thisischris.com -- This is Chris dot Com -- the website of Christopher Grant Harris

People with arachnophobia should stay away from this post.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a pretty normal day. It was actually a very nice day, as well. It was mostly sunny, but not too terribly hot out. Carrie had a split-shift, but she came home later than usual due to work shenanigans. She made a salad with half the leftover salmon from the barbeque on Monday night, and I made a gigantro cheese quésadilla.

After that we played a game of Mario Kart. Later on Carrie decided to go for a walk, and as she was getting ready to leave I stepped out on the front porch to enjoy the nice weather. I was just casually looking around when something on the rhododendron bush to my left caught my eye. Here's what it was:

That's about 200 baby spiders. Each one was maybe one to two millimeters wide. Pale yellow with a black dot on the thorax. Carrie asked what I was looking at, so I said, "About 200 baby spiders."

"Eew!" she cried. "Can you get rid of them?"

"Yeah. You better get out of here. And stay away from this part of the porch," I motioned around the area of the spiders.

So she walked up to Linnea's and back while I got some paper towels and broke up the baby spider party without killing any of them.

I took Carrie back to teach her class in the evening and then made a parmesan pasta with the rest of the leftover salmon. The best part about it was that I just walked out to the backyard and tore off some fresh herbs to chop up and put in the sauce. Very gratifying.

Then I watched the director's commentary on Equilibrium. My favorite parts (paraphrasing, despite the fact that I put them in quotes):

"A lot of people have accused this film of ripping off other films like Clockwork Orange, Bladerunner, The Matrix, Metropolis, even Triumph of the Will. And it's... well, true. I really like all of those stories (and many of those films), and I was certainly influenced by them."

and

"I actually think it's boring when the good guy is getting beat up by the bad guy at the end. I mean, you know the good guy is going to win. I think it's much more entertaining to get to watch the good guy be a complete badass."

I went and picked up Carrie & Laura and took Laura to her house before returning home. It was after 11:00 by the time we got back.

Future X-Man

Is this baby a sign of superheroes to come?

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Video Game Violence Questionnaire

My friend Leia is writing some sort of a school paper about video games and violence, and has a questionnaire posted here. If you want to help her out, you should fill that thing out! I filled it out, and here are my answers:

What is your opinion on videogames? Are they good? Bad? Why?
Are books good? Bad? Are movies good? Bad? Are TV shows good? Bad? I can't single out video games as being different from any other immersive entertainment medium. Some games are good; some games are bad, just like books, movies, and TV shows.

Do you play games with mature content (or would you if you played games)? What do you like about them? If not, why not?
I've been known to; I tend not to like them as much just as a personal preference. I tend to like fun, cartoony games (like the Mario games) rather than gritty, dirty, "adult" games (like the Halo games). I think I like the more childish games because they generally don't try to be as "awesome" as the more adult-oriented games.

What do you think about violence or sexual content in videogames as opposed to the same content in movies?
I see absolutely no difference.

Whose responsibility is it to monitor the content of videogames? Why? What about movies?
Video games: Parents/guardians
Movies: Parents/guardians
I don't mind rating systems so much; they're a good general guidline if you don't have time to personally judge the content of a film or video game, but they should not be the ultimate word on the subject.

How would/do you manage the videogames a child plays? What about the movies they watch?
By being educated on what content the video games and/or movies contain, and discussing with the child what the contents of the video game and/or movie mean, their context, their real-world consequences, etc. Just like you have to tell a kid that if a coyote fell off a cliff in real life it wouldn't be able to get back up and dust itself off, you have to tell kids the real-world consequences of actions in video games. If you're able to instill the difference between reality and fiction in a kid at a young enough age, they'll be better able to distance video games and/or movies from real life as they get older.

How do you determine if a game is appropriate for a child? A movie?
First of all, I would have to know the emotional maturity of the child in question, and then balance that against the "questionable" content of whatever entertainment is in question. THERE IS NO blanket level of appropriate-ness that applies to every child. For example, my sister watched the movie "Aliens" (starring Sigourney Weaver, rated R) when she was six years old with absolutley no negative reprocussions. Other children might not have been able to handle it. All kids are different, and it is up to the parent/guardian to judge what the kid can handle.

Do you think that games that are rated Adults Only should be prohibited? Explain.
No. What if adults want to play them? Are adults not allowed to make up their own mind as to what is acceptible to them?

What consequence should there be if a retailer sells an “underage” person a game that is rated above their age group? What about allowing an “underage” person into a movie rated above their age group? (Example: a store sells a 12-year-old a Mature rated game. There are currently no laws in place concerning either of these, but some companies have policies that disallow it.)
Honestly, I don't think that the "law" should have anything to do with this. This should be purely an internal matter within whatever company the offending employee works. Each company can make up whatever policy they want.

Do you feel that videogames are bad for a person’s health? Why or why not?
As with EVERYTHING, video games are only bad for a person's health if played excessively; eyestrain and arthritis (as well as hearing problems if a handheld is played with earphones) can result if video games are played excessively. Also a lack of exercise (excluding such exercise-oriented games as DDR and its ripoffs). But if that is the case, I absolutely believe it is the video game player's own damned fault; nobody can FORCE you to play video games to the point of health damage.

