Week in Review – October 11th – 17th

Last week I was depressed and stressed most of the time. Losing Caro and Ra as girlfriends in the same week left me very melancholy and withdrawn all month. In Caro’s case it’s mostly just a re-definition of the way things have progressed rather than an actual change in the nature of our relationship, but the rational part of my brain hadn’t had much luck of convincing my emotional center of that. Pleasantly, however, actually *seeing* Caro this weekend helped things tremendously.

Last Sunday Jero and I slept late after her Saturday roller derby bout. When we did venture out, we got food and then tried to find printer ink for that night’s D&D campaign run by Marsh. We couldn’t find ink, which led to some technical difficulties since we couldn’t print character sheets. We made due until Marsh’s laptop died, and even then we still got an interesting beginning to Marsh’s new D&D 4e game. We didn’t get as far as Marsh planned, but we will play again soon and I’m looking forward to it.

Last Monday I was little depressed. That week was the anniversary of when I first met Juho, who after several years has disappeared into the ether, and of my first kiss with Caro, who had recently told me she doesn’t consider herself in a relationship with me anymore. I was mopey and distant all day, but talking with Mira and having dinner with Jero cheered me up, especially after I got to role-play with them both on the MUX. I got to spring a surprise for Carrie on the MUX as well, so it ended up being a cool night.

Last Tuesday when I got off work I went to the Poly Meetup. Ke, Nivagi, and Stsm were there as well as Mika and Tojo. I sat between Ke and a rather funny guy I hadn’t met before who was cracking us up with self-depreciating comments and stories. I hadn’t been to a Poly Meetup in a while, but I had a lot of fun, and it was nice to see Mika and Stsm as well as my girlfriends. After the meetup Ke, Nivagi, and I went back to Ke’s to sleep.

Last Wednesday I had a night alone to do laundry, MUX, and pack for my weekend. Nivagi considered coming over after her belly dance class, but she decided she was too tired and it was too cold for her to leave the house. Instead I got a lot done on my Shattered Glass TinyPlot on the MUX, and even got some journaling in before bed. I stayed up way too late for someone who had to get up early, but it was good just to enjoy time to myself.

I took Thursday off to get a ton of things done before I left for Minneapolis, but all I really got done was a follow-up checkup with the doctor and a pleasant lunch with Ke. Unfortunately I was still depressed, grumpy, and stressed, so after lunch I went back home to hide and pack for the weekend. I read some and then met Jero for dinner. She and I picked up season two of The Big Bang Theory and then snuggled to watch it. I stayed up too late again but I very much enjoyed the cuddles and distraction.

Friday morning Jero dropped me off at the airport and I flew to Minneapolis. When I arrived Caro picked me up and drove me to her new place which she shares with friends. I got to meet her new cat, who is a cute holy terror, and then we nestled together on her love seat and just kissed and hung out. I’d been really insecure since she redefined our (non-)relationship, but cuddling with her and catching up made me feel a lot better. We went out to dinner and then searched for The Big Bang Theory since I forgot to bring my copy. We failed in our mission, and so we watched Fight Club instead.

Saturday Caro and I slept late and then ran out for errands. We finally found a copy of The Big Bang Theory, but failed in our attempt to have sushi, going to eat some other cool place that was actually open. When we got back to Caro’s she grabbed a shower and then went back out so Caro could compete in a drunken spelling bee. It was a lot of fun, and Caro won with the word ‘luculent.’ I had a great weekend with Caro, and when I returned to Indianapolis Sunday night I felt much better about everything.

"I like to move it, move it / She like to move it, move it / He like to move it, move it / You like to... *move it*!"

-- Julian, singing, Madagascar

Week in Review – Week of October 4th – 10th

Last week I moved to an earlier work schedule, which is definitely nicer for social plans. However, the workday is far more annoying because the phones never seem to stop ringing (I’m used to it quieting down after 8 PM). Also, AT&T recently started disallowing personal fans, so now I am dying of heatstroke all day. These factors combined have led me to feeling cranky and hateful through most of my eight-hour day. As a bonus, I’m paid less because it’s a day shift. The only benefit is that after I escape there’s actually time to go do things since Indianapolis isn’t closed.

Last Sunday morning I slept in with Ke and then we just had cereal so we could hide out from the world a little longer. When we did venture out we went shopping and then picked up dinner from Yats. We went to Ke’s to eat, and I got online to MUX since I had a big plot I was setting up and wouldn’t have time to do it Monday since I going to the movies. I paused long enough to tuck Ke into bed, and then got things started on TFU’s Shattered Glass TinyPlot.

Last Monday I started my new shift. I was sleepy and it was frustratingly busy all day, but I was happy to escape at 6 PM instead of 10. I met up with Jero after work and we went to see Whip It, which we both enjoyed, cheese and all. After the movie we grabbed some Denny’s and went back to her house. We snuggled on the bed and I popped on the MUX, although I was too tired to do much besides more setup for the TP. Jero was very sore from derby boot camp, so I massaged her limbs before we went to sleep.

Last Tuesday after work Ke and I went to Max & Erma's for dinner, taking advantage of my earlier shift to go somewhere that’s not 24 hours. We both had super-yummy mozzarella and tomato burgers, and then went back to my apartment for a change. I got on the MUX while Ke read entertaining articles from Fark.com. I tried not to get too involved in anything so I could go to bed when Ke wanted to, but I did manage to get some things done for the tinyplot.

Work Wednesday was extremely irritating. I was overheated all day and it lowered my ability to deal with the non-stop stream of idiots I kept getting on the phone. I had no plans that evening, but Jero was suffering from a migraine so I volunteered to take her out to dinner. I treated her to medicinal steak nubbins and got on the MUX at her place to get more done on the plot. When it was time for bed I headed over to Ke’s to snuggle Nivagi and her since Ke was grumpy and I’d been missing Nivagi.

Thursday when I got off work I met Stsm at my apartment and we went out to A Passage to India (previously called Udupi Café) for delicious Indian vegetarian food. When we got back to my apartment we listened to some Garfunkel and Oates and then snuggled up to watch Mad Men before bed. Mad Men is getting addictive, and so is Stsm, to be honest. I’m avoiding making any more time commitments I can’t keep, but I do love hanging out with Stsm when we both are free.

Friday was incredibly busy at work, but I survived. After work I picked up Nivagi and we went to see Zombieland, which was a LOT of fun and highly recommended. After the movie we grabbed food at Chili’s and went back to Nivagi’s, where we expected to find Ke sleeping. Instead, we beat Ke home, and she joined us after a loooong day at work. Nivagi was laptopping, so I popped onto the MUX, and MUXed while very distracted by Ke and Nivagi wrestling on Nivagi’s bean bag chair. B)

Saturday morning I got some snuggles from Nivagi and Ke and when went home to meet Jero after hr hair appointment. The two of us headed down to Bloomington, where Jero skated in the BHRG Monster Mash-Up bout on the Monster team, dressed as a Skrull. Once again the teams were perfectly matched, and the game was decided in the last few seconds, with the Zombies winning by 3 points. After the bout Jero and I went to Denny’s with Jalyru and my sister, hanging out until the wee hours.

