Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Monday, May 29, 2006

Day 5, The Voyage Home

I'm currently squatting about a concourse in Atlantan Internat'l airport waiting for my flight. I got here around 4:30PM, Atlanta local. My flight leaves here at 7:50. Bleh, he said. But I'm almost home, and that's a good thing. All told, it was a nice trip. I did learn some things, though. The first and most important is that I need to learn to travel a little lighter. But I always was one to over prepare. I blame the Boy Scouts. Be Prepared, indeed. Two, I really wish I had booked an earlier flight home. I don't have jet lag or anything, but I do have travel weariness. And I'm going to have to get up early and call in to see when I'm supposed to be in. Though I have this sickening feeling I'm going to have to open. Sigh. I did get a few thing to bring home, though. I finally found a St. George flag. I was also left with some alcohol to bring home. Jameson that I had got, some Smirnoff, and some scotch Alene had brought. I tried to get her to take it back with her, because it was a lot, but she never did get it from me. And she even dropped me off at the airport! I guess I was just meant to have it. Hehe. Kae got me a CD by one of the OKRF musical acts, the Bedlam Bards (ye gads, baudy guys), that was inspired by Firefly. Promises to be good! Not all was fun and games, though. I lost something every day there, other than money. The first day there, my cell phone vanished. And that sucks the most, I think. Friday, I lost my sunglasses, Saturday a scarfy thing someone had made for me, Sunday my clip-on sunglasses. Today I haven't lost anything, at least. And my clip-ons and sunglasses I found again. But man. Cellphone. I miss it already. It was so much fun! Yargh!

Home. Sleep. Bleh. Never thought I'd appreciate May weather in North Carolina as much as I do now.

I drifted away from somone, though. Not because I wanted to, though. Maybe I needed to, but it still sucks. I got a little closer to someone else. A balance is maintained?

Oh yeah, Chris, you'll appreciate this. According to Alene, Jake calls me her internet boyfriend. Ha! I laugh.

Above all things, remember your veterans and those who have died for this country, whether or not you agree with their wars, their mission or their sacrifice. It's not the soldiers that choose to fight, it's the government. Don't blame the fighters for the politicians actions. Your freedoms were bought with the purchase of their blood.

from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli

Day 4, a day late.

It's a day late, but yesterday was just so busy, by the time I got back to the room, I was just too tired to post anything. But I've got even more pictures for you!


This was a two story eating type place. Picnic tables and benches were upstairs as well. Pretty cool! We need one at CRF.


King Henry VIII on his carriage. Note the lack of professionalism in the royal guards. Tsk, tsk.

Town garrison guards. This is as sharp as they looked the whole time I was there.


Siege weapons a-plenty!


I was able to go out on the joust field for some close-up shots of the falconry show. The Harris Hawk there flew right on to that little girls arm. It was awesome!


A shot from the "hedge line" of photographers on the field as Lady Valkyrie the Harris Hawk flew up close and landed on another volunteers arm.


A local Oklahoma vineyard had a booth based in another two story eating area building. CRF really, like, so needs one or two of these. Yay shade!


The stage the belly dancers used. There in the distance you can see one of them undulating pleasantly.


One of the royal guards. There were two there guarding a princess, I think. Guards without weapons? Yeesh.


That's Kae's vendor tent in the middle there and the guy in the blue over there is the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Too many "real" people about.

the hero of canton, the man they call jayne

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Tulsa, 3rd Day.

Hot. HOOOOOTTTTT!!!

It was a little warm today. Just a little. But I looked fabulous in my new doublet. I snapped a goodly amount of pictures. Tomorrow I will take a larger number of pictures. OKRF has a pretty sweet site. The town is portioned into different "quarters", such as the Celtic Quarter, etc. I met Adam and Laura, who invited Katherine to help them in their vendor booth. Laura is a quieter woman, but Adam is an...interesting guy. Amusing, though. Tomorrow, lighter clothing. I made the visual presence, time for a day off. Now: pictures!


The local birds of prey show had a constant street presence. That's the first one I saw. A very pretty bird, she is.



This guy's act was a little stilted.



That's me all formal and buttoned tight in my spiffy new doublet. Mmm, custom made grey suede...



