling mid-section as it magically leaps from the table surface and then back down again. He feels vulnerable if he is completely exposed above any surface, thats why you see him mostly hidden.

Its difficult to capture his tail on film, but I've done it! It usually sways like a fish-tail, keeping his muscular torso stable, but this time I caught him leaping in and out of the table. And as he usually does, he was swaying and twirling his tale like a whip, or like a streamer. You can see that the scales at the tale are different than that of the regular torso. They are much leaner and a bit longer, but still just as tough, and spiny, and painful if he decides to smack you with his tail. The tip is capped with a dense, bony, pointy, club; emphasized by a few veins of bone yellow at edge.

Here he is dancing in and out of the table. He is so playful.

Jim the Super Hero/ Super Villain

2009-03-02T11:23:00.000-08:00

Have you ever what kind of Hero or Villain you'd be if you were caught up on the Comic book world? Well, me too. I did a little research, and this is what I found out:

My results:
You are Superman

Superman		90%
Green Lantern		75%
Iron Man		70%
Robin		67%
Supergirl		62%
The Flash		60%
Catwoman		50%
Spider-Man		45%
Batman		45%
Wonder Woman		42%
Hulk		20%

You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

I also realized that on the weekend I feel different than I do during the week, so I then punched in those numbers, and this is what came up:

My results:
You are Dr. Doom

Dr. Doom		91%
Apocalypse		87%
Magneto		82%
Lex Luthor		81%
Juggernaut		73%
Venom		70%
Kingpin		67%
Mystique		65%
The Joker		61%
Poison Ivy		60%
Riddler		60%
Mr. Freeze		58%
Dark Phoenix		55%
Catwoman		47%
Green Goblin		37%
Two-Face		37%

Blessed with smarts and power but burdened by vanity.

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain am I?" quiz...

Italian Landscapes

2009-02-15T17:50:00.001-08:00

Let me take you on a fine walk through my new Italian Landscape. As you might notice, Spring has just sprung in this late afternoon Tuscan setting. Some of the local farmers have just planted a new crop of grapes all around the villa-style houses getting ready for the new harvest. It rained yesterday morning so the air is crisp and fresh, and full of life, a nice contrast to the warm air and sun beating down on you as you walk thru the grassy fields. You might even be able to make out some of the early red poppy flowers just coming into bloom in the distant hills. In case you can't hear them, the residents are having a party in the back yard and all the neighbors are attending. Oh I can hear Uncle Luigi playing his old accordion again. No wonder everyone feels like retiring here. Ahhh, the life!

500

2009-01-30T10:27:00.000-08:00

Wow, who ever thought blogging would be so fun?! I've been signed up for about 18 months now, and I've just hit my 500th Blog entry! As a matter of fact, you're reading it right now! Congratulations. Thanks for all the support over the many previous months.
I assure you all that I have plenty more exciting stories/entries in store for you.
As a matter of fact, here's some of what I have in store:
Movie Reviews,
Essay's on Life series,
and possible more Vacation series'
just to name a few.

Our Apartment

2009-01-14T17:49:00.000-08:00

Our Apartment:
Its been a while since I've put pictures on my blog it seems. So I wanted to make this one a special one. So, I decided to take you on a tour of our apartment, as its the first time its been Fully Clean! Its only 4 months in, but well worth it... or something.

This is the entryway. Its the scene we would see if we were to hear you knocking on our door, and IF we were answering. Just left of center is the passage that takes you to the other rooms, but on the right side you can see our stash of Coffee Table Books. Yes, we both had so many that we needed an entire bookshelf for our casual reading material. In the corner we (I) have 1 crate of magazines, 1 crate of sketchbooks, 1 shelf of travel books, and one shelf of other artistic and wonderful things.

Please notice the beautiful brown curtains, hung by the masculine curtain rods. The fluffy couch pillows were sewn by Cheryl too. Sure its the same ol' white couch but its comfy to lounge on.

Oh, look at that, more sassy curtains, and Manly curtain rods. Here you can see where I spend most of my time, in my computer chair, and you can also see my Sleek Gaming Station lit up in blue too. My computer desk separates the Dining room from the Living room. Its a lovely interstitial space, that provides a moment of relaxation between eating and sitting. No, that's not wall art behind my computer, that is our Air Conditioning unit.

Ah, the dining room. This area is pivotal to the space's coherence. The dining room is a very important room after all. Its where I eat!

Here is our Entertainment Center. Its hidden between our two indoor gardens. You can see our clever storage space below our Home Theater. Most of our (my) music, and extra stuff is hidden therein. The clever white wall is highlighted behind the entertainment center with four exquisite European Water Color paintings depicting my 4 most favorite sites in Rome.

As you may have guessed it, this is my side or the bedroom. You can see my two 'mostly' wood dressers; one pine, one fake-oak. Mmmm, you can almost smell that 'fake' wood aroma from being freshly sawn. In case I want to jam in the morning, I got my 'almost' antique Boom-Box on the tall dresser, towering over the bed, ready to rock out to any hit 80's Hair Band song. I'm king of sneaky, but you can still see a sliver of boxes and clothes hidden under the short dresser, and oh, whats that behind the tall dresser?! Oh, that would be more boxes, a suit case, and a few extra back packs and day-bags that I've secretly stashed out of Cheryl's sight. (shhhh, don't tell her they are there, otherwise she'll try to get me to 'put them away' :)

This is Cheryl's side. Sure its cleaner, but she's a girl, she's supposed to be cleaner. Do notice two of her purses right and large bag next to the night stand, ready to go at a moments notice.

Here's our Kitchen. Oh look, you can see Cheryl hard at work in the kitchen, cleaning up after one of her baking experiences. How delightful!
Now, I don't want to perpetuate any stereo types about women in the kitchen, and why they don't need to leave that room (our stove doesn't have a clock on it anyway). Its mere coincidence that She's there when I'm taking the picture. But yes, the picture was taken in the evening, and yes she is still wearing her pajamas having slept in quite late.

Then we have The Library. Its wealth of knowledge is indeed quite vast. On the south side of the Library we can learn about Botany and Herbology. On the bottom shelf of the library we can research Geneaology, Art History, The second shelf is more History. The Middle shelf is Romance, Drama, and other Girlie Stuff. The fourth shelf provides us with plenty of Girl Fiction. The top shelf is Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and more Girl Fiction. On the very top of you can study Art & Architecture, Astronomy, Painting, Drawing, Geography, Mechanics, and Fire Hydrants. You might be able to tell, this is the only shelf that 'The Librarian' can't reach, therefore, its exclusivly mine; and the only shelf I was given. Well, actually taken, cause I still think she's miffed that my stuff is there. And to the north of the library we have our Reserve section where you can find books on Government, Finance, and similarly related documents.

Jim's Movie Watching Schedule - 2009!