“You didn't see anything!”
-- Skipper the Penguin, Madagascar

Week in Review – Week of September 27th – October 3rd

This week was better than the last, if only because I’m a little less depressed. I’m still powerfully sleepy all the time, which seems to be more of a chemical thing than a lack of rest, but today at least I seem to be coming out of it. I have a quiet weekend planned, and then next week I move to a day schedule for the rest of the month, which should let me get out more since I won’t be at work until 10:15 PM. Who knows what craziness might be in store beneath the seldom-seen day ball.

Sunday Jero and I slept late following her bout Saturday night. When we did rouse ourselves we got a late brunch and then each of us went down to Bloomington – Jero to derby practice and me to pick up Caro. Caro and I had dinner at Sushi Bar and then I drove her to the airport so she could head back to Minnesota. I met up with Ke and Nivagi at their house and MUXed while Nivagi did laundry and errands. After we tucked Ke into bed Nivagi and I watched the season premiere of Dollhouse before snuggling up to sleep.

Monday morning I called and moved around some vacation days so I could go see Caro for our anniversary. Work was insanely busy during the afternoon, typical for a Monday, but quieted down in the evening. After work I went to Jero’s, where she made us food. Mira joined us on the MUX for the first time in ages, which made me happy – I’m hoping it will become a regular occurrence. I role-played some and stayed up way too late setting things up for the upcoming Shattered Glass TP I plan to run there soon – with luck, starting next week.

Tuesday morning I was awakened to the sounds of construction, since people were stripping out and rebuilding the interior of Jero’s garage. After work I went to Ke’s where she had made us beet soup. It sounded less-than-appetizing, but since it was basically just vegetable soup with cooked (non-pickled) beets in it, after Nivagi got done spicing it the result was actually quite tasty. I popped onto the MUX while Ke was busy on her laptop but then logged off to join her when she went to bed.

Wednesday was Ke and Mira’s anniversary, so that morning Ke called Mira to say Hello and wish her a happy day. Ke and I then went to Paragon for breakfast. After work I went back over to Ke and Nivagi’s to hang out with Nivagi. After a trip to Denny’s for dinner we cuddled up and watched the last episode of season four of Buffy. She and I are both feeling a little better, so it was good to be able to hang out without both of us being mopey.

Thursday morning Nivagi had to leave earlier than I, so I had a little time to pop onto the MUX and build some of the mirror world before heading in to the office. After work Stsm came over. We lay on my bed and caught up with each other’s lives before snuggling up to watch Mad Men. Stsm fell asleep about five minutes after we started the DVD, but since she’d seen them already I just let her sleep while I watched first season episodes four and five.

This morning Stsm had an early meeting, so she let me sleep in while she took off. I got up and showered, and when Stsm returned she brought us breakfast in bed. We ate then cuddled back up to watch her favorite episodeof Mad Men before I had to leave. Work was awful, being the first Friday of the month, but I did manage to at least finish all of my cuts before ten.

This weekend I’m spending with Ke and Nivagi. We’d discussed going to Metamora Canal Days with Tibere, but Tibere got into a car accident and is in the hospital. Instead, we’ll probably just check out the Fishers Ren Faire and otherwise just take things easy. Since I’m an obsessive freak I’m hoping I’ll get a chance to pop onto the MUX at some point and get some more work done, but if not I can always get to it Monday after Jero and I go see Whip It. Have a good weekend, all!

“Giraffe! Corner pocket!”
-- Alex the Lion, Madagascar

Week in Review – Week of Aug 30th – Sept 5th

Last week was mostly quiet. Jero got back from England, so it was good to see her again and spent time with her even when she was crazy-sleepy from jet lag. Nivagi moved in with Ke, but I had to work during most of the move so all I had to do to help was move a ferret cage. I finally got my yearly STI screening out of the way, and am still happy and healthy (no surprise there). My holiday weekend was pleasantly quiet and relaxing, and I got to spend time with people I never get to see, which always makes me happy. I’m way behind with my correspondence and journaling, which I need to make time to catch up on soon.

Last Sunday morning I got up early to drive down to Bloomington to help the Bleeding Heartland Roller Girls film their new movie, 8 Wheels of Death. I got to be a zombie extra, which was a lot of fun – plus, it was nice to see Erro and Brbe, and those I know on Jalyru and Jero’s derby team (although neither Jalyru nor Jero could make it, since Jalyru was moving and Jero was in England). After filming was over I headed back to Indy, where I got stuck in post-race traffic and ultimately had to park and walk back to Ke’s, still in full zombie makeup. I showered and then made dinner for Ke and Nivagi. The three of us ate and snuggled on Ke’s couch until it got late. We all went to my apartment to sleep, and Nivagi and I watched Dexter (Ke listened while trying to sleep) before bed.

Last Monday work was sucky and stressful. I did manage to pull my numbers up for August, and my new boss said he considers me a hard worker and all that, which as always good. Monday night when I escaped work I went over to Jero’s to see her. She’d just gotten back from England, so she was jetlagged and sleepy, but she did wake up long enough to show me pictures and souvenirs and to tell me a little about her trip. I’d so love to go back to the UK with her, since she’s a British history enthusiast and it would be very cool to go places with someone who was excited to be there. Maybe someday, if I’m ever not broke….

Last Tuesday morning I hung out at Jero’s while she teleworked and then headed into my own job. I stayed home to clean up my apartment since Hebe and P37 were going to spend the weekend at my place while they were in Indy. However, I quickly got sucked onto the MUX instead, and spent most of the night role-playing with Coldsnap and our new Slingshot as Typhoon, as well as verbally pwning Air Raid and Dust Devil as Sky Lynx (I almost felt a little bad doing that ;)). I did make time to give my bathroom a quick once-over before I went to bed, as well as get a little laundry done so I had clean jeans for the rest of the week. I wanted to journal as well, but I’d already stayed up far too late so eventually I just shut down my laptop and forced myself to go to sleep.

Last Wednesday I slept until the very last moment before I had to shower and go into work. That night I got together with Nivagi, and we went out to the Red Eye Café for dinner before going home to watch Dexter before bed. We’d planned not to stay up late since I had an early appointment in the morning, but Dexter sucked us in. We’d just finished season one recently and almost immediately started up season two. Usually Nivagi falls asleep after one episode, but she was strangely awake Wednesday night so we took advantage of it and wound up staying up until 3 or 4 AM. If I didn’t have appointments in the morning we’d have prolly watched Dexter ‘til dawn.

Last Thursday morning I got up early to call Bell Flower to make an appointment for my yearly STI screening and then went back to bed until Hebe and P37 came by to pick up the key to my apartment. Nivagi and I showered and headed to my appointment, and afterward we met Ke for a quick lunch before I had to go to work. After work I stopped by Ke’s to drop off Nivagi’s bag and help her carry in her ferret cage, and then went to Jero’s where we hung out a little before going to bed early to catch up on more sleep (Jero was still jetlagged, and I was exhausted after getting up every two hours all morning for appointments, etc.).

