Bubbles In The Sky

Steve made this wonderful song for my dear departed friend, Otis. I made the video from a collection of photos from my little aquatic buddy. Please enjoy.

Obligatory Political Blog

I'm writing this for two reasons:

1. It's late and the only other thing I want to write about right now, I'm not sure how to share with you, the home audience.

2. I get so tired of people bad mouthing the democrats as the big spenders. Yes, liberals like social programs, but we're not as fiscally crazy as the media makes us out to be. It bugs me twice as much because over the 8 years of the Bushocracy, the conservatives started doing this thing (or maybe I just started notic it) where they would say the exact opposite of what was true and people would accept it. It's the weirdest fucking thing, but it happened over and over during those horrible years... this is another example of their weird double speak.

Observe the graph. Thank you and good night.

Big Props To Canon

I gotta say, Canon certainly makes good on their warranties. I bought this lovely camera back in March for my big Japan trip... it's been a great camera, taking sweet photos and all... but as I mentioned before, it had been acting up, saying that the lens was malfunctioning and it wasn't closing. I sent it in to Canon, they sent me an email saying they had gotten it and would repair it free of charge unless anything not covered by the warranty was found - this includes water damage, sand, etc.

I was concerned because I had recently dropped it in the sand (because the side panel had fallen off) and I could swear there was a light grinding noise when it opened and closed recently.

I got the camera back last week (FedEx is a much better way to ship things than UPS, by the way, thanks also for that, Canon) and it works wonderfully. Included was a receipt described the repairs done on the camera. On the receipt, it specifically said that there was sand found in the lens and the mechanism was replaced.

Yet, they did it for free anyway!! Hooray for Canon! Buy stuff from them. Hooray!

No Movember For Me

Sadly, as I learned (was reminded) last year of my inability to really grow a nice, non-creeper 'stache, I am unable to participate in Movember. Basically, Movember is when dudes grow sweet moustaches during the month of November to show their support of men's health issues like prostate cancer and the etc.

So, instead, I've not shaved this week... which has been aided by long, late nights of playing Modern Warfare 2 (damn you, Infinity Ward!)... it's a weak substitute, and honestly I don't know how much longer I'm going to last as my face is getting itchy, but, there you go... the best Movember I gots.

Attempt At Diplomacy

So, in frustration from the awful behavior of my upstairs neighbor and in hopes of avoiding a lengthy battle of wills and stomping/pounding, I have decided to try diplomacy first. I wrote a letter to my neighbor above, explaining the situation, explaining that I hear everything they do, I hear their arguments, their TV, when people come over, it sounds horribly loud... yet I have only complained when their dancing queen son decides to blare his radio outside the kitchen, into the courtyard, and cranks up the bass to dance club proportions. I stated that I expect them to show me the same respect I show them and allow me to have some fun on the weekends as I have allowed them.

Hopefully this will cut their behavior off at the pass... my greatest hope is that the son has been cranking the stereo and pounding on the floor without their knowledge and that they give him a stern talking-to.... but sadly, I doubt that's the case.

Uber-Thanksgiving!

This evening, Courtney and I headed down to the OC (don't call it that) to hang with the gang that lives down there that I see far too infrequently (this is the Chapman crew that I met while shooting Wonderland about 6 years ago).

It was awesome. About 30 people descended on Cat and Dylan's beautiful house in Fountain Valley... much food was eaten, wine was drunk, and much laughter was had. I might even go so far as to say some new friends were made. Love it.

This is a picture of the ridiculous plate of Tabasco turkey and potatoes I came home with... along with a pumpkin pie, whipped cream, and corn tortillas. Don't ask about the tortillas.

Upstairs Woes

This is a picture of my ceiling. This what I mostly see of my upstairs neighbor, but I generally hear a lot more. I'm usually copacetic with it, except for when the teenage kid decides to crank his music and it echoes of the walls outside and the bass reverberates through my building... but I talked to him about that and we've been pretty straight. However, today, while Courtney and I were playing Rock Band at 5pm on a Saturday afternoon, we were treated with the incredibly rude pounding on my ceiling/their floor. This did not make me happy.

