Week in Review – Week of 2009 December 20th – 26th

This has been a very nice holiday week. I only had to work three days this week, and while it sucks that one of those days is Saturday, it could be a lot worse. I’m in Evansville right now, hanging out with my mom, sister, aunt, and cousin. My mom is doing well, and we benefit by enjoying her wonderful cooking. I got her a carved wooden “happiness” statuette to celebrate the fact that her depression is lifted and she’s finally feeling herself again.


Most of derby practice sucked Sunday. Between my sprained ankle and my late work shift, I haven't been able to make it to more than one practice a week, and that's not enough to keep up. I tried to sprint out of a pack skate when it was my turn, and after getting whipped to the front I promptly fell on my ass, which didn't hurt then but hurt for days after. I think I might take Dexter's advice and start going to Skateland on Thursday nights, at least on the weeks I work late and can't go to Monday practice.

After practice I went to Ke’s to shower and spend the night. We went to the Laundromat so she could wash and dry blankets and sleeping bags, and we grabbed Chinese food from next door while we were there. When we got back we watched a cute Star Trek parody episode of CSI while Ke worked on computer repair projects. When Nivagi got home, she hung out with us for a while before going to bed. When Ke got hungry again, I went out and got us Fazoli’s before bed. We stayed up way too late, but it was fine since I didn’t have to work Monday.

Monday afternoon Ke and I got up and went to Le Peep for a late breakfast. I hung out at Ke’s before going to Jero’s to snuggle and get dinner. After dinner Jero and I went to derby practice – me to skate, Jero to observe and provide advice and moral support (she’s on a self-imposed off-season until January). Practice followed the same pattern as Sunday – the first half sucked, but it got better as I got warmed up. After practice I gave Jero solstice presents and then we cuddled and watched Dexter.

Work was hectic Tuesday, but I got to leave a little early so I went home and enjoyed some time alone before my friend Jeki arrived. She’s in area (sort of) for the holidays, so she made time to stop by like she did last year. We thought she was going to have to leave early to drive back to her parents’, but she got someone to watch her kids so she could spend the night. We both had a lovely time cuddling and catching up with everything that’s been going on in the last year.

Wednesday work sucked, so I escaped as early as possible and went home to unwind before bringing Ke dinner. Ke and I snuggled up and watched NCIS before I tore myself away and headed to Bloomington to pick up Chhu to bring her to Evansville. Chhu and I headed to Evansville, where I dropped Chhu off at our mom’s. I went to Mira’s apartment, where we said hello to her roommates and then sequestered ourselves in her bedroom to snuggle and watch “Epitath One.”
Thursday morning Mira and I went to her brother’s house for Christmas Eve celebrations. Mira’s family is very nice, and they (as well as Mira) got me presents. When we left I went to my mom’s house for dinner. She made super-yummy lasagna, and after we ate we hung out and listened to fun Christmas music like Straight No Chaser and Hebe’s Cthulhu carols. When Mom went to bed I got on the MUX for a while and then Chhu and I played Guitar Hero.

Around 2 AM Friday morning I went to Mira’s to sleep. Hours later Mira woke me up very nicely with kisses and breakfast. When she headed out for her Christmas plans, I headed back to my mom’s apartment. She’s making a ham for the holidays, and after we eat I’m bringing Chhu back to Bloomington and then meeting up with Caro while she’s in the state. Caro’s Thanksgiving visit was far too short, so tonight I get to kidnap her for the entire night.

Tomorrow morning I have to work, so unfortunately Caro will have to head back early. After work I get to have dinner with Jero and her parents. With luck maybe we’ll all get to play SingStar again and Jero’s brother and I can show off our mad Madonna-singing skillz. I like Jero’s family, so I’m happy I’ll get to see them while they’re in town for the holidays. Overall, it’s been a very nice holiday week with friends, lovers, and family.

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Ben Franklin

Week in Review – Week Ending June 20th

This has been a pretty nice week, although concerns about my long-term health have preoccupied my mind (that, and a strong desire to role-play since my post-birthday game night). I had a rare week where I got off work before 10 PM, so I took advantage of that fact the best I could with no money whatsoever. I got to MUX, visit Laat, attend a hafla, and spent time with friends and lovers, so I’ll chalk this week up as a win.