Last Friday morning Jero unexpectedly had another telework day, so I hung out with her on her breaks until heading out to meet Stsm for lunch at a tasty Indian buffet. I enjoyed hanging out and catching up with Stsm, and will definitely have to go back to that Indian place again. After work Ke made dinner, so I got to enjoy a good meal of mixed veggies, pork roast, and rice. Ke, Nivagi and I sat around in Ke’s living room playing on laptops until first Nivagi, and then Ke wandered off to bed. Nivagi had to get up early, so she went to bed separately in her new bedroom. I finally finished what I was doing and joined Ke in bed to sleep.

Saturday I headed down to Louisville to see Laat. When I arrived she showed me her new apartment and then we went up to her building’s balcony to hang out and enjoy the pleasant weather before going to a Kentucky bluegrass festival to see her friends’ band play. We were invited to go to a bar afterward with more of Laat’s friends, but instead we stopped by the store to buy avocados, butter, lime chips, and melons, and spent the evening quietly hanging out eating chips with avocado dip and homemade rice crispie treats. Laat had an insanely hectic week ahead of her, so I was all too happy to just chill with her and watch weird independent films on TV instead of venturing out. Laat conked out before I did, so I just finished watching whatever was on and then turned everything off to sleep.

Julian: “I like them too!”
Mort the Mouse Lemur: “Well, you hate them compared to how much I like them!”
-- Madagascar

Tuesday – Work, Jero, and Ke

Tuesday I decided to embrace the busywork at the office, and let go of my stress about trying to take calls and handle everything no one else seems to be doing. It was so pleasant to just relax and clean up the database, leaving the ACD to other people unless specifically asked by my manager to jump in and help. My boss did appreciate that when he pointed out my points-per-hour were low for the month, I gave him my plan for bringing them up instead of a bunch of excuses about there being no work. Woot.

However, once the call volume spiked, I had to get back on the phones, and then it was all downhill from there. I was slammed with call after call, and since I’d only had a cup of soup all day, I was starving. Eight minutes before my lunch I got an ISDN cut call which took two hours to resolve. One thing that did help my mood was a call from Jero, just when I was finally escaping the call from hell. I’d been missing Jero and hadn’t gotten to talk to her recently, so it was very nice to hear from her.

Unfortunately I won’t have a chance to see Jero again until Monday. It sounded like she was missing me, and that really made me with I was with her instead of at work. By the time I was able to escape for ‘lunch’, it was 8 PM, and I was ready to eat office supplies on my desk. I wound up having to drive to Hardee’s since by then everything in walking range downtown was closed. After I got back I ate during my ‘break’ and didn’t manage to do much more work for the tiny remainder of the day.

When I did flee work, I went home, where Ke was waiting for me in my apartment. I’d left Ke my key so she could use my hot tub after her pilates class.. Instead, when I got there she was putting together media shelves she’d bought for me to help me organize my apartment. I cleaned off the shelves I already had in my room, and moved all the books off the floor that had stacked up over time. I vacuumed by bedroom, and by that time Ke had finished putting together the second shelf.

We took a break to run out and get me a snack and Ke caffeine. When we got back, we moved my old shelves into my closet, and moved my low dresser under the window in my bedroom. We then set up the media shelves and put all the the CDs and DVDs collected around my room up and out of the way. We then cleaned off my bed, putting my books in the closet and gathering a garbage bag’s worth of old mail and paperwork that could be thrown away in the morning.

By the time we were done, we had my room looking rather nice, and Ke even found the remote for my TV, which will be useful for volume changes while snuggling. I put clean sheets on my bed and we showered off the dust we’d collected, finally getting to sleep around 6 AM. This morning we trucked down a cartload of cardboard to recycle and old electronics to donate, freeing up even more space in my apartment. Ke and I were hoping to go for breakfast together, but we slept too late and I had to go to work.

I’m very lucky to have such sweet and supportive people in my life. Now if only my worklife could be as nice as my home life…

Week in Review – Week of 2009 Aug 16th – Aug 22nd

Last week seemed to speed by incredibly quickly. It might have had something to do with the fact that I had the week before off for Gen Con, and then Thursday off work to go with Jero to see the Eagles play the Colts. I did get to see Mira a bit on her way back from her Chicago trip with Ke and Nivagi, so that was a pleasant bonus (not to mention getting to see Ke and Nivagi, which is always nice!).

Last Sunday was the last day of Gen Con, so Jero and I headed back to the convention center for one final day of geekiness. We didn’t have any games scheduled, so we wandered the dealer room and then went to a paint-and-take workshop that Jero has wanted to go to for years. We painted little miniatures and then went back to the dealer room so I could pick something up for B! and R@(.

When the Con ended Jero and I escaped for a quiet dinner to recharge our social batteries, and then went back to my apartment for a smaller geek get-together. A group of our friends showed up to hang out, and since it was B!’s final game night for a while (he was moving to Virginia later that week), we played a long game of Munchkin before heading to Denny’s for a last meal.

Last Monday morning I went to Ke’s to see Mira before she headed back to Evansville. She had spent the weekend in Chicago with Ke and Nivagi, and they got back late. The three of them were still asleep when I arrived, but woke up after I let myself in. I hung out with them until I had to go to work and then kissed Mira goodbye before leaving and heading into the office. Work was quiet and surprisingly failed to ruin my good mood from the weekend.

After work I went to Jero’s to MUX, but since aerosar.net was down I mostly just hung out on the couch with Jero reading TVTropes while we played on our laptops. Cawh eventually IMed me to tell me the MUX was back up, but by that point I was tired, so I just got some admin stuff done and tried to catch up my week’s month’s year’s backlog of email and journal notes. When it got too late Jero and I shut down out laptops and went to bed.

As nice as work was Monday, Tuesday more than made up for it in shittiness. Every call was crap, everyone I spoke to was an idiot, and every order I pulled down was an absolute mess that took me ages to resolve with little to no credit for my effort. Things did calm down after lunch, but by then there was no work, which made my points-per-hour rate suffer even more. They’re cutting back on e-time, so I was stuck there ‘til 10:15.

After work I hid out at home. I was originally planning to try to be productive, but Cawh had convinced me to log onto the MUX Tuesday since I wasn’t able to roleplay Monday night. When I got on, Anpe suggested a scene where the Decepticons cause trouble for G.I. Joe, so I ran a combat between Valour on one side and Ace, Slipstream, and Wisp on the other. It wound up being a lot of fun (the Joes ultimately won – barely).

Wednesday morning I stayed up until 6ish role-playing online and doing laundry, so I slept right up until the point I needed to get up and go to work. Work wasn’t as bad, although we didn’t have much to do so I spent a lot of time wishing they hadn’t started getting so stingy with e-time again (not that I can afford it if they offer it…). They want us to do busywork instead, which I’ve been resisting on principle.

Wednesday night Ke called me as I was getting off work, letting me know she was escaping also and was hungry. I’d planned to meet Nivagi at 11 anyway, so the three of us got together and went to the Red Eye Café. I was feeling a little down, so I was mostly quiet while Ke and Nivagi chatted. After we ate Ke headed home and Nivagi went up to my apartment. It was late by then and both of us were tired so we pretty much just went immediately to bed.