We stopped playing the game, but I plan on writing a letter expressing my concern about us being neighbors and being polite to each other and understanding. Lord knows, I hear a ton from them and mostly don't say anything... I expect the same. We'll see what happens.

Would You Like A Pet Kitten?

While Miss Curtis still lives, having a cat is certainly not something I can do. But my friend Caroline has a couple kitties that she's holding on to and would like to unload... they are ADORABLE. See picture above. If you're at all interested in one or both kitties, email or leave a message. They are very very sweet kittens and I wish I could have them.

Oh, and two new reviews are up for your perusal, Dare and Pirate Radio

New Favorite Thing

I'm feeling mostly better... still a little coughy, but the Nyquil, the sleep, the Courtney, and the Modern Warfare 2 are all helping.

On to the point of this post, Courtney and I went over to Steve and Shanna's tonight (sans Shanna but plus Adam) and dinner and watched the new episode of "The Office" and "30 Rock." I love love love being totally caught up on "The Office" and being able to watch it in real time. Damn network TV for finally making something good. Again.

Farewell, Dear Friend

Deep in the canyons off of Mulholland, I found a secluded pool to place Otis in. I had a few words to say and I gently laid him in the creek after I said them.

It may sound stupid to some of you, but I'm really going to miss that fish.

It Is A Sad Day On Coldwater Canyon Ave,

You will be missed, Otis. You were the best fish friend a guy could ever have.

Never to be replaced. I love you, Otis.

Saddest face of the year.

Made It Back To LA!

After a rollicking three-day trip across the majority of the United States, Courtney and I made it safely to LA. Of course, I'm now wildly sick, but the trip was a total blast. We drove a lot on Saturday, but we stopped at the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial, and then on Sunday, since we drove so much on Saturday, we were able to take our time and we stopped at the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, and Meteor Crater. Awesome.

Then we spent Sunday with my family, chatting, eating, and I was at that point at the depth of my sickness... but we had a great time.

And today was totally easy. I was feeling kinda crappy, but it was a relatively short drive and we got here easily and in one piece. Huzzah!

And I'm Off!

Road trip across the country..... commence!

The Next Great Purging

Ah yes, to purge! I love it! Last time I did it, I was preparing to move back in Nov. of last year. Now, Courtney will be here in a matter of days, I'm sick of stuff, and I'm just cleaning out tons of crap.

Bag of clothes to Goodwill. Done.

Stack of DVDs to go to Bookman's/Amoeba or Amazon. Done.

Stack of games to Amazon. Done.

Stack of CDs to go to Bookman's/Amoeba. Done.

It feels so damn good. This shelf, for instance, though the picture is murky, you can see that only the top shelp has anything on it... those are only homemade DVDs and games. Prior to last week, it was filled all the way to the bottom with DVDs. No more. Bye!

Feels so good to be a reseller.

Preparation

As days go on and I plan for some big changes and my camera is missing.. it's becoming harder to blog. Harder? More challenging. Yeah.

There's a lot on my mind, though.... school, reviews, thinking about that Canadian guy who was wrongly extradited and tortured for a year by us and it just came out that he has no legal recourse... I'm thinking about Courtney coming out, my own health and working out, I'm wondering why Curtis keeps pushing her bedding into her water and I'm worried she won't have enough to drink while I'm gone.

Today, however, this funny thing happened: I got up and ready early so I decided I was going to ride my bike to school. I got there and almost immediately was reminded that I needed my car to drive students to CSUN. So, at first break, I jumped on my bike and hauled ass home, ran inside, picked up some stuff, and hauled ass back to school. Then I ran around at CSUN, we ended up running late, and I had to haul ass back to school again to teach my last block.

It was a very crazy day today.