A pretty good shot of the May pole right outside Katherine's vender tent.


Ruuuubbyyy!


Another fine trebuchet on the site.


Me a little looser and a lot cooler.


On the site there's a shaded boardwalk. It was a beautiful (and cool!) little hideaway. I will say this about OKRF, it's an awesome site.


And lastly, a pretty good profile shot of me hanging out in Kae's vendor tent. Look at that hair!

i just want one more moondance with you

Friday, May 26, 2006

Day 2, Tulsa

Not much to report, so far. Slept in, which was nice. The Super 8 I'm staying at isn't much, but the king size bed is fantastic. I can lay out alond the width of it and only my feet dangle off the edge. PLENTY of sprawl space. Grabbed some grub at a local greasy spoon called Metro Diner. I think it was one of the places Alene mentioned she liked. Hopefully, We'll all be free to head out to a pub Alene knows and likes. Sounds like an awesome place.

Last night, Katherine and myself were hanging about with Alene at her place when we were all invited to eat barbeque by her parents. And they are a fun bunch, I tell ya what. Alene certainly makes a little more sense now! ;) Snapped a couple of pictures of us playing Scrabble (the excitement!) to share, though.


Here's Alene after I get my crap all settled in the room. She's glad to have finally been able to hang out with some Browncoats, having missed the North Carolina Big Damn Movie Premiere Party.


Scrabble! Sport of Kings! And that's what my draws usually looked. Maybe a vowel. Lots of consonants.


Katherine placing a word. Boy, I tell ya. Scrabble. You can tell we're a bunch of wild ones.


Ok. So maybe we're at least a little crazy.


Then we all went back to my huge ass room and had long drunken philosophical discussions on FireflyFans.net, Browncoatism, Star Wars, brutal removal of the male genitalia and religion. It's going to be an interesting weekend.

there must be an angel

Thursday, May 25, 2006

LIve, from Tulsa

I'm coming to you live from my motel room in Tulsa! Excitement! I survived the cramped spaces and the 6:35AM flight time from Greensboro, no worse for wear. I did have a tasty, if rushed, breakfast consisting of a chicken sandwich and fries with a pint of Guiness(from the tap! TAP!) during my layover in Cincinnati. Cincinnati, by the by, has an amazingly awesome airport. I am, however, less impressed with Greensboro and Tulsa. But oh well. It's 2:25PM, Tulsa local. I'm getting ready to go grab some food and fun for the afternoon. I'll be reporting back in later.

she sends a cable coming in from above

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

I Kilt a Man in Reno

Jules posted her pictures from Mike and Beth's wedding the other day, and I thought I'd share a couple of them with you!


That's Jules there next to me. She's a demanding photographer. Took four takes and three people behind the camera to get one good enough for her. I forget I have tree-trunks for legs sometimes. But isn't that a smashing kilt?


And here we have Sparky running over an old, kilted man with a cane.

You can see the rest of the album Jules shot here.

just to watch him die

Monday, May 22, 2006

The Countdown

In less than 36 hours I will be on my way to Oklahoma. This is a very exciting time! I find myself having trouble concentrating on work, imagine. All my thoughts are geared toward getting ready to go! I need to clean my room tomorrow, and then pack some things. Then pack all my toiletries and such Wednesday night. I plan on being at the airport at 5:30AM. Why? Because my flight is at 6:30AM. But Justin, you say, you hate mornings. I do indeed. But it was $150 more for a later flight in the day. Yeah. Save $150 and get up early. But I'm a little nervous. I've never flown all by my lonesome. And the last time I did fly was with my dad and family pre-9/11. However. It's 2006. And I'm not a terrorist. I did check and confirm that I can take my sword so long as it is in my checked luggage and declared. So yay that. 31 hours, 30 minutes until my flight leaves.