Thursday I took off work to go with Jero to the Colts/Eagles game. I had big plans for productivity with my morning off, but instead I slept late with Nivagi and then just relaxed and read X-Men: Messiah Complex for a while before calling Dada to wish her a happy birthday. I got to talk to Ra as well before it was time to get dressed and head to Jero’s house.

Jero had just completed her day of telework, so we went downtown and had dinner before going to the football game. Jero’s team lost, unfortunately, but I still had a great time going with her and enjoying her enthusiasm while they played. After the game we went to the top of my parking garage and took pleasure in the cool breeze and pretty view before headed back to Jero’s to collapse into exhausted sleep.

Friday Jero had to go into work early, so I went over to Ke’s for a few hours to nap before going into the office. Work absolutely sucked, and was more or less a repeat of Tuesday – stressful crap all day, and then not enough to do at night so my points-per-hour continued to descend into hell. I tried to work on the wiki, but some script from the new skin I tried was killing my computer, so I had to give up.

Friday night, though, I started celebrating my one-year anniversary weekend with Nivagi. She made dinner for Ke and me, although Ke didn’t each much since she wasn’t feeling well. The salad and tortellini with vodka sauce Nivagi prepared was incredibly good, however, so Nivagi and I more than made up for what Ke didn’t eat. The three of us hung out in the living room for a little while before going to bed to cuddle and sleep.

Saturday Nivagi had to work, so I slept in and snuggled with Ke until hunger drove us from the bed. Ke and I went to the Paragon Restaurant, which I hadn’t tried before. The food was very good, and I definitely intend to go back. Eventually Ke had to leave for her job, too. I hopped onto the MUX quickly to approve two new Players before heading home to meet Nivagi.

Nivagi and I went upstairs to snuggle and nap for a while, enjoying the rare chance to hang out before 11 PM. We then ventured out to get food, stuffing ourselves with yummy noodles. Once full, we headed back to my apartment to cuddle and watch Dexter. It was a slow, lazy day, and an excellent way to cap off and celebrate our first year together. I’m very much looking forward to the next one together.

Private the Penguin: “Skipper... don't you think we should tell them that the boat's out of gas?”
Skipper the Penguin: “Naah... just smile and wave, boys; smile and wave.”
-- Madagascar

Week in Review – Week Ending July 18

Last week was rather interesting. I got to hang out with Jero’s family, which is out of the ordinary. I got stuck on a massive project at work for three days; that was stressful at first but not as bad once the people working on it with me and I got used to what we were doing. Stsm stayed over at my apartment Wednesday night and we had a lot of fun. And of course I got to spend time with Jero, Nivagi and Ke, who I love to pieces. Plus, this weekend I get to see Mira and role-play! Woot! Happy times. B)

Last Sunday Jero and I got up and went with her family to the Children’s Museum for the King Tut exhibit. It was different enough from the one we saw in Chicago to be well worth the trip. After we got out of King Tut we spent some time exploring the rest of the museum. When we got tired and hungry we left to go out to eat and then back to Jero’s to light fireworks and play Guitar Hero and SingStar on my PlayStation. It was a enjoyable day, especially with Jero’s sister-in-law’s infectious enthusiasm.

Last Monday morning I went out to eat with Jero’s family and then had to go into work. I got stuck on an all-evening project that started slow but got more and more hectic as the night went on. By the time I left work I was strained and stressed, and the unrelated stirring up of previously unresolved relationship angst didn’t help. When I got to Jero’s it was quiet, and so I stayed up most of the night playing on my laptop while Jero and her parents slept. This peaceful interlude was excellent for recharging my mood.

When Jero’s parents left for their flight in the morning I said my good-byes and went to bed, waking only for breakfast when Jero got back and lunch later. At work I continued the project I’d started Monday, but actually finished on time, unlike the day before. After work Nivagi came over and brought me food since I’m poor. We ate and spent the rest of the evening nestled in bed. I had a good time hanging out with her, but after she went to sleep I lay awake for hours fretting over things I can’t change, so I didn’t rest well.

Wednesday morning Nivagi and I got up early enough to grab breakfast at Au Bon Pain. That night Stsm came over for snuggles and DVD- watching. We poked through my collection and settled on The Venture Bros. However, once we cuddled up to hug and chat, the TV was forgotten and we talked about our weekends, roller derby, and Guitar Hero. We never did get around to watching Venture Bros before it got too late and we fell asleep.

Thursday work was quiet after three days of special project hell, so I managed to maintain my good mood throughout the day, in spite of finding out I only got half a paycheck (never did find out what caused that). After work I packed for the weekend and then headed over to Ke’s. She met me at her house when she got off work, and headed back to her bedroom to play on our laptops while she ate ice cream. We lay on the bed, talking and playing on the Internet until it was time to cuddle and sleep.

Friday night I went over to Mars’s so he could show me the new game he’s been raving about, Dead Space. The survival horror game is very atmospheric and immersive, especially with Mars’s big-screen TV and surround sound. Mars and Jobe offered to let me play, but I suck at console games, so after a few minutes of having my character run into walls while attempting to flee from monsters I handed the controller back and just watched them play, which was much more fun.

Saturday morning I got a good amount of sleep at Jero’s and then woke to drove down to Evansville to see Mira. When I arrived we packed up food-makin’s and headed to Hebe and P37’s house, where Mira made dinner for all of us. After eating the four of us went out to see Public Enemies and then Mira and I retired to her apartment to snuggle and watch funny videos on YouTube. Sunday we got to cuddle and role-play, and the entire weekend was very nice. Today I’m back at work, but somehow my good mood has continued to endure.

“Marty, the penguins are psychotic.”
-- Alex the Lion, Madagascar

Week in Review – Week Ending July 4th

This has been another fine week. I started the week celebrating my two-year anniversary with Ke by snuggling with Mira and her. Since we got back to Indy I’ve gotten to see Jero and Nivagi, as well as having a night to myself. My cancer doc checkup went well, and Laat came to visit me Thursday during her work furlough. Now I’m in Chicago, spending the weekend with Caro. Woot!

Sunday morning Ke, Mira and I slept in a little before hunger drove us out of bed (and chair… Mira had gotten up during the night and moved to the comfy chair). Mira made us a yummy breakfast of eggies in a basket and strawberry muffins. We showered and snuggled all day, only getting back up for pizza before Ke and I had to head back to Indianapolis.

Monday morning Ke had to leave early for school, so I got up and went to get my car’s oil changed and coolant flushed. I made an appointment to follow up with my cancer doc for my regular checkup, and then went to get my blood drawn. After work I went to Jero’s and she made me food while I popped onto the MUX. Noone was active, so I logged off and Jero and I snuggled to watch Bones instead.

Tuesday morning I enjoyed copious snuggles with Jero before work. When I got there Mars gave me a job from S#0 that took me off the phones for a while, which helped me maintain my mood from that morning. After work I went home to try to be productive, and got to talk on the phone with Ra and over GTalk with Ke. I stayed up late re-reading text messages from 2008 in preparation for cleaning off my phone.

