Herzlich willkommen im nichts!

Schweine

2011-12-30T03:17:00.002-07:00

Christmas was really good, loot-wise. Steph had to work though, which really sucked. Playing GTA4, which has led me to rediscover this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zGwKoHNl8k

I've been playing that song a lot tonight. Good thing Steph is out of earshot, the fact that I've been playing it a lot would probably drive her nuts. Most of the song is in Russian which I don't understand, but there's parts in German, which I can pick up on. I have no clue why it is that I really enjoy foreign music, often more than I enjoy anything from the US.

Lets see if I can remember to keep posting on this blog. Don't hold your breath. Considering it's been more than a year since the last post, the odds aren't good.

2010-09-12T22:57:00.002-06:00

Wow, haven't been here in a while. I forgot about this blog.

Story of my life: I've been working. I hate my job, but it's work. I've been feeling lost and out of sorts. It's mostly from not doing what I want to be doing for a career, and having no means to achieve my goals. How can I be a teacher if I can't afford school?

-'Mad

Marathons!

2010-02-17T18:05:00.003-07:00

Have you ever kicked back and involved yourself in one thing so exclusively that it started coloring your perceptions for a few days? For example, reading an entire book series like Harry Potter, then wander around for the next few days thinking of other people as "Muggles" and keeping an eye out for wands? Or perhaps watching an entire season of a TV show, then dream about it at night and have it preoccupy your thoughts during the day?

I have that going on right now, only with the webcomic Questionable Content. I've spent the past couple of days reading through the entire comic archive, and now my brain is full of internal snarky comments, double entendres, and sexual innuendo.

It messes with your head, but it's fun in a way.

-'Mad

Crash!

2009-11-01T21:53:00.002-07:00

OK, so back in September my main computer died. Specifically the hard drive. I managed to get things up and running, but I lost a lot of the links that I used to visit on a regular basis, this blog being one of them. I've fixed my computer the best I can considering I didn't spend any money, (used a backup hard drive, got a legit copy of XP from a friend, etc.)

...so yeah. I'm still around. I mostly update on Twitter, which I have linked to in posts previous to this one.

-'Mad

Flabicide

2009-07-08T11:43:00.002-06:00

Came across an article that listed the worst drink in America for your health:

The following is a quote from the full article here.

WORST DRINK IN AMERICA
Baskin-Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake
2,600 calories
135 g fat (59 g saturated fat, 2.5 g trans fat)
263 g sugars
1,700 mg sodium
Is this the worst drink on the planet? All signs point to yes. First off, it has an ingredient list that reads like an organic chemistry final. Those 70-plus ingredients conspire to pack this shake with more sugar than 29 Fudgsicles, as much fat as a stick and a half of butter, and more calories than 48 actual Oreos. Oh, it also has 3 days’ worth of saturated fat and, most bizarre of all, as much salt as you’ll find in 9 bags of Lay’s Classic potato chips. Need more proof? Let’s hope not.

Ouch.

-'Mad

This world is too sue-happy...

2009-06-27T20:47:00.003-06:00

So after years and years of not being active in the SCA, I am back. It's great to be back, but I have noticed one change that has irritated me:

Waterbearers are no longer allowed.

A Waterbearer is simply what in football or basketball would be called a "waterboy." They bring water to the fighters out on the field. Dehydration is a huge issue when you are out fighting, and a critical thing to watch.

However, because the lawyers think that there is the risk that someone will sue the SCA if they got a disease (drinking from a waterbottle that someone else drank from, I guess) they no longer allow waterbearers to go out and provide water to the fighters. The fighters must come off the field to a "courtesy station" and get water for themselves.

Sounds like a simple solution, but when you are out there on the field, hopped up on adrenalin and working out strenuously, the idea of water doesn't always cross your mind. It's easy to forget unless someone reminds you. Even if it did cross your mind, you often don't want to unless someone is shoving a straw in your face.

I forsee quite a few fighters collapsing in the future due to a lack of waterbearers. STOOPID sue-happy world.

-'Mad

Oops...

2009-04-17T00:45:00.003-06:00

I changed my name on my twitter account, not knowing that it would change my URL and everything related to it. Here's the new link.