Sunday Jero and I called for a late check-out and then headed to my mother’s to have brunch with her and my sister Chhu. After we ate Chhu and Mom asked me if I could help them change the tire on Mom’s Malibu – something I was glad to do, until I found out when we arrived at a junkyard that they didn’t actually have a tire yet. We spent two hours baking in 100+ degrees sun until Jero found something that might work.

Escaping at last, Jero and I stopped in Terre Haute to grab dinner, and then finally made it back to Indy. I went over to Ke’s, where she was spending the weekend with Nivagi. We snuggled Nivagi on the couch before driving her home. We returned to Ke’s and hid in her bedroom to watch The Colbert Report and NCIS until late in to the early morning.

Monday I went over to Jero’s to MUX. Two of our admin returned recently from hiatus, and it is wonderful to have them back. The MUX has undergone a mini-revival, and I’m trying to get online as often as possible (which still isn’t that often, alas) to take advantage of that fact. We have a new Megatron, so I got a chance to role-play with him as both as my shy data-analyst character Floodlight and my brave warrior Valour.

I also got to carry on some RP I’d started Friday with Spike, continuing Buster’s birthday celebration with his brother. I followed up on Friday’s RP as Ace as well, role-playing out his guilt and recovery with Mara after his disastrous run-in with the Baroness and Vypra in Australia. I had a lot of fun with everyone and look forward to the next event scheduled Monday.

Tuesday I felt internal pressure to find time to hang out with people not available during my normal until-10:15-PM schedule, since this week I left work at 6:15. However, none of the most-hard-to-schedule people got back to me, and I was really feeling peopled-out, so I decided to be selfish and took the night alone. I stayed up way too late and got caught up on a tiny fraction of my email, journaling, and laundry.

Wednesday after work I headed down to Louisville to visit Laat. She took me out to dinner since I’m poor, and I had a Hot Brown since I was in Louisville and hadn’t had one as far as I could recall. It wasn’t quite as good as it sounded, but it was still quite yummy. After dinner we relaxed and hung out until Laat’s waitress friend came in to work. After hellos and hanging out with her a bit Laat and I went back to Laat’s apartment.

Since Laat was sleepy and her DVD player wasn’t working, we elected to just go to bed and snuggle and talk until we fell asleep. She apologized for being a “bad host” but really I’m very happy that we’ve gotten to the point were we can just hang out without having to be “on.” We used to only see each other once a year or less, so we had to cram a lot of visiting until each get-together. Now that she lives so close we can just get together and relax, which is a lot less stressful for me.

Thursday morning I got up early to drive back to Indy in time for my shift, and since I avoided bad weather and traffic I actually arrived early to the office and got to talk with Jero and Ra on the way. At work they sent a lot of people home early on e-time, so once again it seemed that our little group was stuck taking all the calls. This stressed me out quite a bit, and I could *feel* my blood pressure rising call after call.

This got me thinking about my health and what I need to do more specifically than just “eat better and exercise more.” I solicited ideas online, and since I had some time before Nivagi got off work, started thinking about how and when I could put better lifestyle choices into effect. I picked up Nivagi from work and we had dinner before returning to my apartment so I could massage her sore muscles before we snuggled and slept.

Friday work was insanely busy and I barely made it through the day, especially since I was trying not to gorge myself with caffeine (limiting stimulants sucks!). When I got home I had some time before Nivagi got off work, so I turned on my laptop to check blogs and email before dinner. I lay down “just for a minute” while my computer booted up, and wound up sleeping until Ke called to say she was nearly here.

I stumbled downstairs to meet Ke and together we went to pick up Nivagi from work. We brought Nivagi home to change into belly-dancing gear and then the three of us drove to Zionsville for dinner at Zorba’s Greek restaurant. il Troubadore was playing entertaining music that Nivagi and her friends danced to as a pleasant compliment to the yummy food. After dinner we went back to Chpa and Nivagi’s so she could tend to her pets before going away for the weekend, and then Ke, Nivagi and I returned to my apartment to swim, hot lukewarm tub, and sleep.

Today when I get off work I’m driving to St. Louis to see Ra and Sckl. I wanted to go to the Circle City Socialites bout with Jero, but I haven’t seen Ra in ages, so I decided to skip it this time so I don’t arrive in Missouri too late. Unfortunately I work Monday so it will have to be a lightning visit, but I always enjoy time with Ra and Sckl so I’m sure the trip will be well worth it.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

“Chickenfeet, come back! You're not a freak! You're just stupid!”
-- Dib, Invader Zim

Week in Review – Week Ending 2009 May 16

This week has been up and down emotionally, but mostly good. I’m working a relatively normal day shift for a change, with the tradeoff being it’s Saturday and I’m here in the office. I’ve been reminded that I don’t actually like working during the day, since the calls are non-stop and not actually worth any points. Still it’s nice to be able to get off work when people are actually awake and available to hang out. My friend Laat took advantage of this opportunity and drove up to see me on Thursday.