Wednesday morning Ke was feeling sickly, so I went over to her house to cuddle and have lunch with her before work. After work Nivagi came over in her new car (woot!) and brought burrito-makin’s. We made overstuffed burritos and ate in my bedroom. After I cleared the plates we cuddled together on the bed. We discussed going downstairs to work out, but Nivagi was really comfy and I was full from dinner. Instead we wound up passing out completely, lights on and everything.

Thursday morning I awoke with a start, wondering what time it was since I’d fallen asleep without setting an alarm. Luckily it was only 7 AM, so I set my alarm and went back to sleep. When we woke up Nivagi went with me to my cancer doctor appointment and then I went into work. After work Laat came down from Louisville to visit me, so we went out for a late dinner and then watched The Venture Bros.

Friday morning I saw Laat off and then went into work. It was very quiet. We had a skeleton crew, and I thought that meant we might get slammed, but instead it seemed like no one else was working that day either. They even let me leave two hours early. I drove up to Chicago to pick up Caro, and then we headed back to check into our hotel and pass out.

This morning Caro and I got up and ventured out for food, but otherwise we’re just hanging out in our hotel room, alternating snuggling and playing on our laptops. We might seek out someplace to watch fireworks tonight, but we’re not willing to deal with the crowds at Navy Pier so we hope to find someplace less over-inhabited. Knowing us, I’m sure we’ll find up getting sushi and hitting a bookstore. Geek love!

Happy Independence Day, Friends-list Americans!

"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in time of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." - Saint Thomas Aquinas

Week in Review – Week Ending June 27th

Last week was extremely enjoyable, even if it seemed to zoom by far too quickly. I started the week with a visit to Ra and Sckl, got to hang out with Jero and Nivagi during the week, had lunch with Stsm, and then spent the weekend celebrating my three-year anniversary with Ke by driving down with her to Evansville to spend time with Mira. Woot!

Last Sunday morning when I got up Ra was already awake. I joined her in the living room and we watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. When Sckl woke up he made us breakfast before they left to see Ra’s dad for Father’s Day. I hung out in their apartment and read HPOP until they got back. We took a micro-nap and then went to Sckl’s family’s house. They were extremely nice, and man, they can cook – I may have to invite myself up there every Father’s Day! I had a great time with them all.

Last Monday morning I drove back to Indianapolis to go to work. The phones were insane all day and I was relieved when things finally calmed down in the evening before I escaped. That night I went over to Jero’s to roleplay on the MUX. Jero hadn’t been feeling well so she was treating herself to the five-hour version of Pride and Prejudice – apparently Colin Firth is a panacea. I ate quickly and jumped online. Since the event that was supposed to happen that night failed to get off the ground, I hung out for a while and then logged off. Jero and I watched G.I. Joe: Resolute before calling it a night and snuggling up to sleep.

Last Tuesday night I took some time to myself to catch up on my huge backlog of email, journaling, and laundry. I still have a ton to do at home, but some time for just me was very good. I pleasantly wasted a lot of time trying to read everything on the Internet, and then buckled down and got some productivity done before bed. I stayed up late but was still able to sleep until I woke up on my own, fifteen minutes before my alarm.

Last Wednesday night I went back over to Jero’s after work. She was passed out asleep, exhausted after derby practice. I let her sleep while I talked to Ra on the phone and then carefully woke her up to see if she wanted to hang out or go back to sleep for the night. We moved to the couch to hang out and chat, but Jero was still really sleepy, so before long we decided to give up and just go back to bed.

Thursday I had lunch with Stsm before work, and after work picked up Nivagi and brought her back to my apartment. Nivagi wanted to help me with my latest attempt at healthier living, so she offered to work out with me in my building’s exercise room. I only spent about 20 minutes on the elliptical machine, but it was a start if nothing else. I steamed some pasta and veggies for dinner and then we called it a night.

Friday morning I brought Nivagi to check out a car, which she bought (yay self-mobility!). We had lunch with Ke, and then Ke brought Nivagi home so I could go into work. After work I went to Ke’s, who managed to stay awake about 10 more minutes after I got there before passing out completely. I stayed up for a while reading more HPOP before turning off the light and joining her in slumber.

Saturday and Sunday Ke and I were celebrating our three-year anniversary, so we went down to Evansville to spend all weekend snuggled in bed with Mira. We picked up my sister on the way down to Bloomington, and hung out with my mom for about an hour before heading over to Mira's. Mira cooked dinner Saturday night and made breakfast Sunday morning so we never had to leave her apartment! We got in plenty of lazy cuddles as well as spending time with her roommate while he played Final Fantasy X and worked on his chainmail. It was a wonderful escape and Mira made sure we both had an excellent time (without spending any money besides gasoline). Happy anniversary, Ke! Thanks for being so amazing! Thanks as well to Mira for a fantastic time during our visit! B)

“Momma told me never to do the dance of joy alone, or I would go blind.”

-- Balki Bartokomous, Perfect Strangers

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

Full-Sized Gundam Now Complete in Tokyo

I love the Japanese!

From http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/6708 --

A full-sized, yes, full-sized Gundam was planned for Tokyo's Odaiba Shiokaze
Park. And in fact, the 59-foot-tall giant mecha is already done. However, the
public unveiling isn't until July 11th.

For many, the Gundam is the iconic anime giant mecha, and April 7th, 2009 was
the 30th anniversary of the first anime series about Mobile Suits, Mobile Suit Gundam. Thus, this 1:1 scale model, built
as part of the "Mobile Suit Gundam 30th Anniversary Project," it will stay up
for only two months, until August 31st. Viewing will be free.

Besides a (cool) moveable head, fifty points on the Gundam are lit, and mist
shoots out of 14 different points on the statue. Check out a couple of videos [here].

Read more: http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/6708#ixzz0Iu2X2dUj&C

--
Fiery Blaze: "Like I always say, any enemy of evil is a friend of mine."
The Tick: "Mandingo, how I grok your mouth music."
-- The Tick

Health - June 18th

I seriously need to work on improving my health. For a while my blood pressure was in the “keep an eye on it zone,” but lately when I’m stressed I’ve been feeling dizzy, flushed, and lightheaded – not good signs. I’ve been told I *look* flushed when I’m upset, which might be normal, but not when my doc keeps pointing to my steadily-above-normal BP reading. I’ve been using my rotating work schedule as an excuse not to exercise, but really, I get stuck with one of three schedules, and I really need to just find time on each of them to eat, exercize, and sleep, and stick to it whichever schedule I’m on.