Otherwise, what is there to talk about? With any luck, Steph will be going to school this fall. I am hoping that it works out, I'd hate to think we moved to Pocatello for nothing. The latest plan is that once she gets through school, then I will go through school. I still don't know HOW I would go to school, but at least one of us would have a good job in a few years.

I'm still looking for a better job. Work is chaotic right now in regards to my job security: When I think I am on pretty solid ground, something happens to make me think that I'm less than a month away from loosing my job. When I think I am about to lose my job, something happens to make me think "no, I guess I'm OK and my job is moderately secure."

The corporation I work for DOES NOT believe in ANY KIND of positive reinforcement, choosing instead to actively pursue a highly negative reinforcement approach to employee management. It makes employee morale very low across the district, as we are "under the gun" on a daily basis to avoid being fired for failing to meet goals set by some guy we've never met that lives in Texas. He's never been here, he doesn't know or care about us, we are just numbers on a paper that continuously need to be "corrected." It's often disheartening, especially knowing that I am just a number to some guy that I work for.

On the other hand, my immediate manager is very good at her job, very good to all the employees in her store, (myself most definitely included) and handles a lot of the horrible crap that is dished out by the people above her. I certainly wouldn't want her job when I see what she has to deal with. It certainly takes the incentive to try for a promotion right out, especially when I see her in the back room at lunch eating ramen noodles and driving her beat up old car. She works incredibly hard (80+ hour weeks are not unheard of, 6 day weeks are mandatory at the least) and apparently doesn't get paid very well judging from her lifestyle. If a person works as hard as she does, working as many hours as she does, the corporation should at least have the decency to pay her enough so that she can afford better than ramen noodles and drive a beat up old '80s car.

...But then, like I said, the company I work for doesn't believe in positive reinforcement. It makes me rather depressed and angry sometimes.

-'Mad

I hate to say I like it, but I like it.

2009-02-23T20:48:00.003-07:00

I've discovered that twitter is a much better fit for me. It's a ton easier for me to just post my random, spur-of-the-moment thoughts on there. It's less of an ordeal to post there than it is here, so as a result, go there if you want to read the stuff that comes out of my head.

....not that anyone actually reads this blog anyway, this is kind of like posting an advertising billboard in the middle of the Sahara desert.

https://twitter.com/bitebishop Go.

(and yes, I will keep posting here occasionally...)

-'Mad

TWEET!

2009-02-21T23:56:00.004-07:00

I am twittering now... https://twitter.com/bitebishop. Hopefully I will update more there than I do here, since the updates there are limited to only a sentence or two. Be sure to check there for more frequent (and much briefer) updates.

-'Mad

Steph has a blog now:

2009-02-11T15:50:00.004-07:00

http://www.danandstephreese.blogspot.com/

That blog won't replace mine, it's just the one that Steph is doing...

-'Mad

Long term goals

2009-02-03T23:22:00.002-07:00

I am reposting this from one of my Facebook pages... just thought it would be good to have here, too.

My goals include: Graduating from college, becoming a teacher, traveling to Europe, (specifically Greece, Rome, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Romania, Denmark, and Finland) buying a house, rejoining the SCA as a member and being very active in the group, and doing volunteer work.

The volunteer work would involve teaching, of course. ;-)

-'Mad

In order to find something, I've gotta look.

2009-01-18T18:53:00.003-07:00

I really enjoy elements of my job, and I certainly get along well with my boss and coworkers. The problem is, the money just isn't there, and the benefits certainly are NOT there, either. Leaving a job you enjoy isn't easy, and it makes it hard to get motivated to look for a different (hopefully better paying) job, too. I need to do it though, if I ever hope to do more than live from paycheck to paycheck.

Going back to school would be nice, but frankly I don't think that finding a better paying job will ever provide me with the means for going to school: There is the day-to-day expenses while working a job that you need to pay for, making saving for school difficult. If I were to save up enough to go to school (spare $25,000 for 4 years anyone? ...Anyone?) then there is the day-to-day expenses that you need to pay for while in school, and finding a job that pays well enough to pay for that while you are in school is very hard.

School or not, I need to find something that pays better.

...and that means looking. Bleah. I hate looking. It seems like I just did that.