Sunday for Mother’s Day I actually had a good time hanging out with my mom in Evansville. She’s not feeling as depressed as she was, and while she is having a little trouble following conversations and tends to interrupt a lot, it was good to see her and she was very happy my sister Chhu and I visited. We took her out for an Italian dinner at her favorite place in Evansville, all three of us seemed to benefit from the time we were there.

Monday I had the day off since I’m working Saturday, so I enjoyed some time to myself, finishing another section in Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal before heading over to Jero’s for dinner. After we ate we snuggled up to watch the final episodes of Dollhouse, which were excellent. We did take time out in the middle to watch Castle, which remains a guilty pleasure.

Tuesday was crazy-busy with calls, and no e-time since they’ve come up with a busywork project for us when we run out of orders. When at last I got off work I grabbed Nivagi and we went by Ke’s lab to pick her up for dinner. We three went out for yummy noodles and hung out until Ke had to go back to work. Nivagi and I went to my place and headed down to the hot tub downstairs, cooling off in the pool when we got too warm. When we had soaked enough we came back upstairs, showered, and went to bed to snuggle since we both had to work early the next morning.

Wednesday night Ke and I went out to dinner before returning to her place to laptop and snuggle. We tested to see if we could both fit in her sleeping bag (not really – that only worked when she was still exclusively dating petite women!) and then she looked up camping supplies online for her birthday weekend while I tried to get caught up on email and the Internets. Neither of us really wanted to go to sleep, but since we both had to be up early Ke eventually lured me to bed.

Thursday Laat came up to visit me and met me at my apartment after work. She was tried from the drive from Evansville, so we napped for a while and then watched Lost before heading out to eat. Laat’s on a week’s vacation she took from work for her birthday, and I was very pleased she chose to spend part of it with me. She missed the televised season finale of Grey’s Anatomy, but watched it Friday morning online instead before heading back to Louisville.

Jero and I got off to a rough start to our anniversary Friday but smoothed things out in time for a nice evening. For dinner Jero and I went out to a new Chinese buffet that opened near her, and we were both very pleased with the food and service. Besides yummy Chinese food and sushi, Jero got to enjoy blue crab and other types of crab legs and I got yummy steak to share. We got shakes on the way back to her house to complete an evening of culinary indulgence, followed by SingStar 80's (at last).

Today I had to work, and I traded with a coworker to come in early so she could go to a morning event with her kid. I hate working Saturdays, and it certainly was an unwelcome interruption in my anniversary weekend with Jero. Tonight when I escape, Jero and I are heading down to Bloomington for dinner and then the Bleeding Heartland Roller Girls PANTS OFF DANCE OFF SEASON KICK-OFF PARTY, which should be a lot of fun. It should definitely make up for my crappy day at work.

"I believe what I said yesterday -- I don't know what I said, but I know what I think, and, uh, I assume it's what I said."
-- former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

Week in Review – Week Ending May 9

This past week I was back on my usual late shift. It made sleeping easier for me; although of course now I’m back to keeping other people up to all hours when sometimes they have to work in the morning. Oops. The next three weeks will have me working during the day or back on the 2 AM shift, so I guess my friends and lovers can stand one week of late nights this month. B)

Sunday morning Jero and I stayed up near dawn around the bonfire, partially to enjoy the revelry, and partially because we didn’t want to return to our tent and freeze to death like we had the night before. When we did return to our tent we came up with a new sleeping bag arrangement that was much warmer and so we slept better than we had on Saturday.

When Jero and I woke up we had some sandwiches, showered and then broke down the tent. We said our goodbyes and headed to Bloomington for Jero’s derby practice. I got to hang out with Jalyru, which was fun, and afterward Jero and I dragged Jalyru out to dinner. After eating, Jero and I headed back to Jero’s where we unloaded her car and then promptly passed out. It was a good weekend. B)

Monday morning Jero headed to work early and by the time I got up I realized I’d left my keys and wallet in Jero’s glove compartment. *facepalm* Luckily Jero got off work just a couple hours into my shift, so I was able to take a minimum of unpaid personal time and hustle into the office as soon as Jero got home. Unfortunately as soon as I got there I got yelled at since one of the managers is a jerk, but c'est la vie.