^{Part of the problem is that I’m “busy” all of the time, and I don’t want to take already-limited time away from loved ones. However, when I think about it, I don’t begrudge Jero her derby practice or Nivagi her belly-dance class, and I can’t really imagine anyone I love having a problem if I want to delay plans an hour once a week so I can exercise. I will definitely need my lovers’ buy-in if I’m going to stick to plans to improve my financial and physical help, but they are all wonderful people and I know they will help if I can work out a realistic plan and try to stick to it.}

^{Ponder ponder ponder. Any suggestions?}

Kentuckiana Pride Festival

For those in the Louisville area:

SATURDAY PRIDE FESTIVAL - June 20 ---
featuring Indigo Girls 10-11:30pm
and Tiffany 9:10-9:40pm

No Tickets Required - Admission of only $5 includes the Indigo Girls concert!

for more information, see Kentuckiana Pride Festival.

Week in Review – Week Ending 2009 May 23

This week my social activities were sharply curtailed by getting sick for several days. I had to cancel on Jeki, which sucked although she was very understanding of my situation. I did feel well enough to go camping this weekend at Lothlorien, which does make me happy. I enjoyed hanging out with Ke last night for her birthday, and tonight after work it’s back to Lothlorien to spend the rest of the weekend camping with Chpa and Nivagi!

Last Sunday Jero and I didn’t get to bed until about 4 AM after a great time at the BHRG’s Pants Off Dance Off season opener party. Luckily we got to sleep in late before getting up to shower and venture out for food. After dinner Jero stopped by the doctor’s to check out her knee, which she hurt during derby practice. After picking up prescriptions for her injury, we retired to her house, where I MUXed and we played Travians.

Monday I had off since I’m on the Saturday shift this week, so Jero and I slept in late and then ventured out for food. Since Jero’s knee is in an immobilizer and I wanted her to rest and heal fast, I mowed her lawn for her (I owe her for all the help she’s given me in my apartment). We went out to dinner and then I got online to MUX. Hemy set up a rather fun role-playing scene with Major Bludd, Snake-Eyes and Spike that I brought Buster into and nearly got everybody killed. Good times! B)

Tuesday I was back at work – for about four hours. I started feeling really sick, and had to go home early and cancel my evening plans since I wasn't feeling up for travel and socializing. I was hoping to get things done at home instead, but I wound up wiling away the hours away with little accomplished besides checking my email, doing some laundry, emptying out my hall closest, and watching The Daily Show. I hoped against hope I’d feel better the next day.

No such luck. I felt OK in the morning, but by noon I was feeling horrid again. I cancelled my re-scheduled plans with Jeki and stayed home once more. It was good to have some time to myself, but I still managed not to get anything accomplished with the time I had. I know I should have been resting since I was sick, but I didn’t really rest and yet still didn’t get anything done either. I did set up the automatic teapot my mother got me a while back so I could make myself ginger tea pots at a time, but that’s about it. In retrospect I should have just set up my laptop and MUXed the night away, or at least caught up on my reading.

By Thursday I was feeling better, so after work I drove down to Lothlorien to meet up with Chpa and Nivagi. Nivagi showed me around (I’ve only been there once, very briefly, and not during an event) and I got to hang out with her friends and run into a few more of my own. Nivagi was carrying around a giant unbreakable goblet of wine to the amusement of many of the people we ran into, and while she was planning to stay up all night, we wound up passing out in her tent fairly early, while Chpa stayed up and napped in a hammock he set up somewhere outside. I felt guilty for displacing Chpa from his own tent, but I had a great time hanging out with them.

Friday was Ke’s birthday, so I left Lothlorien early so I could drive back and surprise Ke with donuts from her favorite bakery and a full set of Star Trek glasses she’d wanted from Burger King. I got stuck in race traffic, but I called Jero and she Google-mapped me through back streets so I could bring breakfast to her and Ke. After work Ke met me at my apartment so I could pack for the weekend, and then we went shopping for more camp stuff and then had dinner at a Mongolian grill.

Ke and I stayed up late this morning packing, and then this morning Ke dropped me off downtown so I could avoid parade hassles. At work everyone else got to go home on e-time, but I’m stuck here ‘til 6:15. When Ke picks me up we’re heading back down to Lothlorien to spend the weekend. She borrowed Brone’s tent and bought an air mattress, and we’re bringing along a sleeping bag and a ton of blankets in case it gets cold at night and we don’t want to freeze. B) It should be lots of fun.

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the
president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
- Theodore Roosevelt

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

Conservatives Live in a Different Moral Universe—And Here's Why It Matters

From motherjones.com --

Jonathan Haidt is hardly a road-rage kind of guy, but he does get irritated by self-righteous bumper stickers. The soft-spoken psychologist is acutely annoyed by certain smug slogans that adorn the cars of fellow liberals: "Support our troops: Bring them home" and "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."

"No conservative reads those bumper stickers and thinks, 'Hmm—so liberals are patriotic!'" he says, in a sarcastic tone of voice that jarringly contrasts with his usual subdued sincerity. "We liberals are universalists and humanists; it's not part of our morality to highly value nations. So to claim dissent is patriotic — or that we're supporting the troops, when in fact we're opposing the war — is disingenuous.

(More...)

Week in Review – Week Ending 2009.04.25

This has been a very nice week. The weather’s improving, I’m still working, and I’ve had a lot of time to spend with people whose company I enjoy. Next week I work from 2 AM to 10:30 AM, so this might be the last time I’ll be able to function coherently for several days while I adjust to a radically different sleep schedule. Of course, once I do – it’s back to 1:30 PM to 10 PM! *headdesk*

Sunday Jero had to leave early to go down to Bloomington for a roller derby promotional event, so I stayed at her house and at three PM signed us up for Gen Con events when registration opened. I was hoping to see Mika that night, but she was sick so had to cancel. Instead, I hung out at Jero’s for a while and then went out to dinner with Asca. After dinner we hung out and snuggled until she had to head home.

Monday morning before I went to sleep I brought Ke ice-cream and stayed there to snuggle. In the afternoon I got up and had lunch with Jero before going into work. After work I’d planned to go home, but Jero said I could come back over, so I wound up going to her place where I logged onto the MUX and got to role-play with Spike as Buster before Jero and I headed to bed.

Tuesday night after work I picked up Nivagi from her apartment and we grabbed Jimmy Johns before returning to my place. Nivagi had wanted to show me some Star Trek songs by Voltaire, so that of course started an all-filk evening of Voltaire, The Great Luke Ski, and Jonathan Coulton. Before we knew it it was 2AM, and Nivagi had to be at work at 8:50 AM. I set my laptop aside at last, and we went to bed to sleep as long as possible.

Wednesday morning I drove Nivagi to work and then went to Jero’s to pick up my flash drive, which I’d left there Tuesday morning. I hung out at Jero’s until work, and then after work went to Ke’s, bringing her food and ice-cream. We hung out and watched The Colbert Report and other shows (as well as listening to the Voltaire Star Trek songs) until Ke lured me to off the laptop and into bed for cuddles and sleep.

Thursday morning Ke got up and showered early enough to grab brunch at Qdoba’s. That night I went to Jero’s and we snuggled while I caught up on Dollhouse. Jero was sleepy but I wasn’t, so I let her doze while I stayed up and watched The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. When I was drowsy enough I snuggled her up and joined her in sleep.