2009-01-12T17:11:00.000-08:00

So I was just thinking of what kind of movies I might be interested in seeing in the upcoming future, so I put a little list together, and I've ranked them too, depending on how much I might want to see them. Check it Out!

key: 1=want to see
2=I kind of want to see
3=I'll see it if its playing at Fox (free)
4=I'll see it if I'm really bored

Jan 23:
Underworld -2
Killshot -2
Inkheart -3

Jan 30:
Taken -1

Feb 6:
Push-2
He's just not that into you -3
Fanboys -3

Feb 27:
Street fighter -1

March 6:
Watchmen -1

March 13:
Race to Witch Mountain-2
The Horsemen -2

March 20:
Knowing -3

March 27:
Adventureland-3
Monsters vs. Aliens-2

April 3:
Fast & Furious-3

April 8:
Dragonball-2

April 17:
17 Again -3
Crank 2 -1

May 1:
X-men: Wolverine -1

May 8:
Star Trek -1

May 15:
Angels & Demons -2

May 22:
Terminator 4 -2
Night at the Museum 2 -1

May 29:
up -3

June 5:
Land of the Lost -1

June 12:
The Taking of Pelham 123 -2

June 26:
Transformers 2 -1

July 1:
Ice Age-2
Public Enemies-2

July 17:
Harry Potter- its about damn time!

July 31:
Funny People -2

August 7:
G.I.Joe -1

October 16:
Where the wild things are -1
Astroboy-3

Nov. 6:
Disney's Christmas Carol -2
Wolfman -1

Nov. 13:
Sherlock Holmes -2

Dec. 18:
Avatar -3

Then of course looking ahead to the future for more great shows-
2010:
X-Men-Magnito
The Smurfs
Harry Potter pt.1
Iron Man 2
Shrek 4
The A-Team
Toy Story
The Green Hornet
Thor
Hoodwinked 2
Alice in Wonderland
How to train your Dragon

2011:
Captain America
Harry Potter pt.2
The Hobbit pt.1
The Avengers
Cars 2
Spider-Man 4
Kung-Fu Panda 2

2012:
The Hobbit pt.2

Happy Birthday Self!

2008-12-29T23:59:00.000-08:00

So I went to work today just like any usual day. Its just that this day was special. It was a work day for me, but not everyone else in the office. Just me, lynn, and the Boss. They offered to take me to lunch (there was no 'special' reason, they were going just cause they could) but I couldn't join them cause I brought my lunch. I had spaghetti from 2 weeks ago, and yes, it was still good. I worked only until 5 or so when the bosses told me we were done for the day. So I left. It was nice leaving earlier than usual, when there was still light in the sky.

When I got home it was indeed dark, but you'll never guess who I ran into there, yup, it was that Cheryl girl. I admit, I was bored and hungry but Cheryl graciously announced that she'd let me take somewhere to get food. We went to C&O Tattoria. It was good. I got the usual, oily-shrimp-artichoke-noodles. There weren't as many luscious buttery bread balls as normal either, so in a true Jeff fashion I loudly complained about it to someone passing by who tried to help me with the situation. Since I was celebrating this day, we also got dessert. Whatever it was, it was recomended by the waitress. Cheryl seemed eager to taste it, so I got two of them. Whatever they were I should have only gotten 1. It didn't taste like chocolate(cardboard), it didn't feel like cream inside(paste), and it didn't look like it taste that bad(very plain). But I was mistaken. It wasn't the ideal birthday dessert, but it had to do.

Then we went home and I treated myself to an evening of video games. It was great.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-19T13:17:00.001-08:00

This is my Christmas Card to you all.

Inside it says "Merry Christmas to y'all!"

Then I signed it in my most beautiful signature possible:
"Jim C"

If you didn't get the actual copy, please take this as a replacement, and blame the postman for not delivering it to you personally.

Trisha's Annual Cookie Party!

2008-12-19T10:49:00.000-08:00

So after weeks of negotiations with Trisha's people, we finally settled on a time for the Christmas Cookie Party. In the days leading up to this event, I spent hours of preparation, scheduling, and planning out every detail possible to make it a completely fabulous event. After work on Wednesday I hurried home to find Cheryl baking away. She made two full tubs of splendidly plain sugar cookies (ready for decoration), AND a large plate of Peppermint Brownies! It took all my willpower to not take a bite out of them before she was finished frosting them.

Also, as I was preparing to leave work, I got a voice mail from Josh, saying that they were planning to go out to eat before the long awaited Cookie Party. THEN on the way home from work I got a call from Jeff, seeing if I had received Josh's message. 5 minutes later, while still on the way home, I got a call from Josh, seeing if I had gotten his first message. I figured if they were that excited for me to attend, I better attend, otherwise I'd never hear the end of it. And I wanted to support them in their party planning endeavors. We went to some Mexican Place down by where Jeff works. It was OK, and I might one day think of going there again.

The Holidays are Upon us!

2008-12-05T17:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays my dear Blog Readers! I made an 'e-Christmas Card for you all, presented to you through Blogger.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thanksgiving again

2008-12-01T12:59:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving Cheryl and I found ourselves in Utah. It was cold in Utah. I don't like the cold that much. But I had to go because my (bratty) little sister had just come home off her mission the very day before Thanksgiving. So it was a big family event, n' stuff. It was Fun. I got to hang out with all my family. Its been a while since we'd done that.

I was a little disappointed that my mom failed to bake freshly made Chocolate Chip Cookies for my arrival. I had specifically requested them be ready, no more than 20 minutes before my arrival. Apparently she got carried away making all other Thanksgiving feast items for the next day, so I let that one slide. We had arrived, after all, the day before the big day of feasting.

Another funny note, because everyone was staying with my parents, so they were tight on space, luckily they had two extra mattresses in the basement. I don't know the proper term for the size, but they were 3'x 6', single person size, and since every other room was taken, they put me and Cheryl in the same room. I didn't mind cause her snoring doesn't bother me, and I know that I'm a peaceful sound sleeper. It was funny that they had decorated our old 'computer' room to resemble Ward & June Cleaver's house. (You know, from 'Leave It To Beaver'. One of the dumbest shows ever created- to show etiquette and manners n such.)

My sister had just returned off a mission from New York, so she was there, and super hyper. Apparently she had sent a box home at least once a month full of clothes, extra bars of soap, shampoo, and many toys, and then even more clothes. (I wonder where she got the money for all that dad? I wasn't allowed to send stuff home. I wonder why she was...) Joe and I started making fun of all her weird 'New York' clothes and she got all annoyed, then went crying to dad to try to get him to stop, but it was late, so luckily for us he was in bed. She sent a Lot of stuff home that she didn't need to.

We woke up late on Thanksgiving Thursday, only to have the urge to eat Pancakes, so I made some for myself, and then when everyone else saw what I was doing, they remembered how glorious they are, so they all wanted some too. My tummy liked them.