After work Monday I went back to Jero’s to eat and pick up my laptop and then went over to Ke to hang out and give her some snuggles. She’s been feeling cranky and since I’d just spent the weekend with Jero she was OK with me canceling our usual Monday plans so I could go cuddle Ke until she felt better. Ke and I talked a bit about what was bothering her and she was decidedly less cranky by the time we slept.

Tuesday morning Ke cooked me breakfast (yummy Canadian bacon, cheese and egg English muffin sandwiches) and then I showered and headed over to Jero’s with lunch. Jero and I got in a little bit of snuggles before I had to head into work. At work I talked to Mars about joining Ke and me for Star Trek this weekend, but since we were going to the 10 PM show near Speedway it was too late for him. B! and he went to an earlier IMAX showing instead, so I’ll have to talk to Mars about it Monday.

Tuesday after work I went to Chpa and Nivagi’s to meet up with Nivagi. We ran by Jimmy Johns to pick up sammiches and then headed back to my apartment to eat. I ran downstairs to pay my rent and hang a derby poster and then came back up with the intention of snuggling Nivagi and watching Dexter. However, the more Nivagi and I cuddled and talked, the less we wanted to watch DVDs, so we eventually snuggled and slept instead.

Wednesday morning I dropped Nivagi off at work and then went home from some alone time. I got to talk to Mira on the phone and accomplished a little journaling and laundry. I tried to grab some caffeine on the way to work but after sitting in the drive-thru for 20 minutes I had to give up and just go into work, which left me cranky. I napped during my break to re-set my mood, and felt better by the end of my shift.

Wednesday night I escaped from work and ran home to put in some more laundry before Gwde arrived. Gwde grabbed food on the way to Indy so we’d have time to hot tub before it got too late. After hot-tubbing we showered and then lay down to listen to music, relax and snuggle. It was definitely nice to hang out with her twice in one year. We’ll have to get together again before another year passes!

Thursday Gwde didn’t have to work so we slept in before going out to the Bonjour Café for breakfast. I tried some new spiced-chicken pita that was pretty good and then headed to work early enough to get some caffeine this time. At work I found out we might be getting dual flat-screen monitors soon which will definitely make me feel more like a super-villain. Muhuhuhuhahahah!

Work was busy in the morning and then quieter later in the evening. After work I went to Jero’s to hang out, since we’d cut out usual Monday date short. Unfortunately Jero’s laptop is dead, so she spent some time fighting with it while we ate and hung out. She was eventually defeated by laptop gremlins so we gave up and went to bed so she could get some sleep before work.

Friday morning I slept late at Jero’s after she went to work (cruelly teasing her about it over Twitter). When I woke up I played on my computer until Jero got home and then hung out with her. Ke called to tell me she was free after her last final and work for the week, so I went over to Ke’s and we napped until it was time to get up and go to meet Chwi and Melawi to go see the new Star Trek movie.

I loved Star Trek. I’m a long-time fan and I’m impressed how they captured the essences of the classic characters, while giving themselves room for a fresh start and a new continuity. I’m fan enough to get most of the little references without screaming about how they had the wrong number of pips on X character’s cuff and therefore the movie was crap. After the movie Chwi, Ke, Melawi and I retired to Denny’s to dissect and discuss.

Saturday morning Ke woke me up with breakfast and exuberant post-finals energy since she’d finally caught up on sleep at last. She ran around her house getting things accomplished while I tried to sneak five-minute naps where I could. Finally I left to head to Bloomington to meet up with Chhu since Chhu and I were driving down to see Mom today for Mother’s Day.

I drove Ke’s car to Chhu’s since Ke was taking mine up to have my brake pads changed by her mechanically-inclined brother (thanks, Ke!). Chhu drove us the rest of the way to Evansville, where we met Mom at her sister Jamcde’s. We drove Mom home and ordered pizza, and then all hung out until Chhu and Mom were ready to head to bed. I got to see Mira briefly when she dropped by to pick something up, so that was a pleasant bonus.

Today Chhu and I are hanging out with Mom and plan to take her out to dinner tonight. Happy Mother’s Day, all!