Yesterday work was busy since it was the last Friday of the month and they let everyone else go home early with E-time, but the phones finally quieted down at the end of the night long enough for me to relax a bit before the day ended. When I got home Jero joined me and we went downstairs to hot tub. After we showered we watched an episode of Transformers and Jero went to sleep while I laptopped.

Today ERRO is coming over so Jero can tutor her in statistics. Mira is coming up from Evansville to spend the weekend, and tonight I’m hosting a small game night in the piano room of my apartment building. B!, Chpa, Jogr, Ke, and Nivagi are going to join us for the game night, so that should be fun. Tomorrow Ke and Mira plan to sit on me and make me sleep so I can go into work at 2 AM. Oy.

“Sometimes I wonder what it's like to have political discussions with sane people. Envy.”
-- Bob Harris, http://www.bobharris.com/

Week in Review – Week Ending April 18

Last week was very nice. I got to start the week spending time with Caro in Minneapolis, and after I got back to Indy I had a pleasantly quiet week with Jero, Ke, and Nivagi. I ended the week going to see a roller derby bout with Jero, and hanging out with not only Ke but also Asca, whom I’ve actually gotten to see almost once a month this year (after a long stretch of about once a year, tops). I’ve gotten to talk with Mira a lot on the phone and over text, and she’ll be coming to visit this coming weekend, which will be great. Unfortunately Mika got sick this weekend, so I didn’t get to hang out with her, but I’m hoping she’ll feel better soon so we can reschedule.

Last Sunday was Caro’s birthday, so I was up for whatever Caro wanted to do while I was there. Her first request was for me to go with her to IKEA, so we ventured out to the land of oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen so Caro could size up new storage space for her ever-growing yarn stash. Sunday night we had a yummy sushi dinner with Caro’s local boyfriend and his wife, both of whom seemed very cool. Caro seems to have a preference for long-haired geeky guys – who knew? B) That night we snuggled on the couch and watched Futurama while she spun yarn, before going to bed to cuddle and sleep.

Last Monday Caro and I had breakfast and then went to the bank so she could open an IRA -- she figured since she was 30 now she should do something responsible. We went to a bookstore so Caro could sell some used books and so she and I could conform to our traditional “sushi and bookstore” weekend. >B) We went back to Caro’s for a shower and a nap, and then had to leave so she could bring me to the airport. The trip back was a little sad but uneventful. Jero picked me up when I got back to Indy, and made me dinner before we snuggled in bed to watch Dollhouse. Caro was actually in Bloomington this past weekend, but she was busy with her family so I didn’t get to see her again. We might meet in Chicago in July.

Tuesday I went to Ke’s after work, bringing food from the crowned ruler of burgers. Ke and I watched The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, mystified at why, if NASA wasn’t going to name a node after Colbert because they "… typically name U.S. space station hardware after living people,” they named it Tranquility instead of Serenity, which I believe had won the online poll. Why have a poll and then ignore the results, aside from publicity? I thought we’d wind up staying up late playing on our laptops as we usually do, but Ke suddenly announced she was going to bed, so I shut down and followed.

Wednesday night after work I ran home to grab a shower and then went over to Chpa and Nivagi’s to pick up Nivagi. I’d expected another quiet night in like last week, but when I got there Nivagi suggested we could go to the club, which we’d been planning for a while but hadn’t done yet. I was still a little stressed from work, but I told Nivagi if she wanted to go the club I would be up for it. Nivagi and I headed to the Red Eye for a late dinner. While eating and enjoying Nivagi’s company my nerves gradually settled, and by the time we were done eating I was more calm and ready for a social outing, so we went to the club at last and had a good time.

Thursday morning Nivagi and I managed to drag ourselves out of bed early enough to have Le Peep before I had to drop her off at work. Work for me was busy at first since they’d sent everyone else home with e-time and left no one else to answer the phones, but in the evening it quieted down, which was more pleasant. Thursday evening I avoided siren songs of snuggles with Ke to have a night to myself to catch up on journaling and laundry, and just to recharge my social batteries. I watched a little Family Guy on Hulu, and went back through some of my old journals, reminiscing on the past. I stayed up way too late, but it was worth it just to have some rare downtime alone in my apartment.

Friday work was another crazy-busy day for the first four hours and then quiet the rest of my shift. When I got off work I met Ke at the Chinese buffet. She had just gotten a surprise scholarship, so she bought me dinner since I’m saving money in case we still strike. After we ate we went back to Ke’s and played on our laptops until Ke was sleepy, which wasn’t long. Unfortunately, although the food at the buffet was very yummy, it wound up making me feel a little sick for the rest of the night. I thought about watching The Colbert Report on Hulu before bed, but ultimately I wound up just joining Ke in sleep.

Saturday morning Ke and I stayed in bed as long as possible, until Ke’s hunger nearly caused her to resort to cannibalism. I grabbed a shower and then ran out to Denny’s, dropping food off at Jero’s on the way. Back at Ke’s, Ke and I ate, watched Bones, and played in the Internet before I headed back over to Jero’s. Jero and I went out to dinner and then to the Circle City Socialites bout. Jero was extremely cute in how excited she was about seeing CCS play again, and indeed they have improved tremendously since we saw them last in Evansville just a month ago. After the bout Jero and I went back to her house and stayed up way too late figuring out what events we wanted to sign up for the next day when Gen Con registration opened.

Sunday I registered for Gen Con and then went home to meet Asca. We went out to eat, and then hung out at my apartment talking about music, role-playing, and how cute Jero is. Usually when I hang out with Asca it’s just a quick hello before she has to head home before her kid gets off school, so it was good to have more time to talk and relax. Tonight I’m staying home for MUX night, and hope to get a chance to meet up online with Hemy and maybe work something out for next week, when I’ll actually be able to get online when other people are awake, since I’ll be working from two to ten-thirty AM, and be a free (if zombie-like) the rest of the day.

"...President Bush gave a speech to the American society of newspaper editors. Not surprisingly the speech was entitled `Thank you for Marmaduke.'"
--Conan O'Brien

Last Week (ending April 11th)

Last week things were a lot better. We at CWA aren’t striking yet (although we’ve reserved the right to since we don’t have a new contract yet), so I got to return to work and continue hoarding money in case negotiations break down and we wind up walking out next week. That’s alleviated some financial stress, and since things in my personal life have calmed down I’ve been happier in general. I’ve gotten to spend quality time with local peeps during the week, and on the weekends I’ve been able to travel to see Emmo, Ra and Sckl last weekend and Caro in Minneapolis this past weekend. I didn’t really get much alone time last week, but it was worth it.

Last Sunday morning in St. Louis Sckl and I cuddled Ra in bed before they had to get up to go to a brunch and I had to head back to Indianapolis to meet up with Mika. Although pouring rain made me a bit late picking her up, I had a nice evening. Mika and I had Chinese food and then snuggled and napped together. Mika seems willing to make more time to get together with me in the near future, so that's very encouraging. She's trying to force doctors to treat her symptoms seriously so she can sleep again and be more awake during the day, which she hopes will help her concentrate and better handle decision-making and stress.