Our typical Feast didn't start until a bit later because my little brother Was going to come, but then opted out cause he already promised his in-laws they'd go there. So our family was going to wait for him to come over, but then he realized that he was going to binge once that day, and didn't want to do it twice, so he just backed out. And he didn't tell my family that until later in the day. AND my mom misjudged the cooking time on the turkey. Instead of cooking for 90 min, like my mom had thought, it really needed to be cooked for 150 minutes. But after all the food was on the table, we quickly dug in and continued eating until we were all over-full. It was good. I was so full that I didn't even have room to gorge myself on my favorite Pecan Pie. But I did have enough room to continually sample chocolate covered nuts all day and most of the night until I did work up enough free room in my stomach to eat many slices of pie.

The next day was just as full of exciting events. We got up pretty early (10:30am) and went to paint pottery at the local Color Me Mine store. It has become a family tradition for us in the last few years. It all started with me and my brothers wanting to 'Out-do' the girls, so instead of flowers and 'cute' things, we all did German Polka bands, Godzilla vs. Mothra, and then Greek Minotaurs chopping heads off. And every year the fun escalates from there. For some reason I've taken the longest every time we go. I don't know why; maybe I'm slower than them at it, but maybe good designs take longer. I've definitely crowned myself champion of the plate designs every year that I've done it.

On Saturday morning we went shooting. It was warmer than it is to go shooting in Boise, thats for sure. Its usually freezing cold in Boise, but here its only Cold. Its another family tradition to go shooting guns on Thanksgiving weekend. Its our way of honoring the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution I guess.

My Grandma came to visit.
We watched football on TV.
My sister spoke in Church.
Then we came home.

'Proposition 8'

2008-11-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

Only in California... Or should I say, Only in LA and San Fran (it seems). I'm sure I don't need to convince any of you reading this, but I still have something to say about it. People are being so ridiculous about it. They are acting like its a civil rights movement for crying out loud. Well, its NOT.

If Prop 8 passes, Nothing changes! If it doesn't pass, then the way I practice religion will come into question (government scrutiny more like). Government WILL encroach upon how I practice my religion as well as any 'traditional' religion. My church will be sued because of the beliefs that I've had since the beginning of Time. The clergy could then be sued for preaching from the Bible even. And I don't like that idea.

If it doesn't pass, then this state created institution will have to be defended by the state. And that is where all the weird stupid laws come into play which will complicate everyone's lives, especially more costs to all government offices (because of twice as much paper work for example), and I am not a fan of more laws. More laws seem like more paper to waist, which means more taxes for me, which means more headache for me, and I'll eventually get more parking and speeding tickets, which I Don't want!
And next, kids will be forced to hear about how your parent should be gay, and parents won't be able to control it (at the school level that is). Now there's tons of horror stories about how the state will pretty much indoctrinate the kids out there, and all those who oppose (mostly on tv) say that its NOT about kids, its about 'me' (speaking of themselves). They are all thinking only of themselves, and not the future of kids minds; lets face it when taught about that stuff that early, it 'changes' people, and could mess horribly with kids thinking. When kids are taught the 'right' thing at home, then the parents have power. But with every gay lesson the school has, it is an attempt to undermine the family.

Here is a link that I saw that was interesting, and described it pretty well.
http://www.protectmarriage.com/ballot/

But anyway. Its just my ranting opinion for now. No need to hate me for it (I don't think). Beth already told me that people are out to get me because I have an opinion on it, and that I should 'watch out'. But whatever. Its just 1 opinion.

Second Quote of the Year

2008-10-29T18:07:00.001-07:00

I honestly thought there would only be one quote of the year, but I was proven wrong last night....
[I was leaving the apartment to go running. Cheryl was just walking up the hallway]

"Oh Hi, are you leaving right now? Oh, can I borrow your credit Card? I have to run to the store in a minute."

Wedding Day - aka Party of the Century

2008-10-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

So I wake up, and immediately need pancakes. Jeff didn't have the 'ingredients' for the best mix ever, so I decided to run over to Pelham and get my mix. On the way there I ran into the girl who does my hair, so I decided to get her to fix my hair up; cause after all, I was on my way to the party of the century later on today.

So back to Veteran for Pancakes. I made some, which were most excellent, and then Jeff made some, which I didn't exactly try, but I can not vouch for their quality. I can say that they were thicker than I've ever seen before, and I really think he was going for some sort of record with their size, and thickness. It was so 'Odd' when they weren't done cooking when he wanted them to be. They were so thick that when he forked into one batter came oozing out of the center just like a jelly donut. It was pretty odd. But hey, I'm happy that he loved it. Joe and Tiffany came over too for breakfast.

A bit later my brother Joe decided that one shower wasn't enough on the day of a party, so he started harassing me about taking another one. I assured him that 1 was enough per day, but then Jeff and Josh decided to start harassing me. So I was pretty much forced into bathing again. Which was annoying. Especially cause Josh was itching to try out some of his Submission holds on me if I resisted any longer than I did.

Later that day Cheryl met up at the temple with a few friends. it was nice. We got 'hitched'.

When leaving the temple we were surprised to see all the people outside waiting for us. It was all our families, and many wonderful friends. It was nice to see them all together. There was even a lady there taking pictures of us. She did great. You can see her stuff at http://ryelphotoblog.com/. (She has some pictures of us up, and our pies!) After a short group photo session, our friends and families parted and went to finish setting up at the Stake Center. We then finished our 1-on-1 photo session with Ryel. She marched us all over the temple grounds. It was nice cause she allowed me some 'artistic expression' on some of the shots. It thus captured the essence of the photo shoot. When walking up the front stairs of the Temple, Cheryl accidentially tripped over her long flowing dress, and ripped some of the front flowing dress part, from the snug torso part. In a panic I was sent inside and I asked for safety pins. After a long wait, the guys there found 2 pins for me, so I raced back out to the photo shoot. We mended the dress as best we could given No supplies and little time. but we made due with covering the slight rip with a beautifully plump bouquet of flowers, or the long sassy brown sash. While on the lawn, many cars on the street would honk at us, acknowledging that we were indeed the coolest people ever. I wanted to show my thanks, so I would wave to everyone that would honk at us.