Shredder: “You fight well... in the old style. But you've caused me enough trouble. Now you face...The Shredder!”
Don: “’The Shredder’?”
Mike: “Maybe all that hardware is for making coleslaw.”

-- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Week in Review – Week Ending May 2

Last week at work they had me on a 2 AM to 10:30 AM shift, so I spent most of the week buzzing from caffeine and extremely sleepy. It’s theoretically better for my social life than my usual 1:30 PM to 10 PM shift, but I’m not sure how awake I am to socialize after a few days of reversed sleep schedule. Of course, I started to recover and adjust by Friday, just in time for me to switch back to the until-10 PM shift. *headdesk*

Sunday morning Ke, Mira, and I dragged ourselves out of bed to go meet my sister Chhu for brunch at Le Peep. After Chhu headed home, Ke, Mira and I headed back to Ke’s, where they intended to make me sleep while they went shopping. They were largely successful at that, and I didn’t wake up until shortly before they came home bearing dinner. We watched some The Big Bang Theory, and then went back to sleep, since I had to be at work at 2 AM, and Ke had to get up for work at 6.

Monday morning when I got off work I brought Mira food at Ke’s house and then we lay down so we could snuggle and nap before Mira had to head back to Evansville. I woke up when Mira left but then went back to sleep until Ke got home. Ke was in a talkative mood so I didn’t get much sleep from then on. Spending so much time around old sick people (she’s a nursing student) has made her worry more about the future and what will happen when we get old. I snuggled her until I had to get up to head to Jero’s for dinner and MUXing. On the MUX I role-played with Katie and Spike and then went in to work.

By Tuesday the 2 AM shift was really starting to hit me. After 6 hours at work, by 8AM I was really dragging. When I escaped I went to Jero’s to sleep. After I woke up I showered and ate the yummy dinner Jero had cooked for us. When I was finished eating I kissed Jero goodbye and drove to Louisville to see Laat. Laat has been having a hard time lately and I used my early schedule as an excuse to go visit her while I could. We used the time to cuddle and catch up, and I much enjoyed our new comfort level where Laat finally feels she can open up and talk to me again for the first time in ages. I had a nice time hanging out with her, and she plans to visit this month during her vacation.

Wednesday morning at midnight I drove back to Indianapolis to go to work. When I escaped I brought Jero breakfast since she was home sick. I slept at Jero’s house and then headed home to meet Gwde, who came down from Muncie to visit me. I haven’t seen Gwde in exactly a year (!) so it was fun to hang out with her. We went out for dinner and wound up at TaTa Cuban Café, which was wonderful as always. Neither of us were really feeling 100%, so we skipped hot-tubbing and just snuggled in bed to watch Repo! The Genetic Opera. After she left I showered and went in to work.

Thursday after work I went to Ke’s to sleep and decided to stay there to MUX. My usual until-10 PM shift makes it really difficult to schedule role-play with most of the other MUXers who are usually going to bed just as I’m getting online. So, I talked to Hemy and we planned a TinyPlot event for Thursday. As
Buzzer and Major Bludd, we attacked a small town in the Midwest and civilians Katie and Mikaela got caught in the middle. Fun hijinks ensued. Ke made us yummy dinner while I was role-playing and I ate in front of the laptop. Unfortunately I wound up unintentionally irritating Ke since I’m completely unavailable while MUXing since I’m doing so many things at once.

On Friday the benefits of my 2 AM shift emerged, as my weekend started at 10:30 AM. I ran home to pack and then headed to Jero’s. We went shopping for last-minute supplies and then I napped while Jero loaded her Vibe (sorry, Jero!). We grabbed food on the way and headed for French Lick, Indiana, where we were meeting people at Our Haven for a Beltane celebration. We got there early enough to set up our tent in a very good spot – many of the people who had arrived Thursday had to move their tents in the middle of the night because it rained so hard it flooded. We caught some rain ourselves, but luckily by that point we were by the fire or safe in our tent.

Saturday morning we froze our asses off in our tent but finally warmed up once the sun rose. We bought breakfast from friendly drunk people still feeling the effects of the night before (Jero and I turned in early) and then we spent the day enjoying the peaceful surroundings, napping, and hanging out with Chpa and Nivagi. We observed fun maypole dancing and then cooked dinner over the central fire. That night we watched as huge log chimneys were constructed for that night’s bonfire and then hung out there for most of the night, watching Nivagi dance and talking with Chwo and Dapowo as well as a sleepy Mika. We had an excellent time camping, and hope to return soon.