This weekend was quite fun, all told. Mike's wedding was, perhaps, the most fun I've had at a wedding, ever. It didn't hurt that I was amongst a lot of friends. All the groomsmen looked smashing. Black tuxes with long coats and high collars with old-fashioned western-esque ties and vests in a deep red. Mike had the vest, no tie, and a Mandarin collared jacket. The bridesmaids had simple black dresses with a white and black silk/satin shawl. Beth lookd absolutely gorgeous. A simpler snow-white strapless dress. The top portion had bead-work on it. The dress flowed out nicely with a short train in the back. Mike was smiling the whole time, of course, with this curiously red complexion that I could only assume was nerves. But they were a fine picture of young marital bliss up there. I remembered, also, how much I miss Sacred Heart. It's the Catholic church Mike and Beth had their wedding in. It's a beautiful building. I've always felt very much at ease there. My kilt was a bit of a hit amongst most of the ladies there. Which is always fun for me, not usually being the center of female attentions like that. Nothing serious, but a lot of that age old question. Heh. The reception was fun, but being held at Mike's church, lacking in the open bar. But that's ok! After the reception, I hung out with John and Lenore, and saw their comfy little house, then back up to Greensboro. There we joined Chris, Doug, Hugh, Fisher, and Tim! at TGIF for terrible service! Then out to the gazebo for a drink and smoke with everyone, which was lots of fun. Also during the course of the day, I took apart, cleaned and reassembled my cane-sword. Seems the handle and tab had shifted, causing the inability to open the thing I had been troubled with for so long. But fixed! And it was really good to see so many people from back home. I even shook hands with Seth Farris. For those who know me, that may come as a shock.

Sunday. Work. Hungover. But that's what happens when you drink too much for too long and have to open the next day. Also, the allergies started to hit me Saturday. That didn't help the morning any. But I survived. And then I fixed Doug's PS2. It's always fun being able to do things like that. But I love taking apart electronics and reassembling them. And I discoverd a fruit juice cocktail concoction. Half a glass of cranberry cocktail and half a glass of OJ. Yum!

they got me on some medication

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Birthdays

24. Not usually a significant number to reach in years. And it's really not. But it is another year. How did I get this old so fast? Wasn't I just 21? I'm not old enough to be 24. In recent weeks, I've been looking back at my years since high school. All the wrong turns I took, the mistakes I've made. In the last year, I think, I've finally started to turn things around for myself. I've started to correct the mistakes I made. But, of course, it's a lot harder and longer than if I'd just done the right thing from the start. But I'm ever stubborn, which, ultimately, could spell my downfall if left unchecked. But enough of that.

Sunday was a pleasant enough day, I think. I called my mom, since I couldn't make it home. Then she came up after I got off of work, and I got to have dinner with her, Randy, Jerod, and Jenna. We all came back to the apartment, opened cards, laughed and hung out for a little bit. It was pleasant, if low-key.

Monday, work. Boy. Got into an argument with Scott, who instead of just making himself the boss over Renny and the Geek Squad is now actually the boss over Renny and the Geek Squad. Oy. Because the ENTIRE REST OF THE STORE is incapable of selling Geek Squad services, causing us to not make budget, Scott is determined to ignore the rules and MAKE us go out onto the floor to pick up the rest of the store's slack. And still do our jobs. With less hours. And poor coverage. Set up for the fail! Yay! But it's ok. I bought the DVD of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Glee! I came home, took a nap. Yay nap! Then Chris and I hopped out for a bit so I could buy some boots. See, I needed a taller than flat shoe for my kilt. Because I plan to wear it to Mike and Beth's wedding on Saturday. I don't get to break out the kilt near enough. I need to fix that. So I found me a pair of nice, brown, steel-toe clod-hoppers. I prefer the term shit-kickers, but that's not as clean in wording, is it? And crap-kickers is just lame. Waffle-stompers! Yay Doug! I miss that cartoon. Then I came home and ate the leftovers from dinner Sunday night. Mmm, Chicken Alfredo. Went to bed early for me.

Tuesday. Slept until 4. Man. My bed was sooooo comfy. Cool sheets, the fan, the darkness, the weightless-y feeling of the firmwave waterbed. Though I suppose I could have gotten up at 1:30 when I first opened my eyes. I had intended to just sleep a few more minutes. But that turned into 2 1/2 hours. Like it always does. But I'm well rested! Chris cooked some turkey and stuffing veggie bake in a box stuff. Nothing special, but tasty. Went out to sing some karaoke, and I actually sang a song. Gasp! It was Stevie Ray Vaughn's Sky is Cryin', by the by. And then I came home and watched Advent Children. Whee, what a day.