From there we drove right over to the Stake center to assist in what we could. Our photo shoot took longer than we exptected (partly due to dress-rippage), but when we got there, it looked spectacular. It was just like walking into... Disneyland; except no weirdo's, less Disney paraphinalia, and we wern't selling crap, and no rides; but there were still kids everywhere. In the last two hours our families and friends had worked their magic to fix everything up, and in working order too! The lights were glowing sublimly. The lanterns were also lit, which was an added bonus, cause we didn't think they worked. The tables were all set and adorned with the Damask runners that Cheryl had made, crowned with beautiful fluffy autumnn colored flower arrangements that Trisha had assembled. Right as you entered the courtyard, you would come across the Sign-In table, and the Pie Table. Both looked very attractive. At the sign in table there was a huge bowl of hershy's miniture chocolates, re-wrapped with our own design, names, and the date on it. They were there to 'tide' you over until you made it to the actual food tables. Then the photo book that we made was there, filled with all the wonderful pictures that Tiffany had taken from our Engagement Photo session. There was plenty of blank area for everyone to sign in, along with our Martha Stewart Scrapbooking Pens for people to write with. Across the way was the Pie table, with heaping mounds of Pies on it. Oh the smell was wonderful, and the look of it was fantastic! Everybody was impressed. From there you would enter the more open courtyard area. The corner of the courtyard acted as a pedistal to the rest of the courtyard, so that is where Cheryl and I stood to greet people. It was spacious enough to contain many people so it wasn't uncomfortable standing there greeting everyone who came to our party. As you entered, you enjoyed the field of decorated tables, along with the beautiful atmosphere. Off to the right, in the back, was the heaping tables of Food and punch and water(I spilled quite a bit of punch for some reason. It was a little to slippery for my fingers I guess). It was delicious, and plentifyl, and was prepaired by Trisha's friend Linda. (Danny at work verified that Linda is a great cook, and good at doing weddings, and brings plenty of food, and boy was he right.) And again in the middle of the food table was a mountainous explosion of flowers in an arrangement. I'm really glad that Cheryl and I took the time to sit and eat some of the wonderful food.

And of course in the background, with the combined efforts: Britt & Steve put together a wonderful music Play-list for the occasion, and Jeff supplied the sound system, speakers, cables and all that technical stuff. He had some pretty good equipment, and they all came through for us.

Flowers, of course, were done by none other than Trisha, and they were gorgeous. I want to first say that when we were talking about flowers weeks before Our Big Party, my only requirements for my flower on my suit, was that it had to me Manly, and it had to scream 'I am tough and I won't take your crap', and it also had to have a sensitive side so that when Cheryl looked at it, she would see the sensitivity and softness, and beauty of it. And i also told her that it couldn't be 'cute', by anyones standards. And she did a fine job. I don't remember what kind of flower it was, but it didn't seem traditional, it did seem manly, and it fulfilled my requirments! It was great. It did however take three women to pin it on me becuase it was so 'tough' (ha ha ha, yes that was a play on words.) All the tables were centered with wonderful blossoming center pieces that Trisha and her shop did. I hope that someone took lots of pictures of them cause they were fabulous, and I definitely want to see them again.

Thanks again to everyone to helped us in every whay with our Big Day.
And thanks for coming, if you were able to make it.

Party-Prep for the Party of the Century

2008-10-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

On Thursday (the 9th) both my parents and Cheryl's parents came into town. To celebrate their meeting, we (I) decided that we all should go to BJ's, and that they should all partake of my most favorite BBQ Chicken Pizza, followed by the ever so scrumptious Pazookie. After that my parents left, and I stayed to help make cute little apple pies. We were making so many that we ran out of ingredients, so I ran to the store to fetch more. Unlucky for me, my car was still over at the temple apartments from when I picked the parents up, so I had to get 'exercise'! ugh. Making apple pies was fun, and laborsome. I think almost everyone working with them cut their fingers somehow. Cheryl was washing stuff and a knife jumped up and bit her finger pretty good (unfortunately, of course).

So I took last Friday off in order to prepare for 'the Party of the Century'. Lots of family was coming to town, and I had to help them coordinate the with the 'Set-Up' efforts. We had our day all mapped out, but nothing seemed to fit just right into our pre-suggested schedule, that we wanted it to fit into.
I had lots of running around to do, things to buy, stuff to pick up, and so on. I'd stop by Pelham to drop stuff off now and then. Around noon when I stopped there I was greeted by what seemed like a herd of kids all racing round the apartment. I froze as I entered, to analyze the situation. For a moment I thought that we were under invasion by an adorable little-person army. My fright only lasted a few moments until about 3 of them all started yelling 'Uncle Jim' all at the same time. I wanted to question each of them, as to how they knew me, but my schedule didn't allow for that. Luckily Cheryl explained. Cheryl's sisters and parents were hard at work making the coolest little pies ever (part of our party favors).

Later that day, as all our families were assembling, we planned to all meet at the Stake Center. Unfortunately I hadn't planned on the building being locked! I didn't plan on that at all. So a lot of us had to practice our patience for a while, while some of the smaller children started roaming randomly around the neighborhood. Fortunately my mom called me with an address of a member of the stake presidency, so Cheryl and I ran over to his house to plead our case, and ask for a key. So then the set-up procedure began.

Just as we finished setting up, we all marched over to El Cholo for dinner. It was a big sigh of relief knowing that the big and heavy, and timely parts of the set-up were done with. So I could then feast in peace. And boy was it good. I don't remember much of it, only that I didn't get enough refills, and I wanted ice cream afterwords.

Quote of theYear

2008-10-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

"I don't need a wallet, I have a husband"
-Cheryl

My days are numbered

2008-10-08T11:43:00.000-07:00

72 some-odd hours away, till the big day/party of the century.
Man, I really need a vacation.

Less than 2 weeks til the Big Day!

2008-09-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

If there is anything that you can never escape, its Time. Its closing in on me non-stop. Its like one of those 'boobie-traped' rooms where the walls continually close in on you (Don't tell Cheryl I said that). There's only 11 days left to the Big Day , from today. I keep forgeting that too.

So little time, and so much to do.

1 month and counting!

2008-09-11T15:18:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends. 1 Month till Jim's Big Day. My bags are [semi] packed, and I'm [almost] ready to go. The past few months have been pretty intense.

We found a cute little Palace over on Pelham. Its a 1 bedroom dream-shack, in a 10 unit building. The rest of our neighbors are Asian students, so its going to be nice and quiet around the Palace. Cheryl's all moved in, as she ditched her old place, and I'm beginning my Eastborne Exodus and trying to integrate My treasures where she'll let me:) We even went furniture shopping last weekend to round out the place, and to bring it up to a minimum cuteness level.

I put my design skills to use by designing the invitations 'packages'. It was just like being back in school for a few hours (which was enough). Our pictures are spectacular. My brother Joe and Tiffany came down last month to take our engagement pictures. It took a week to narrow the list down, then I sent our final 37 pics off for Post-production; again, thanks to my other brother Dave for that.

The Food has been taken care of. The Photos have been arranged. Now all we need to do is arrange the setting up and taking down.

This last week I've been suffering from a cold, which I so generously shared with Ms. Cheryl. (oops, sorry about that. )

Jim's Big Day!

2008-07-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

So, here is how it happened:
Many weeks ago I started wondering if it was time to talk to 'That Cheryl Girl' about 'The M-Word'. It wasn't a matter if I thought it was right, It was only a matter if She would agree with me. Seriously how bad would that suck if I tried to surprise her and the answer was 'uh... I don't know'!