"This is not a partisan issue, for Republicans and the Christian Right led the way in blowing the whistle on the slaughter in Darfur.... Ultimately, public pressure may force Mr. Bush to respond to Darfur, but it looks as if he will have to be dragged kicking and screaming by Republicans and Democrats alike."
- New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof, criticizing the Bush administration for backing away from its commitment to end the genocide in Darfur, including its opposition to the bipartisan Darfur Accountability Act

Happy Holidays! -- December 27th

I’m not much of a holidays guy, but this week was pretty cool. I got to see Caro while she was in to visit her family, and I actually had a nice time with my mom and sister over Christmas. I got to meet new members of my family, and spend some quiet time curled up watching Dexter - Season 3 with Jero. What could be better for the holiday season? *grin*

Sunday I picked up Caro at the airport and we went downtown to have dinner and warm up at Steak n’ Shake. After eating we braved the freakin’ cold! to run over to Borders. Caro sneaky bought me a holiday gift (a Stephen Colbert desk calendar!) and then we headed back to my apartment to nest and de-thaw. We watched two episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (“Once More with Feeling” and “Restless”) and then cuddled up to sleep. It was fantastic to have Caro cuddled up in my bed again! B)

Monday Caro and I slept for about twelve hours before finally emerging from my apartment for sushi. We then headed down to Bloomington, stopping into a knit shop and then hanging out at the Runcible Spoon until it was time to go meet her parents. They made us dinner, and I had an enjoyable time with them. After excellent food and conversation, I headed back to Indy to snuggle with Jero and watch Dexter for as long as we could stay awake.

Tuesday I had to go back to work, but I started a 9:45 AM schedule which was much better than having to be at work at 8. I wound up leaving work two hours early thanks to E-time (Saca isn’t such a Grinch after all!), and spent the night alone, hiding out and storing up social energy before having to deal with my mom and family. I did some journaling and laundry, and stayed up way too late since I had the opportunity.

Wednesday I got up relatively early and met Jero for lunch before driving down to Bloomington to meet up with Chhu and her boyfriend Semo. Chhu drove us to Mt. Vernon to my half-brothers’ dad’s place, where Mom made us a huge yummy dinner, with homemade New York-style cheesecake for dessert. Mom got me a lot of crap for Christmas – Chhu was smart and asked for just money. B)

As I posted day-of, Thursday (Christmas itself) wasn’t quite as fun. I was cranky and didn’t sleep well, and Mom was too sick to join us for the yummy dinner she’d prepared. When we left I drove part of the way back, and then Chhu took over since she was getting car sick and feels better if she’s driving. I made it back to Jero’s late, and spent the night snuggling and watching Dexter.

Friday night I wanted to go back down to Bloomington for Dadypi’s birthday. However, I am poor and my gas tank was on empty, and Jero, who I was hoping would come with, was feeling sickly. Add thick fog and a hour drive to that, and we decided to stay home and just watch more Dexter. I’ll take Dadypi out later when the financial and meteorological forecast is better.

Today I’m at work, and tonight I plan to hang out with Ke when she returns from visiting her family. I haven’t gotten to see Ke all week since she’s been out of town, so I look forward to cuddling and catching up. The rest of the weekend should be peaceful and relaxing. If Ke’s on the computer I’ll probably work more on my D&D campaign, since I’m fretting about now that a date is set.

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday!

"History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes."
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1813

Christmas at Rosc’s – 2008.12.25

Christmas at Rosc’s was fun and interesting. I got to meet to my half-nephew Jake and hear a lot about my dad from a slightly less biased source than my mother, who canonizes my dad since he died during their NRE phase. According to my mother, my dad was a saint who could never do wrong; it was nice to hear a more well-rounded assessment from someone who knew my dad from high school until he died. Rosc married my dad’s first wife and raised my half-brothers as his own.

Nephew Jake was actually a riot, talking a mile a minute and forever going off on endless amusing tangents. He actually reminded me a lot of my ex Jeso with the cadence and rhythm of his speech, with a fair dose of ADD thrown in for entertainment value. Rosc said my father was the same way, always talking a blue streak, which is rather at odds with my mom’s Cary Grant portrayal of my dad. It was definitely interesting to meet another K31, since I have almost no contact with that part of my family.