-'Mad

The music of Black Happy

2009-01-04T12:03:00.006-07:00

Back in the 90's, the Seattle music scene was where it was happening. There was a band that came out of Coeur D' Alene, Idaho named Black Happy that was probably the best and most original band to emerge during that era. They didn't really last long, but they were great. The band had 9 members: 2 drummers, 2 guitarists, a bass player, 2 trombonists, a saxophone player, and the lead singer. The lead singer's name was Paul Hemenway, who I have heard is now a minister in the midwest. (I don't know if that's true or not, it's just what I have heard. Considering that they were a rather religious group, I wouldn't be surprised at all.)

Their music was simply great: different, uplifting (rare in music anymore) and very well done. I really miss them, and wish my CDs of their music weren't stolen. I had 4 CDs: Friendly Dog Salad, Peghead, The Last Polka, and an album made by 4 of the members after the band broke up called Shoveljerk. I wish I could find them again.

A few lyrics from the song The Life and Times of...

I'm just walkin down the street singin' that same old song
I've sung a thousand times before, I know the verse
I know the chorus, I even know the part before
It's called we're gonna' even the score

And a few Lyrics from the song Home...

So many things have changed in my short life
that I thought would always be there
Yet when all that passes by my eyes none of it
will come as a big surprise, I'm expecting it
To tell the truth I know that when my eyes are closed
and shut again I'll be happy that way

Cause if I don't know where I'm going
if I don't know where I've been
maybe you can show me now
can you tell me how
I'm going home

Blerg

2009-01-03T01:50:00.002-07:00

We moved to Pocatello to go to school. That goal is further than ever right now. I found out that ISU is raising tuition 10% and lowering all budgets by 11%. We are both working full time and living paycheck to paycheck. We are still unable to afford things like basic medical care. Jobs are scarce in this town, so looking for a better paying job isn't working.

Something needs to change, but I don't know what or how.

-'Mad

For all none of you that read this...

2008-12-13T02:40:00.002-07:00

I need Christmas ideas for my wife. Submit suggestions ASAP.

Thanks!

-'Mad

Been a while...

2008-11-11T11:18:00.002-07:00

It's been a busy month since I posted last. Trying to find insulin that I could afford kept me occupied, plus work has gotten a little more involved. Last month at this time, we had my manager, myself, and four other people working at the place I work at. As of right now, we have my manger, myself, 1 person that only works weekends, and 1 person that put in her 2 weeks notice a week and a half ago. That is going to make things a little rough for me, and a lot rough for my manager. My manger IS trying to hire new people though... she has interviewed at least five people that I know of. Hopefully the skeleton crew thing will go be fixed soon... I hope so, it would be hell during the Holidays.

Otherwise, I have been distracted by Fallout 3. For those of you interested in the game but don't have it, I will repost some stuff I have written elsewhere. It's all spoiler free:

While it is very good, with superb graphics and gameplay, it doesn't quite match up to Fallout 1 and 2 in a couple of areas: First the humor isn't as present in Fallout 3 as it was in it's predecessors. They do try for humor, but it isn't as good, memorable, or dry as F1&2.

Second, the dialog isn't as memorable. There were lines in F2 that I have memorized, and still smile at. Not so with Fallout 3.

Third, the random special encounters either aren't there anymore, or I just haven't found any. I loved some of the special encounters you found in Fallout 2: The Cafe of Dreams, The Star Trek tribute Guardian of Forever, the Bridgekeeper from Monty Python's Holy Grail, and encounters like that. These encounters seem to be gone from Fallout 3.

Don't get me wrong, the game is still awesome, but it doesn't have the heart and soul of the first 2. Bethesda did try very hard, though, and I welcome F3 to the Fallout family.

Also, something else I wrote in response to another post:

You should really play Fallout 1&2 to understand the "heart" of where F3 came from. Fallout 1&2 are set in California, Nevada, and Oregon, but a lot of the groups you meet in F3 are in F1&2, 2 especially. The groups I am talking about the most are The Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave.

The other highly recommended game to give you perspective on where Fallout 3 came from is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, since Fallout 3 is using the same engine and is done by the same people that did Oblivion. You will see where a lot of F3 came from there, too.