Then a week or two after that (and only a few weeks back from now) we were hanging out at her place; I think it was July 4th now that I think about it. But there were many things leading up to this of course, but while watching TV together in the last two weeks in particular there were many references to Marriage, Rings, Engagements, Honeymoons and things of that nature. I didn't mind hearing those words at that time so I didn't think anything about it, BUT right after I heard those words on the television I swear that I could hear the gears turning in her head (and the room got even more silent and tense). So that made me think, "well if she hears those words and then the gears turn in her head, maybe my gears should be turning in my head when I hear those words too". So I started to think about it more, until eventually I started telling myself that I needed to work up the courage to talk about those sorts of 'things' with her. And eventually by... July 4th I believe, I finally was giddy enough to bring it up. But only after she kept prying with questions as to why I was giggling so much. I think I started with something like this: "So Cheryl, how's it going". "Oh, thats good". "So in general, what do you think about...Marriage?". "Do you like weddings, n' stuff like that?". Each question was separated by at least 1 full minute of giggling at least. But the hard part for me was how she refused to answer me directly! No, I'm not kidding at all. Its like she was trying to get me to speak in complete sentences or something! And because I was flustered, I would giggle more, cause it was kind of funny. So I finally came out and asked if she liked me enough to think about marring me. So she's like; "Sure, sounds good". So then I in a super nervous way am like, "uh, thats a Yes, right?" And she responded in the affirmative, then shook hands on it.

Of course we decided not to tell all of you until I made it official with a ring. (Sorry, I'm just secretive like that). So on Saturday July 12th we arranged to go to Downtown LA to the Jewelry District and go Ring shopping. It was pretty overwhelming. So many stores, and so many options, and every vendor is convinced that I'd only be able to find the best designs, and best deals in their shop. After shop-hopping all day we had only found three possible options. So we sat in the shade, discussed the options, then I think I slowly convinced her that there was only One option available (I only fell in love with one of them [but was still open to her ideas]). So we decided and went with ring that we both had liked.

[On July 15th Cheryl reminded me that I still needed to talk to her Dad. I apparently completly forgot about that sort of thing, so I told her that I would prepare my speach for the next night, Wednesday the 16th. So on Wednesday night Cheryl called and got her dad on the phone, then told him that 'there's someone here that wants to talk to you'. And that someone was ME. So I formally asked his permission, and he agreed to it. ]

Ten days later, Wednesday July 23rd, the ring was ready to be picked up. But not really. First off we chose which cut of Diamond we wanted (because we couldn't decided at the store, they offered to show us two different cuts, then we could choose) then after realizing that it was very difficult to take the ring off her finger, we had them resize the ring to fit her finger without choking it. But that just meant we had to wait another day to actually get the ring. Luckily I called the Jeweler and asked of its status, so I was warned of this delay so I stopped by the store and purchased a few Ring-Pop's to take the real one's place.

But in anticipating the ring being finished on that Wednesday, I had made arrangements at the restaurant at the top of the Bonaventure hotel, at their New York Steakhouse called 'L.A. Prime'. Its super fancy, and it's on the 35th floor. Its a circular building with the elevators on the outside of the building! (Which means I almost fainted when I glanced out the windows. Going up wasn't that bad with a bunch of people, but oh the way down, when the doors opened, and you looked out and saw that we were 35 floors up, It was hard to get on the elevator and I wanted to ask where the stairs were. But I decided that I needed to brave my fears, so I got on, and just stuck my nose into the doors, and held as tight to the handrail as I could.) But anyway, it was a really cool place to go. They put us in a booth that had a great view up toward the north and the hills and Dodger Stadium. I was impressed with the amount of people they had working there too. There was at least 2-3 servers for every guest! My water was never more than half empty, and the managers kept stopping by to make sure we liked it there too. Mark, the waiter, was very nice. He brought us weird 'fancy' snacks of Eggplant topped with raw tuna flown in from Mexico that morning, again topped with succulent chunks of non-salmonella tomatoes, and crisp green Watercress sprinkled over the top, all baked together lightly with a radiant Parmesan cheese. Cheryl made me try part of one, and it wasn't that bad (cause I couldn't taste the fish).

After we ordered I found the time to talk with her, and eventually 'Popped the Question'. And YES, it was very 'romantic'.

When the food came we were even more in awe. The Menu was clipped into a metal binder to tell you the seriousness of the food there. They rolled it out on a wheeled-waiter, and as it pulled up to our table it was like the Harry Potter train pulling into Hogwarts. I got the Endangered Australian Lobster which was flown in that morning. It was amazing. I don't have lobster that often, but this was very enjoyable to eat. They also gave me a gravy-boat full of butter sauce to douse it in. We also got side dishes of Potato au graten, and Sweet Creamed corn. They were also very delectable. So much so that I had four helpings. Cheryl got the Fillet Mignon. I had never actually seen it before, only mis-pronounced the name of it, but it was tremendously good too. I sampled a small very pink slice if it, with her permission of course, and it was almost like a meat flavored bread. If all steak was like that I might like steak. The only sad part of the evening was the fact that we didn't have room for dessert.

Then we went home and started calling people. I think I called my whole family and three other people in the same amount of time that she called two. I'm not saying I'm better, I'm just saying that if you want more 'details' you'll want to talk to her, cause I'm not always into that I guess.

In calling family and friends, it was funny cause most people I told didn't believe me. Its just how I act when I ate a 14 pound lobster, and have barley survived an ultra hot day in a Tie no less. Jessica did scream the loudest. Jeff was the most skeptical, and Kami was the most nonchalant (not in a bad way). Tiffany's response was the most formal, and Joe showed the most 'concern'. But I must say that I thought Kristen's response was the most enjoyable to me, cause as soon as I told her she dropped the box and backpack in her hands, donned her new cowboy hat, and started dancing around in the street, then said 'its about damn time'.

So there you have it, in a nutshell, the True story.

Viva Las Vegas

2008-06-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

A few of us went on a road trip to Las Vegas this last weekend. We went for Matt and Gliedy's Vegas Reception, and cause it would be fun. We stayed at the Monte Carlo Casino-Resort. We walked around, took pictures, hung out at the pool, and ate at buffets. It was fabulous.

The Buffet's:

The Journey:

YES on Eminent Domain!

2008-06-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

Just a little Political Rant:
Some of the 'uninformed' people on 'wardstuff' were trying to tell me who to vote for. They were trying to argue about 'Eminent Domain'. Oh how foolish they were. Do you know what Eminent Domain is? In a nutshell, its the power the government has to take land Under Drastic Circumstances. This is a benefit to the city, because a lovely/desirable neighborhood raises value. A higher value means higher sale prices (taxes), and higher sales taxes (and more taxes). Taxes, in case you were wondering, is Income to the City. Why do you think so many people want to live in Beverly Hills? Its because the city has strict guidelines as to what can be built, where, and every city council has a Design Review Board to approve or dismiss the look of EVERY building that goes up in their city.

The Supreme Court case of 'Kelo vs. New London' was the last major case to highlight the use of Eminent Domain. The city of New London condemned a bunch of land, studied possible outcomes for 5 years, per city rules. Then when the city told the people to finally move out, they threw a fit. The whole court case WASN'T about the Gov. simply taking land from owners, it was about the Supreme Court upholding the guidelines/rules/laws that the city put in place to protect itself, and it followed through with! Why can't the media say that? Its should be so simple.