I'm pretty much costing for the rest of the week. Mike's wedding is Saturday, and I'm excited about that. Mike and Beth have been together for years now. It was about time anyway. And I'll get to see everyone down Salisbury way, which is always fun. And I don't dress up often, little call for it, really. So another rare chance for me. Then it's a few short days of work and next Thursday it's off to Oklahoma for 5 days! Whee!

can't ya see the tears roll down my nose

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

The Cat Who Liked Ranch Dressing

No, it's not the title of the next Cat Who... book by Lilian Jackson Braun. What it is, however, is my cat's strange tastes. He won't drink leftover milk from a bowl of cereal, like the rest of the cats I've ever owned do. Nor does he like ice cream. But he will, however, engorge himself on the bits of ranch dressing leftover in a salad bowl, or any left over pasta sauces. Silly cat.

So Adam got me a copy of Elder Scrolls VI: Oblivion. Oh. My. GOD. Such a sweet game. And the first game to ever give my Radeon X1300 Pro a workout. Granted I am dealing with a setup that's around a year out of date for top of the line. I've maxed out the hardware I've got. But my word is it pretty. With a guest voice spot by Patrick Stewert, even. Which, really, you can't go wrong there. And the story is shaping up to be as thick and complicated as Daggerfall and Morrowind were. Which is just excellent as far as I'm concerned. The only problem I've noticed is that the ridiculously realistic environment and my resolution, it makes it realistically difficult to see everything! Jiminy! Go buy it!

love at first sight

Sunday, May 07, 2006

pwn'd

I am such a loser. No posts in, what, a week? Sheesh. Is my life so boring? Or could it be that I've actually found things to do that aren't my computer? Pah! Blasphemy!

Updates for everyone! My promotion is assured, provided the powers that be don't do something incredibly retarded and bring someone from outside the department, (or worse, the store), to take over the senior position in Geek Squad when BOTH the current seniors take the big vaya con Dios in about 30 days or so. Adam's last day is this Saturday upcoming and the other senior is in Colorado training for his government job because his temporary security clearance passed. Security. Clearance. Government job. Yeah. He's not long for Geek Squad work. ON TOP of that, San, the first Geek Squad Supervisor cum Double Agent will be moving back to California to go work for the video game company he used to work for out there as a project manager. Lots of room for the young upwardly mobile professional! I could be the DCI( Geek Squad Supervisor) within a year, if things go like the seem like they might. And that would be totally sweet.

In other news, Chris' band had a gig Friday night. Though technically I could call it Chris and Lani's band, but no matter how awesome Lani was Friday night (which she was. She totally wailed.) I'm still inclined to call it Chris' band. And they rocked. Lani's debut went swimmingly and she did a bitchin' version of Alanis Morrisette's You Oughta Know. Many people from across the land came out to the gig. Our friends the Sheltons made an appearance as did my brother. And we had an awesome time, as Jerod and I usually do when we get together.

Which brings up an interesting point. How is it that my brother and I get along so well when so many brothers(es) I know don't? Most brothers I know bicker and quarrel almost constantly, never seeing eye-to-eye, never getting along, persistently jockeying for position and superiority. Is it maybe that Jerod and I worked that out a long time ago and never even realised it? I think he knows I can take him in just about anything. I'm bigger and stronger and most probably (though only by the tiniest bit) more intelligent. But of those things only in the littlest bit. I'm only a couple of inches taller, a shirt size broader in the shoulders and torso, marginally tougher, a few points of difference in the IQ. He, however, is more socially skilled ( or rather, practiced), and more amicable. He's cuter, though. He's the Face of the two of us. The Aaron to my Moses. We're both retardedly lucky in how gifted we are in all things. Appearance (even if he is Face, I'm no Steve Buscemi), strength, intelligence, wisdom, charisma, health, toughness. I've often stated that there is no foe that could stand against the two of us. We are brothers and friends, we work well with each other, compliment each others respective gifts. Are we so weird? Food for thought I guess.

it's not fair to deny me the cross I bear that you gave to me