Last Monday CWA still wasn’t striking, so I went back to work. We were crazy-busy all day, and I had a blinding headache I couldn’t get rid of. This wasn’t helped by the fact that I’d taken my analgesics home in preparation for the strike and hadn’t yet brought them back. After work Jero made us dinner and we each played on our laptops. We collected meat on Kingdom of Loathing and I worked on the MUX wiki since it was too late to do much role-playing. I set up a Twitter account for the MUX to alert players when characters are closing and TP events are starting, etc. Once my headache finally receded I was much more productive.

Last Tuesday work was just as crazy, and I got stuck on a cut that took me four hours to resolve. After work I stopped by Jero’s for a hug and kiss and to pick up my computer, which I’d left there so I didn’t have to lug it around all day at work. I then went to Ke’s to pick her up and run us out to McDonald’s for food. Ke was horrendously sleepy (she said her friend called it “experimenting with whole new levels of fatigue”), so we watched TV and played on our laptops while we ate and then just went to bed. I couldn’t fall asleep as quickly as Ke did, so I played a bit longer on the Internet, but eventually I shut things down and snuggled up to Ke to sleep.

Last Wednesday morning Ke and I got up a little early so we could have breakfast at Denny’s before I went into work. After work I went to Chpa and Nivagi’s. They know I'm poor and trying to save money, so Chpa cooked dinner for the three of us while Nivagi got ready to go over to my apartment. Nivagi and I had discussed going out, and eventually decided to just stay in to snuggle and watch anime. Nivagi introduced me to Samurai Champloo, and then we watched Cowboy Bebop until Nivagi passed out (it was a Shinichirō Watanabe night!). Nivagi’s going to try to find the rest of her Samurai Champloo discs so we can watch it from the beginning.

Last Thursday morning Nivagi and I left early so we could grab breakfast at Le Peep. Work continued to be extremely busy, with everyone apparently trying to get everything done before the Easter holiday weekend. Ke had said she wanted more snuggles, so after work I went to her house, once again bringing us food. Ke had a paper to write, so I got on the MUX and role-played with Temera and Sci-Fi as Barbecue, as well as with Stormwind and Uplift as Blaster and Typhoon. However, it turned out that Ke’s paper wasn’t actually due until FRIDAY at midnight, so she decided to turn in relatively early. I got off the MUX and joined her for cuddles and sleep.

Friday I expected work to suck since 90% of my co-workers were gone for Good Friday, but actually it was not that bad. I did wind up getting stuck with an ISDN mess since I was one of only four people in the five states working who’d been trained on them, but after the business office closed it was relatively quiet and I had a chance to catch up on my points for the day. After work I went to Jero’s and we got a new membership at Our Haven so we could go there for events, starting with Beltane next month. I checked my itinerary and packed for the weekend, and then the two of us went to bed since Jero was already unconscious on the couch.

This past weekend I went to Minnesota to see Caro for her birthday. It was great to spend time with her, even when I was just sitting next to her on the couch while she spun yarn. Jero drove me to the airport Saturday morning and Caro picked me up. After stuffing ourselves with yummy breakfast specials we went by the art store and then returned to her apartment to snuggle on the couch and watch Juno. We hung out while she spun yarn, and then went to see some of her friends at a karaoke bar and then to The Triple Rock to see The World/Inferno Friendship Society perform (I’m definitely a new fan). I’m glad I bought my plane tickets before the strike scare, or else I might have hoarded my money and not gotten to have that wonderful weekend with her.

Now I’m back in Indy and at work. This week has been sucky between work stress and fighting with my sister about money, but I have enjoyed time I’ve spent with my girlfriends, and so far work hasn’t managed to destroy my good mood today. Let’s hope it lasts!

New spinning fibers added!
Clearance yarns updated!

Dyeabolical™
Yarns and Spinning Fibers
http://dyeabolicalyarns.etsy.com
http://dyeabolicalyarns.blogspot.com

Week in Review – Week Ending April 4

This week seemed to go really fast. The threat of a strike loomed over me all week influencing my financial choices and adding an undercurrent of stress to everything I did. When I get a chance I think I’m going to post part of the open letter from my union to explain just why we’re considering striking if we don’t reach some kind of agreement with AT&T. AT&T really seems to be trying to use the bad economy to screw us, even though they’re still raking in millions billions in profits.

Last Sunday Ke, Mira, and I slept in at the hotel, getting a late checkout, and then finally ventured out for a late breakfast at Bob Evans before heading back to Mira’s to watch The Big Bang Theory nap. When it started getting late Ke and I reluctantly kissed Mira goodbye and headed back to Indianapolis. After a quick stop at Meijer to pick up supplies for the week, we grabbed Taco Bell and headed back to Ke’s to sleep.

Last Monday I took a little E-time before work – probably the last for a while, since we might go on strike soon. I ate a leisurely breakfast at Au Bon Pain and got some email and journaling done on my laptop before going into work. After work I went to Jero’s, who had just got home from roller derby practice. Since she was sore and tired, we went to bed early and watched Dollhouse and The Daily Show before sleep.

Tuesday after work I went over to Ke’s. Since I’m trying to spend less money in preparation for the possible strike, I resisted buying food and Ke made me a turkey burger instead. Ke had a lot to do, so I hung out and played on my laptop while she studied and did paperwork. She had the TV on, which made it too distracting for me to get anything done that required my full attention, so I poked around blogs, etc. When it got late Ke suddenly announced she was going to bed, so I shut down and followed.

Wednesday I took off work as a belated birthday present to Jero. I met up with her at her house, and after hanging out a bit we went to the northeast side for a very yummy dinner at The Journey. Full and happy, we went to a special theatre showing of The Lost Boys, which was excellent cheesy fun, and then we went back to her house to watch Lost Boys: The Tribe, which was entertainingly bad. I even read the between-movies bridging comic for a night jam-packed with Lost Boys cheesiness.

Thursday Nivagi had some girlfriend drama to resolve, and Ke wasn’t feeling well, so Nivagi and I postponed our role-playing plans and I went to Ke’s instead to keep her company. Ke was mostly feeling better by the time I got off work, though, so we just watched some TV and played on our laptops until she fell asleep. I wasn’t feeling sleepy yet, so I stayed up reading blogs for a while until eventually joining her for cuddles and slumber.

Friday morning I finally called my insurance agent about my windshield, which had been cracked by a flying rock last weekend while driving back from Evansville. I wanted to get it fixed before I drove to St. Louis, but they couldn’t get me in until 4. Ke offered to switch cars with me, and brought my car to get it fixed while I was at work (and she also got my oil changed!) After work she came over and helped me load emmo’s desk into my car for when I saw emmo this weekend. Ke’s such a sweetie!

Saturday I drove to St. Louis for Emmo’s housewarming party. I got to hang out her and her adorable kid, and meet some of her friends as well as her very distracting girlfriend. After the party I went over to Ra and Sckl’s and we got frozen custard and watched Greg the Bunny. Yesterday I’m drove back early to have dinner with Mika, which was nice, and today I’ll be back at work unless negotiations break down in the next ten hours and we go on strike after all. In the meantime, I should get some sleep.

"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?" --Lee Iacocca