All three of these games (F1&2, Oblivion) are very good, and highly recommended. F1&2 may be a little difficult to find, since they are over 10 years old, but they are well worth it. Just keep in mind that they are old games, and set your expectations that the graphics aren't going to compare with the modern games. Never the less, they are very high quality, and very entertaining.

That's it for now. Hopefully I won't wait so long to post next time. But with the holidays coming, who knows?

-'Mad

Christmas list

2008-10-11T21:48:00.002-06:00

This post serves as more of a reminder of what I want for Christmas when I am asked instead of a subtle hint for the 0 people that read this blog...

Windows Vista- I know that people say it sucks, but it's what I need to get full function out of my 'puter, and it's compatible with the stuff I use. No other OS is.
A new monitor. I should provide details, as soon as I know what those details are. Hopefully one that is better than the one I have now. This one should have lasted longer than it did.
RAM for the 'puter. It really needs more, especially if I put Vista on here. Vista eats RAM like it's nothing.
Tires for the car. They are bald now.

Nothing cheap on there, unfortunately...

-'Mad

Just checking in...

2008-09-30T23:52:00.002-06:00

You know, I really don't have anything interesting to write about tonight... It's pretty much status quo around here. I am tired because I am getting up at 7am in the morning now, and I have spent years and years on swing shift at my previous job. Sometimes I would work until 2am back then, so as a result I am not used to the morning thing now. If I ever become a teacher then I will have to get used to the morning thing, so I might as well just learn to like it.

My monitor is freaking out. I have a bad feeling it's going to die soon. Maybe I can con my mom or someone into buying me a new monitor for Christmas.

If it's not one thing it's another.

-'Mad

That time of the year...

2008-09-19T22:03:00.001-06:00

September/October is my favorite time of the year. Don't need the heater, don't need the AC. Fall colors. Cool but not cold. Rain. What's not to like?

-'Mad

Just stuff...

2008-09-14T22:07:00.004-06:00

I am a little worried about this job. I could work my butt off and still not make enough to get ahead. I need to find something better methinks, but on the other hand, I have only been here for 3 weeks. I hate to give up so soon.

The Christmas season is coming soon, I suspect that will help me make more money. Not only in increased commission, but in increased hours. We'll see. I will give it until January to redeem itself, and if it is determined that I am just not going to make enough money to get anywhere, I will start looking for another job.

In other news, I really really am feeling the need to game. I have a big DnD Jones right now, but nobody to play it with, except online. I like play by post, but it isn't the same as tabletop. I need to find a group here locally.

Hmm... I think my monitor is dying. The bottom of the screen keeps flickering. It has flickered about 12 or 13 times in the time I have written this post. That isn't good. Maybe I will make a new monitor a Christmas wish. That, and Windows Vista. I have heard tons of bad things about vista, but it is a 64 bit OS that handles my high end games, so what else can I do?

-'Mad

Remembering...

2008-09-11T00:21:00.001-06:00

As of 9 minutes ago, it is September 11th. I wonder what the world's reaction will be today. I don't doubt that the American news media will at least mention it, but I wonder what the rest of the world will do since most other countries have moved on and seemingly mostly forgotten.

I believe we should remember and honor those that died that day, but at the same time I can't help but remember all the stuff that happened in the aftermath. Many things the government has done to "protect our security" (such as the Patriot act) I strongly disagree with. The wars and freedom-sacrificing laws that have been passed since then have tainted September 11th for me to the point that I now don't always remember and reflect about September 11th 2001 as I should, but instead get angry about what has transpired since.

I shall try to remember and reflect on the right things.

Lost

2008-09-08T00:21:00.000-06:00

I have a dead end job. I want to be in school but can't afford it. I know this is old news to the people that know me, but I seem to be stuck in that rut. I am really unhappy, with the exception of my marriage. Steph does more for me than I could ever possibly express. I wish I could do more for her. I wish I could be better, be in school, be doing the things I want to do. I feel lost.

-'Mad

worky worky and music!