Rosc also confirmed my dad’s drinking problem, which was implied by the fact that all stories of him take place in a bar. Apparently dad also had a drug problem and went into rehab, and when he came out he was a sober but empty shell. Rosc’s opinion is that they over-treated him in rehab and he came out differently broken instead of fixed. This, plus dad’s stress and unhappiness at work, puts his suicide when I was eighteen months old into a more understandable context.

My mom (also over-treated in Rosc’s opinion) wasn’t as bad this year as she has been years past. Yesterday was better – mom was happy to see us and drowned me in near useless crap presents while promising my sister cash instead (but not this month – next month, maybe?). Mom made a huge yummy dinner for us, and seems to love my sister’s new boyfriend Semo, who I agree is rather cool. After everyone went to bed I took advantage of the quiet and stayed up working on my D&D campaign.

Today wasn’t quite as fun. I didn’t sleep well since I wound up curled up on a love seat, but I tried to sleep as late as possible so I wouldn’t be too tired to drive tonight. Mom woke up early and started cooking the lasagna for tonight’s dinner, but then started feeling sick so she went to lie down. Dinner turned out well, but unfortunately Mom was too sick to join us and spent the rest of the day laying in the living room looking like she was on death’s door, which put a damper on the festivities.

Chhu and Semo made the best of it – they snuck off to the bathroom and had sex – but I eventually got a little cranky and was very ready to leave. After packing up the car with all my holiday crap – er, booty – and enduring endless pictures (we have almost no photos of us as a family), we finally escaped. I drove part of the way back and then Chhu took over since she was getting car sick and feels better if she’s driving. I’m looking forward to getting to Jero’s and snuggling and maybe watching some Dexter.

Happy Holidays!

Weekend

I had a very pleasant weekend. I got to meet new people, spend time with the only family I actually like, and see friends and lovers with whom I normally don’t ever get enough time. Friday night Mika and I went over to Mars's to play Runebound. Mika and I'd originally intended to have a night alone and maybe a date night (as opposed to the usual case, where by time I get off work it's nearly time to sleep), but Mars had one of his rare nights free so Mika agreed to change plans. Runebound turned out to be one of Mars’s fun-but-endless games, so we wound up hanging out at his house until 4 AM.

Saturday I woke up before Mika and realized I’d somehow managed to lose my flash drive the night before. I looked for it until Mika woke up, and then drove by Mars’s on the way to the poly picnic to see if I’d dropped it outside his house. Mika and I met back up at the picnic, but I didn’t have long to hang out before I had to drive down to Bloomington to meet Mira at Chhu and Jalyru's for Chhu's 30th birthday party. Jalyru had planned a photo scavenger hunt that turned out to be a lot of fun, and I got to meet more of Chhu and Jalyru’s cool circle of friends. Good times!

Sunday Ke, Mira and I went to the Indy Irish Fest for breakfast and to see the kilt race. I escaped without spending much money, which was good, and then Mira and I went back to Ke’s while Ke went to work. I was dead-tired all morning from staying out late at Chhu and Jalyru’s, so Mira insisted I nap until Ke got home. We all had dinner together, and then Mira and I role-played while Ke got some sleep. It was excellent to see Mira before she had to head back to E’ville.

This week has been good so far – work hasn’t been that unpleasant, and for once I’m not booked to my eyeballs, so I have a little time to relax and catch up on my life. My mom is still crazy, but getting better, so now she’s only calling 20 times a day instead of 200. I’m hoping things continue to calm down at work and otherwise so that eventually I can get back to what passes for normal. This weekend Jero is getting to play with the Circle City Socialites at their first bout, so that should be fun and exciting.

"Some see the move as an attempt to preserve traditional values, while others see it as a cynical ploy to ensure that Vice President Cheney will never have to pay for his gay daughter's wedding."
-- Jon Stewart, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," on the gay marriage ban

This has been a very stressful week, with a few very nice moments in between. Most of the stress comes from my mom, who is manic and spent the first half of the week trying to get out of the stress center, and the rest of the week driving my sister and me crazy. She's managed to get kicked out of her apartment (though she's fighting it) for scaring her neighbors, and so my sister and I have been trying to figure out what to do with her at month's end.

My week actually started off good. Sunday Amsc was still here, and even though I spent a good chuck of the day in Bloomington helping my sister clean my mom's apartment in preparation for moving, that night I got to return to Indy to go see Great Big Sea with Amsc. The show was a lot of fun, and since we were at the Music Mill we were able to hang out right next to the stage.