Let me start this argument by saying that I worked for the city of LA, in the Community Redevelopment Agency for a summer. The government needs such a tool to protect itself from retards who don't keep up their land/business/house, etc! The case which made this popular was in London, RI. The city did a 5 year study proving that 1 neighborhood was causing problems. Then at the end of the 5th year they paid the people to leave. 1 old lady and some Korean dude didn't want to leave after all, and must not have noticed any of the research, or letters, or notices, over those 5 years, cause then they didn't want to leave.

How many of you want crappy neighbors? Do you want to live next to Crack-houses? Or how about people who don't do anything to take care of their yards or buildings? Do you want to live next to the mysterious haunted house? He has the right to do that, right? WRONG! Cities are allowed to enforce their codes FOR MY PROTECTION too! I have a right according to the constitution to 'Life, Liberty, and Property'. So why are people voting to reject the city, (who we all pay taxes to, so they can make my city a more livable place), from keeping my city a nice livable place?! Cities have fewer and fewer tools these days to combat vagrant home/business owners.

This eminent domain is indeed extreme, but its a valid option. They don't simply take it away. They have 3 or 4 different appraisers look at the property, and the city pays the average fair value price! Then they pay for moving expenses, and if you're friendly, they even give you other moving bonuses.

Do you know how hard it is to evict a Deadbeat tenant? It usually takes a landlord no shorter than 90 days to evict someone. And thats already after they've missed at least 2-3 months rent. (for my landlord, in my apartment, that would be at least $10,800!) But who is going to 'evict' the property owner? Thats right, the city. They have strict rules and guidelines, just like we do. So as long as they follow their rules, it all works out fine.

Do you want to live in the slums? Slums don't bring the city any money. The nicer a neighborhood is, the more people want to live there. Cities want nice neighborhoods. When people want to live there, land value goes up. As that happens, the amount of taxes increases. Cities need tax money to pay for newer nicer stuff. The city wants nicer/newer stuff so more people live and shop there. Its a chicken/egg situation, and its just how cities work.

So don't try to tell me how to vote you foolish Wardstuffers! You should inform yourselves to the REAL issues, not the ones the Media tells you to hear!

(feel free to comment on this but please realize (evan and/or danny) no matter how much you try to argue against me, you won't change my mind. Thanks.)

Office Identity

2008-05-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

Front of Office

Back of Office

From across the street

Collins and Tor Jamming in their spare time after work.

After a long time (1 1/2 years) my office finally got our own signage put up. So now as you walk by, it will say more than just 'Architects' (which was part of the last office's sign). Now I can describe it with more than 'the white building by Diddy Reese'.

Movie Time- Revisited

2008-05-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

Yes yes, I know what you're all thinking: 'What is Jim going to watch at the Movie Theater this summer'? Well, let me make it easy for you (I've also ranked each movie into a viewabity catagorie where 1=Won't Miss, 2= I'll see it if I get the chance and feel like it at the time, then 3= I'm interested, so maybe it it plays at the FOX Studios) :
- Semi-Pro (I'll have to catch on video)
- Run Fatboy Run (I'll have to catch on video)
- Superhero Movie (I'll have to catch on video)
2 Forbidden Kingdom (Current)
1 Iron Man (April 30) (awesome!)
2 Speed Racer (May 9)
1 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (May 16)
1 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (May 22)
2 You don't mess with the Zohan (June 6)
1 The Incredible Hulk (June 13)
1 Get Smart (June 20)
3 The Love Guru (June 20)
1 Wall-E (June 27)
3 Hancock (July 2)
2 Hellboy II: The Golden Army (July 11)
2 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (July 11)
1 The Dark Knight (July 18)
1 Step Brothers (July 25)
2 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Aug 1)
3 Tropic Thunder (Aug 15)
1 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (November 21)
2 Punisher: War Zone (December 5)
2 Star Trek (December- moved to May 8, 2009)
3 Underworld (Jan 5)

*Please note that this list is a work in progress*

A Painting for Joe and Tiffany

2008-03-31T17:59:00.001-07:00

I know its long overdue, but I have finally completed the painting that I started for Joe and Tiffany. Getting it to them is going to be a more interesting adventure story, so for starters I'll just try to show you my painting process:

step 1. 11-3-7
(I sketched this maybe a year ago, this is just when I photographed it)

step 2. 1-31-8

step 3. 2-2-8

step 4. 2-6-8

2008-03-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend was supposed to be all fun and happy. It started out decent. I made myself the obligatory Pancake Breakfast early on Saturday. I was planning to go visit my Grandma when I ran into Cheryl on the street. She said that she was thinking of going to some small town called Yucipa, just to visit, cause she had heard that its an interesting rural town. What a coincidence, that where my grandma lives! So we decided to carpool. We started making the 100 minute drive when some irrational highway patrolman decided that I needed to be pulled over. Sure my car hasn't been registered for about 9 months now, but that was no reason to flash your lights, and then yell at me through his loudspeaker multiple times. He didn't seem like he was having a good day either. He probably didn't get to make himself pancakes. I shook my head at myself for much of the rest of the drive, but I still don't understand why he had to tack on infractions like no proper insurance, illegal lane change, and speeding. And the worst part is that I have to show up so some court thing to get it resolved at 8 in the morning next week, I think! Bah humbug to that.

Daily Update

2008-02-19T14:01:00.000-08:00

It was supposed to be a happy little stroll around the block. The weather was supposed to be nice, clear and warm. My tummy wasn't supposed to be that hungry either. But then all of a sudden in the middle of my walk, I see tis weird witch lady sprawled out in front of the noodle place by Diddy Reese, and of course I'm staring. I mean really, she was uglier than Medusa. It appears that someone had thrown a large cup of water on her, which was hilarious, but as I got closer I realized that I don't think the large puddle on and beneath her came from any other source than from herself. As I'm next to this 'situation' I decided that she either wet herself, or puked all over. At that point I was so close that her 'ugly' fumes were making my eyes water. She tried to say something to me, but I actually didn't want to turn to stone, so I ran away. I only turned to see if she was following me when I was an entire block away. Around the next turn there was two more bum sightings. Both were stinking up the sidewalk like you wouldn't believe. I kept thinking that they were following me for some reason. It was a close call.

So last night we convened our usual JJCC-Home-Evening event. It was just as splendid as ever. This week's event was held at Chipotle. As we got there, right in front, we ran into Matt and Gleidy. It was funny to see them there, and I asked if they were there to join us for our weekly 'meeting'. They weren't, they were meeting Gleidy's family (which kind of complicated things cause instead of saving us a table, he stood in line with them, with his food, letting every other little high school dweeb take our spots, so we ended up sitting on a bunch of bar stools.