2008-09-04T18:07:00.000-06:00

I have now been working "on the floor" for a few days (4 I think) and I have to say that there is the potential for me to really like the job. The problem is I can see the handwriting on the wall, and I know that this job isn't going to ever get me through school. It pays very poorly. I get about 37-39 hours per week, which is good, but at these ridiculously low wages, I will have a hard time making enough to live, much less save any money. I do earn “commission,” but they have it rigged so that you never make very much unless you are just an absolute FIEND at selling. The store that I work at is very slow, (the mall it’s in is very dead… hardly anyone there…) so that makes it very hard to ever make any money on commission.

I need some new bands to listen to, or for my current favorites to come out with some new stuff. I got into Viikate and Kotiteollisuus, both of which are bands from Finland, but my Finnish teachers are too busy right now to help me understand the songs. I have three people that I talk to over MSN messenger and Facebook that are from Finland, but they are all mostly unavailable. Oh, well, the music is good.

...oh, and Finnish to English online dictionaries suck. PERIOD. They rarely get it right.

As far as German music, I am still into Eisbrecher and Rammstein of course, but I need more. KMFDM and Megaherz are good, but I need more options. I'd love to hear suggestions. Maybe I need to get back into Nine Inch Nails. I loved his older stuff...

-'Mad

On the floor

2008-08-29T22:39:00.000-06:00

Today wasn't as bad as I expected, but it's not an experience I care to repeat anytime soon. My manager is very knowledgeable, so as long as she was around for me to ask questions, I did OK. As soon as she left, things went down hill, as the guy that replaced her wasn't interested in helping much.

Tomorrow is inventory at the other store, which I have already done at the store that I am currently at, so at least I will have some idea of what I am doing.

I ache from work today. I thought that my experience as a dealer would help me survive standing all day long, but I guess I am too out of practice now. I am sure that I could do this job, and do it well a few months down the road, but what worries me is that this job pays very poorly. The commission that the store pays is really poor. I know it's only my first day, but I only made about an extra dollar an hour in commission. Maybe.

-'Mad

Update

2008-08-28T23:00:00.000-06:00

Well, tomorrow is my first official day on the floor at my new job. I actually started on the 23rd instead of the 25th, but so far I have either been training or doing inventory. The training was COMPLETELY worthless, and inventory was just tedious. At least inventory helped to teach me where things were...

I am going out to sell products tomorrow that I have NO clue about. NONE. I don't even know how to operate the cash register yet. I am going to be a sales associate, and I couldn't tell you thing one about what I am going to be selling. How good of a salesman will I be when I don't know anything?

Needless to say, I am nervous as hell.

-'Mad

Support the Chinese Olympic Team! Shop at Wal-Mart!

2008-08-23T21:37:00.000-06:00

The trade deficit irritates me. The huge budget deficit really irritates me. The lack of interest by the federal government in improving the quality of Education and the infrastructure of the US irritates me. Our reliance on foreign oil and the willingness people have to drill for more in otherwise pristine land here in the US irritates me. Wal-Mart irritates me.

I'm really irritated right now.

-'Mad

August 25th

2008-08-21T17:37:00.000-06:00

Well, I have a new job. I will be working at Radio Shack starting the 25th, which ironically is the day I should have started school. I like the idea that I will be making money again, but I will really be hating the fact that I have to give up on my goals for money reasons. AGAIN.

-'Mad

School's out.

2008-08-16T09:01:00.000-06:00

Well, I tried. I couldn't make it to school again this fall. I still have one option left, but it's a rather extreme option to take. I could cash out my 401Ks to use for school, but I won't be doing that for this fall. I don't know how much I would get out of cashing them, I know you get penalized a lot if you do that. It's an incredibly stupid short-sighted option, but I don't have any other ideas right now. School will cost approximately $6,0000+ per year, and there really isn't a cheaper option out there that I know of or have found.

I suspect that I could pay for one semester if I sacrificed my 401K, which is one big reason I hesitate. Only one semester isn't going to accomplish anything. I need to get at least a full year in with good grades in order to qualify for other financial aid. It's a long story that I am not really interested in telling here as to how that works.

In the meantime, I guess I continue looking for a job, only now I am not limited to part-time afternoons and evenings. I can go for about anything. I can find another dead-end full-time job to spin my wheels in and go nowhere with.

yay.

Maybe next year.

-'Mad

Books!