Monday has traditionally been my MUX night, but I've been making that more optional so that every week Jero doesn't have to spend all night staring at the side of my head. I brought over the cool socks that Ra had made for Jero, and Jero got to have a quiet evening hanging out that didn't involve me stressing over the MUX.

Tuesday night was supposed to be a productivity night, but I wound up on the phone most of the evening and didn't actually accomplish much. I did get to spend some time with Ke between and after the phone calls, so the evening wasn't completely a wash. Wednesday is usually the only day Ke can hang out because of her nursing school schedule, but she got a break this week and didn't have class Wednesday morning.

Since I didn't get much done Tuesday night, Wednesday Ke offered to come hang out at my apartment and read while I tried to get things done. That worked out well, and laundry and assisted-living research is a lot more pleasant when there's a cute nerd girl reading in your bed. Ke's presence also helped keep me from getting too stressed out or distracted by less-important tasks, so the evening quite nice.

Thursday Jero and Mika went to Perkins to have dinner with Nivagi and Salamander. We'd met Nivagi at the Poly Meetup while back, but hadn't gotten a chance to meet her boyfriend Salamander, so we planned late-night coffee as an excuse to drag him out after work. We were all tired and worn out from hard days/week all 'round, but it was still great to meet Salamander and to hang out with everyone else.

Last night Mika and I went over to Mars's to play Runebound Second Edition. We'd actually intended to have a night when we could hang out alone for a huge chunk of time and have a date night (as opposed to the usual case, where by time I get off work it's nearly time to sleep), but Mars had one of his rare nights free, so instead we wound up hanging out at his house until 4 AM. *chuckle*

Today Mika and I are going to a poly picnic for a few hours, and then I'm driving down to Bloomington to meet hotarugirl at my sister Chhu and Jalyru's for Chhu's birthday party. Jalyru has fun hinjinx planned, so it should be entertaining at least. Before I head to the picnic I need to run by Mars's to make sure I didn't drop my flash drive getting into my car at 4 AM.

Tomorrow Mira and I hope to kidnap Ke to the Indy Irish Fest, but apparently Ke is so far behind with her work we might night be able to spring her for any fun this weekend. Either way Sunday night I plan to run Mira's World of Darkness campaign, since she and I haven't gotten to RP in ever. Hope everyone else has a good weekend!

Family Weekend

This past weekend I spent a lot of time with my immediate family. Saturday after I got off work, I waited a bit until Chhu and muppetofthenight got into Bloomington, and then headed down to help Chhu move into muppetofthenight’s apartment. When I got there two of their friends were helping already, which made things go pretty smoothly, aside from the fact that Chhu’s stuff was going to three different locations.

Sunday morning I didn’t get back until late from hanging out with Chhu and muppetofthenight, so I slept in before driving down to have dinner with my mom for her birthday. I took Chhu, Mom, and my Aunt Jamcde out to the Great Wall for dinner, and then we took her shopping for food staples since she just moved to Bloomington as well. Then I helped Chhu move more stuff before heading back.

I’m happy Chhu has moved to Bloomington, and it’s good that Mom is nearby as well. With all of us in-state, I’ll be able to see Chhu more often, and as a happy side-effect, get to see A13 and muppetofthenight more as well. I’ll be able to help Chhu take care of Mom more often, which will take some of the stress off of her. And now Chhu lives close enough to role-play again! W00t! B^)

"Everyone is a citizen of the world. But living in America for me has been my life, and I'm very thankful for living here. To be able to now say I am American is nice."
-- French figure-skating champion Surya Bonaly, who became a U.S. citizen in Las Vegas (San Jose Mercury News)

Weekend with A13, Chhu, and Jalyru

I had a great time this weekend with A13, Chhu, and Jalyru. Saturday I wound up sleeping really late and missing a chance to go ice-skating with them, but I did make it down to dinner at Olive Garden. I always love hanging out with Chhu and Jalyru, and I hadn’t seen A13 in forever, so it was a really good time. After eating we went back to Jalyru’s, and pretty much spent the rest of the weekend hanging out, listening to music, playing karaoke games, and watching A13 DDR. Good times! I can’t wait for Chhu to move to Bloomington so I can hang out with the three of them more often.

River: [as her brother tends to a woman in labor] "What do you think is in there?"