We then wound up over at Jeff's for the 'after hang-out'. We snacked on food from last night, which was good, but very rich in chocolate. I had two bites of this cake he had made, and it was like getting punched in the mouth by Count Choc-u-la. I mean really! then it was like a clay brick as I tried to swallow it. While all that was going on, I had control of the TV tuner, so I was flipping, and flipping, and then stopped on Project Runway. Ohhh, that Heidi Klum is a dream boat. But I made them watch it. It was funny cause after the one episode, they had had more than enough, and were then mad at me for making them sit through it. It was funny.

When I got home I painted for a little bit. My eyes were trying to close the whole time I was sitting there. I was happy with what I accomplished though. The mountains have now sprang up and reached the sky, or the sky has come crashing down on the mountains, depending on which way you want to look at it. The trees were springing to life, the buildings were growing to maturity, and the sea was waving back and forth. I have now covered all the buildings with roofs, trim, and window's for the most part. There was an instance where I had to use my scraper brush to clear a way some past transgressions, and refine some wall-roof-window connections too. It became a bit drastic, but after I started redoing it, it turned out lovely. I'll tell you though, that the more shadow's I add, the better it looks. I'm giving myself another week to finish it (tentatively). But sorry joe and tiff, theres still drying time, framing time, and then shipping time. All necessary evils.

I'm listening to Def Leppard right now.

Lunch was sponsored by Lamonica's NY Pizza. It was a first for me, and I'm sure to go back. It would also be a good place to have one of our popular JJCCHE's.

Daily Update - Presidents Day Edition

2008-02-18T14:01:00.000-08:00

(uh... oops, I completely forgot to send this out! my bosses rushed me out of the office to quickly. My apologies. )

Friday right after work I was meeting Jeff down at the studios for a movie watching event. While I was driving down there through the neighborhoods, I passed someone I recognized, it was Cheryl out for a walk. So I convinced her to join us. We saw Jumper. It wasn't bad, entertaining, but the main guy is the worst actor ever. He shows happiness, sadness, anger, awakeness, and sleepiness all with the same expression! He did the same thing in Star Wars, and utterly ruined the movie for me. I looked by this horribleness for as long as I could, but by the end, it was over for me. After the movie my hunger prevailed, and led us over to the nearest IHOP. It was only after we started looking through the menus that I realized that I had to save myself for my traditional Saturday morning Pancakes. So I got some sort of Pancake derivation that would still leave my Saturday morning enjoyable.

Saturday morning I sprang to my feet because I had been waiting for the usual pancake breakfast. Its deliscious nature was deflated a little bit because of dinner last night. but to make up for it, I just made twice as many, and doused them in mapley syrup.

I spent most of the day inside working on my painting... I mean my brothers painting. It the work became meticulous and detailed. I even found myself wondering where to put extra paint. Most of my frustration came from me thinking about what I 'Should have done' with layering, and colors n such. I had to go to the store at one point to get a smaller brush even. I've been slowly finishing the mountains for a while now, and finishing the building facades and their roofs now. I'm not sure what to do with the plaza yet. The closer I get to the water though, the more I have the desire to eat seafood. At one point I had to reference a few pictures I took from the last time I was there in Italy, just to make sure i knew what I was looking at. All I have to say is that ' the hills are alive with the sound of Brush-strokes'.

In the evening I got hungry so I left my lair for the second time of the day. I went to some pizza place on Pico Blvd. I was on my way down when I ran into Cheryl AnD her parents. They were going out for Pizza as well! what a coincidence. We even ended up at the same place. It was good stuff. Not as superb as BJ's BBQ Chicken Cake like Pizza, but it was still good.

A bit later in the evening, Emily had a 'Mocktail' party (fake-drinking party). It was fun. Lots of people, and apparently you were supposed to 'dress up' for this event. Formal event at Greenfield? whatever! I had a collared shirt on, and didn't you all notice that I actually had pants on?! The crowning moment is when Danny stood on the hearth and sang Emily a song. It was frightfully funny. Loads of good food. Unfortunately I wasn't hungry for it.

Also it had been a while, so I Fought the Battle of My Life for an hour or so too. I think I'm almost bored of it.

Church was one of the better Church sessions in a while. We had multiple visitors there, including Dannys parents. After church a lot of people went to Silvia's baptism. It was wonderful. And the treats afterwards were spectacular too!

I'm listening to the Venga boys right now. (Euro pop stuff)

Lunch was sponsored by Marvin's Diner. It was actually pretty good, except for half the fries being cooked yesterday.

Water cooler gossip: As I walked in to work (9:30ish) everyone said " HE DID IT, its his fault". then in shortly questioning them, I guess Peter decided to no longer work with us. I guess he came in this morning early and threw in the towel. Thats kind of to bad. I don't think he was treated fairly here, but he may have deserved some of it. Although I received the accusations jokingly, I think Danny was the actual reason; he was always harsh, rude, or sometimes just mean in their discussions. But whatever.

Also: Collins went out to lunch with Lynn. Lynn is the new Susan. They were gone for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. With the way he talks about girls, he only has one thing in mind 'if you know what I mean' (typical buy). I don't think we're ready for an office romance. (its only a matter of time before he screws it up IF that is what it is.) But I'm getting ready for the potential awkwardness that will ensue, and I plan to make it even more so. :)

Daily Update

2008-02-15T16:44:00.000-08:00

It was Valentines Day. I didn't have anything planned. Was I supposed to? I'm a 'free spirit' after all. I wanted to just go over to 7-11 and get myself something to eat. My refrigerator was virtually empty, and so many other people go to this 'Kwiki Mart' when they need food, so I decided to too. I've run into people before when I go there, and today was no different. I ran into the President of the local Diet Coke Fan club, Ms. Cheryl. What a coincidence. We were both hungry, and looking for food, and nothing appealed to either of us, so we decided to join forces and go out to a full fledged restaurant.

It was some Thai place. There wasn't to long of a wait for us, cause they knew who I was and gave me the proper respect that I deserved. While eating I kept asking questions to her about everything I could think of. It may have gotten a little boring, but I had to keep myself entertained. After a while she then stopped answering the questions and would then would correct my posture, and etiquette. It was kind of funny. I think I broke every rule. I offered to bring her to a movie with me, but she 'Wasn't feeling well' and so I just took her home. Not to long after I started not feeling well, so I went home too. Cupid must have shot me in the stomach with the wrong arrow, or he just punched me there. That little bastard. Next time I see him... He's dead!

So while at home, I chatted with Eric, who told me about his latest TV watching escapades. I now want to watch the show Lost. It has taken an interesting Jim-like turn (that means its cool and like-able) and now I need to see it for myself. Then I continued to work on the little wooden dragon puzzle. Its fun cause its a dragon, and I get to piece it together. You probably won't understand what it is until I show you, but its super cool none-the-less. But YES its another Project I started in my spare time; Chris, Kristen, I don't want to hear about it from you, cause I will finish it! So there!