2008-08-15T19:49:00.000-06:00

I stole this from my sister-in-law's blog:

1. Copy the list on your blog.
2. Read through the list and mark the books you've read in bold.
3. Italicize any you started, but didn't finish.
4. Color the ones you loved in a color. (whatever color, really.)

1. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
2. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams ----Superb!
3. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
4. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
5. Life of PI - Yann Martel
6. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
7. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
8. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
9. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
10. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
11. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
12. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
13. His Dark Materials (trilogy) - Philip Pullman
14. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
15. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller ----I need to read that one again.
16. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
17. Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
18. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
19. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
20. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
21. Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
22. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
23. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
24. Animal Farm - George Orwell
25. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley -----I need to finish this one.
26. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
27. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
28. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
29. Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
30. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
31. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
32. Complete Works of Shakespeare ----I have read a lot of his plays, but not all of his poems.
33. Ulysses - James Joyce
34. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
35. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
36. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
37. The Bible ----I skipped some things like Numbers.
38. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
39. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
40. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
41. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
42. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
45. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
46. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
47. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
48. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
49. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
50. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
51. Little Women - Louisa M. Alcott
52. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
53. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
54. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
55. Middlemarch - George Eliot
56. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
57. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
58. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
59. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
60. Emma - Jane Austen
61. Persuasion - Jane Austen
62. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
63. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
64. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown ----I wanted to finish this, but had to return the book.
65. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
66. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
67. Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery
68. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
69. Atonement - Ian McEwan
70. Dune - Frank Herbert
71. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
72. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
73. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
74. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
75. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
76. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
77. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
78. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
79. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
80. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
81. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
82. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
83. Dracula - Bram Stoker
84. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
85. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
86. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
87. Germinal - Emile Zola
88. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
89. Possession - A.S. Byatt
90. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
91. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
92. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
93. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
94. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
95. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
96. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
97. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
98. Watership Down – Richard Adams
99. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
100. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

Hmmm... Unless I counted wrong, I have read 27 on this list, and started but didn't finish 12. A rather depressingly small percentage of this book list, really.

It's not the 4th of July, but...

2008-08-12T19:37:00.000-06:00

...I still had to post this.

I find the muppets to always be entertaining.

I haven't figured out how to embed a video on the blog yet, so you will have to go to the effort of clicking a link. I am sure you will survive.

-'Mad

This just in...

2008-08-08T21:04:00.000-06:00

It's raining outside. I have to go outside now and enjoy this... I love the rain. :-) It's too rare here. Yeah, yeah, I have no sense, whatever. Go away. :-P

-'Mad

Trying again...

2008-08-08T19:24:00.000-06:00

After almost exactly 3 years, I am going to try this again. My original blog is here. I stopped blogging on that website for one simple reason: I lost the password. I tried recovering it, but the site emails you the password, and I never got an email on any of my known accounts when I tried. Thus new blog!

Tons of things have happened since I last wrote on that blog, but if you know me, you already know about it. Pretty much the usual life stuff: Marriage, moving, and drive-by shootings. Nothing you don't already see every day. :-P

Steph is 9 flavors of wonderful. I am glad I waited so long to get married, otherwise I wouldn't have found her. We don't have any kids, but we might someday. We aren't hurrying. We are more worried about trying to get into and through school more than anything.

Trying to get into school is the same old story for me, I have been trying to get into (and stay in) school for years. I haven't been successful yet, but I am enrolled in school for this fall, starting on August 25th. I don't know how I will be able to pay for it, so it may be a very short enrollment. It's about $3000 when I don't even know how I am going to pay for insulin right now.

They have changed some stuff about this website since my last blog. It will probably take me a while to customize the place to my taste. I will have to see what I can do later.

In the meantime, everyone should watch Dr. Horrible. It's about 42ish minutes long. Starring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, and Felicia Day. Joss Whedon directed, and several of his family members co-wrote and had bit parts in the show. Very funny, very entertaining. The link above is the show on Hulu (unfortunately with commercials) This link is the original site with some additional content. It's better to watch it on Hulu, which is why I linked to it first. Enjoy!

With any luck and a little self-discipline, I might actually update this once a week. Yeah, right. :-P

-'Mad