I also took the chance to paint when Mike was watching TV. I'm working on finishing the Background right now. Particularly the mountains. They area fun thing to hike around it with a paint brush. I'm running out of the fun things to do on this painting I think, and now its getting to be kind of meticulous. I think I'm just over half way done.

Another fascinating thing I've taken notice to, on TV, is that dumb 'who wants to be a Supermodel' show on Bravo. Its funny to watch, similar to all the other dumb reality shows I watch, but this one is great cause They all remind me of Derick Zoolander. At any moment they can start to argue and then challenge each other to a 'Walk-Off'. Then they get super excited about going to the store to get an Orange Mocha Frappachino. Honestly, they could be some of the dumbest people alive. And that makes me feel better about myself.

I'm listening to Queen and GnR right now.

Lunch was sponsored by Jose Bernstein's.

Office Gossip: Peter isn't here again today. I wonder if he's really sick, or if he got 'let-go'. When he left on Tuesday he did sound pretty bad, but you never know.

Daily Update- Valentines Day Edition

2008-02-14T17:06:00.000-08:00

Last night right after work I decided to drop by a hockey game. I hat told a few people about my interests, and so the 5 of us jumped in my car and started driving. We eventually felt the urge to get off the road, and then turn the corner, and then go around the block, then we happened to find some sort of Ice Arena. It was like it was drawing us in with a very powerful 'Tractor Beam'. So I followed my small group into this arena and we sat down and started watching the legendary sporting event of Hockey. For the first few minutes the glass was dirty, and the game was scrappy. I noticed with my Eagle Eye that there was another match just starting in/on another rink, so I wandered over there to investigate. As the kids were skating around I notice one of them looks familiar. To my surprise, it was Chris. I smiled as smugly as possible, as he asked me what we were doing there. What a coincidence, to run into him at a place like that. During the game we deliberated and I decided that he has some Canadian, Russian, Croatian, and USA of '88 blood in him (which means hes pretty darn good.) During the showdown some mongoloid Russian Cheap-shotted him and he went down. I was not tolerant of behavior like that, so I started yelling to Chris that he should fight this insufferable menace to the Ice. He didn't though. Unfortunate, cause I was ready to spring to his defense if needed... and yes, from the stands. Its good that he didn't cause he probably didn't want the penalty. And its good that I didn't spring to action, cause I didn't have skates on. (not that it would slow my feet down, but I would use the skate blades as weapons on my hands to scar him permanently all over his body.) So I started yelling things, suggesting that he skate over their ankles a couple of times. After the match was over he let me hold his sweaty gloves, and then I accidentally touched his sweaty (stinky) helmet. It was great fun. Oh, and then I somehow talked Sara into 'loaning' me a dollar for Hot Chocolate, but the stupid machine was broke and didn't take it, so then I had to 'borrow' another dollar from Jessica. It tasted like hot water with a hint of chocolate being in it at one time.

Later when I got home I stayed up talking with Mike. Then he scolded me for staying up to late, then I him. We then watched the Food network as I attempted to add life to my painting. This thing has become like Frankenstein. The more I add this beautiful luminous paint to it, the more it moves on its own, and talks to me, and shows emotion. Its starting to have life now too. Its all about the shadows I tell you. This time I focused on the vegetation on the close hills. It was partly an experimentation with color, because some colors bring life to plants as where other colors bring death and confusion. As I did this the mountainous landscape went from a foreign land to hike in, to a lush hilltop path with places to wanter and hike, and enjoy nature.

After a bit of that my eyes started to close and then I slowly went to bed. I haven't been able to fight the battle of my life lately. I hope the arch villain's minions haven't done to much damage in my honorable absence.

I'm listening to Sublime right now.

Lunch was sponsored by Noah's bagels. (at first they tried to give me a burnt looking bagel. Honestly it looked like a little charcoal briquette. I told them that I would not accept this as I had paid for, and pointed to a normal looking bagel, and added that I thought that it looked like a giant turd, and I don't eat anything that looks like poo. So they made me another one, and it was pleasant to the taste. I think that when I said the word 'turd' I made all the customers in line pretty nervous. it was funny.)

Happy Valentines day everybody. I bought you all Scooby Doo Valentines, but I didn't get them out in time, so you'll bet them next year for sure.

Daily Update

2008-02-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

It was the worst and most frustrating trip to Costco EVER! I have nothing but anger toward them right now! and I can tell you for sure, that their manager will get the nastiest/rudest/ and meanest letter written to him/her as soon as I have a free minute. I was only buying two things. It seems kind of strange, but thats all I needed. I of course was the only one in the place with that few of items. When I got to the front there were only 4 check stands open. Having sulked for a few seconds, I found the line with the least amount of items to be checked out in it and rushed to the end of it. So far so good, right? But no. I happened to find the line with the most amount of people (4-5 in all) who didn't speak English or spanish, Didn't have memberships, Didn't have a method of payment, had expired memberships, or they wanted to pay for each of their 20 items separately!!! How can people be so dumb?! It is very difficult but I'm really trying to hold back all the racial anger, in case you can't tell. In all actuality I'm not even sure what race they were, only that they should be put to death because their sheer stupidity! so anyway, other than that, I was in line maybe 10-15 minutes before another checker opened a check stand. Oh, how nice you say... WRONG! The person started taking people from the BACK of the line, and in reverse order! How horrible I tell you. I was 2 people away from the check stand, and had been for a while, and My TWO freaking items were to scary for the person opening the check-out. How could my 'almost most favorite' store betray me like this?! Don't they know who I am?!

2008-01-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

Behold, the great accomplishment of the year, the one and only Gingerbread Castle Galore!

2007-12-14T18:08:00.000-08:00

The Battle of my Life continued of last night, the second I got home from work. It went extremely well. I have taken three more territories of Middle-Earth, and defended 5 more. But that adventure quickly ended as Cheryl and I had planned to watch a movie. In some of my daily research on the internet, I found that the latest Harry Potter movie has just been released. So my ambitions lay with finding myself a copy of such a thing. So in going to buy this said entertainment media, my Best Buy coupons had just barley expired, so I decided that venturing down to Costco would be best in my opinion. Although it probably would have been more economical to simply go to Best Buy, I resisted that temptation. While at Costco I offered to buy Cheryl a Costco Hot-Dog for dinner, but she seemed to be pretty disgusted at this idea. Oh well, I'll have to bring Jeff back on Saturday.

Lunch was sponsored by In N Out again. I realize this is only the second or third time that I've gone to a place two days in a row, but by eating Chinese food last night, the spiciness canceled out the burger taste.

I'm listening to the next book in the Narnia Series. They still deal with annoying brats, stupid creatures, and heroic children. Its mildly entertaining... well, the first half anyway. Its ending is like the ending of the third Lord of the rings where it could have ended 4 times, and they should have ended it even sooner. Overall it was disjointed and confusing; I don't think it matches the whole 'theme' of what mr. Lewis was going for. The other books have had strong overtones, but this one didn't really hit it on the head. I hope the movie is better. I really wish I was listening to christmas music instead.