Do you feel there is a connection between violent behavior and videogames? What makes you feel that way?
Absolutely not. I am at times obnoxiously pacifist and I grew up playing all manner of violent video games. I also watched violent cartoons and TV shows and movies! Gasp! I believe there is a connection only when poor/neglectful parenting is involved, and the child ends up being unable to distinguish between what is allowed in a violent video game and what is allowed in real life. And even if that child never played a single video game in his/her life, he/she would likely be influenced by some other entertainment medium.

Do you think violent videogames can be used to “let off” aggression, to allow people a safe outlet for these feelings? Explain.
If a punching bag can be used to "let off" aggression, why can't a video game? Certain video games (the Mario Kart series) have a very relaxing effect for me (and my wife).

And here are my final words on the subject:

"People have been trying to blame entertainment for violence for as long as there has been entertainment. People thought swing would cause violent behavior; people thought that seeing a woman's belly button on TV would cause rampant sexual aggression; I honsetly believe that the only things that causes children to become violent are entirely environmental (poor parenting, bad social circles, abuse, etc.). I am also a fierce believer that ANY for of government censorship is just about the single worst thing that can happen in a society. I also do not believe in age-based laws (example, drinking at age 21, voting at age 18, driving at 16, etc.). Who is the goverment to tell me that my 12-year old kid is not emotionally mature enough to handle an NC17-rated movie or an AO-rated game? As a (hypothetical) parent, I am the only one who should be allowed to restrict my child's life experiences."

Im Gedächtnis!

Yesterday (Monday) I wrote my review of Tsotsi, so you should read that.

Carrie had most of the day off, so we actually got to sleep in a little bit! 'Twas nice. We played a game of Mario Kart and watched an on-demand workout thing (though I can't remember in what order we did those). Carrie went to a store meeting around lunchtime and I made myself two cheese quesadillas. Carrie returned a while later with Melissa & Sophie in tow, and also some Chinese beef stuff for me to eat. That's a lotta lunch!

The girls just stopped by on their way to put up PSBF posters wherever they were given permission to do so. Carrie & Sophie then went with Lena to Jefferson Park. She called me and asked if I wanted to go to a barbeque at the Tarbets' house in the evening. Did I!

So eventually Carrie dropped Lena off back at her house and then brought Sophie over to our house where the two of them made fresh-squeezed lemonade and chocolate chip cookies. Then at 6:00 we packed up some salmon and some beer and some soda and the lemonade and cookies and drove the short distance to the Tarbets' house.

We arrived at the same time as Heather & Chris. Let's see if'n I can remember who all was there...

Me
Carrie
Linnea
Jay
Lena
Baby Eva
Sophie
Melissa
Travis
Christine
Leilani
Rick
And later on a couple of across-the-alley neighbors wandered over as well.

Jay had basically finished construction on the new garage and had demolished the old garage, so now there is a really cool paved area in the backyard next to the new garage where the old garage used to be. He set up their big wood-burning stove-like thing back there near the alley.

If you look to the left in that alley you can see Christine's house just two doors down. It never really struck Christine before just how close her new house is to the Tarbets.

Anyway, there was much barbequeing, all the ladies took turns holding Baby Eva (even Christine, who didn't really want to at first). I had three beers and didn't even feel the slightest bit drunk, probably due to the fact that I had two cheese quesadillas and some Chinese beef in me, plus the salmon, potato salad, pasta salad, and hot dog that I ate during the course of the barbeque.

Chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows were produced, and people made s'mores. I did not, because I felt that so much sugar would completely overload me at that point (I haven't been eating very much sugar lately). Carrie left for about an hour to take Sophie home by 9:00, but then she came back, and most of us ended up staying there by the fire until almost 10:30.

And you know what? Except for Carrie's store meeting, none of the day was pre-planned. Let's hear it for impromptu!

Monday, May 29, 2006

Quickly

Just quickly: Yesterday (Sunday) Geoff, Ed, and I had practice at the Gibbs's ancestral home in Puyallup, then after practice Geoff & I went and saw X-Men: The Last Stand. I'll review it this week (right after I review Tsotsi and Art School Confidential, one of which I will get to some time today).

Carrie called me while I was on the way home and had me buy some cheese, and I also picked up some tortillas for me. I made chicken fajita stuff for din-dins, which Carrie ate on a bed of spinach and which I wrapped in the tortillas I just bought.

After dinner there was a game of Mario Kart, and by then it was after 9:00. At 10:00 I gathered a handful of DVDs and let Carrie decide which one to watch in bed; she chose Firefly, but fell asleep and so didn't really follow it very well.

Take This, Da Vinci Code

Japan is proud home of Christ's tomb

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Fools Play Musical

Yesterday (Saturday) I had to leave for Fools Play way early — like around 2:15 (though I didn't end up leaving until closer to 2:30). Carrie Y I got up, had breakfast, played Mario Kart, and then did a quick 10-minute workout before she discovered that there was a Laguna Beach marathon on TV. This caused us to split up. She went in the bedroom and watched absolute crap on the TV in there; I stayed in the living room and watched the Teen Titans episode with the late(?) Kole.

Then I shaved and showered and got ready and by then it was practically time to go.

Why did I have to go to Fools Play so early? Because we were debuting a new and rather complicated format, "Fools Play Musical." So we had to run through it before the show with Ed, who wasn't able to make any of the practices about it. Taisha was also supposed to be at the show, but Oscar got sick so she stayed beyond the mountains to take care of her puppy.

When we got to the theater, though, there was someone practicing some sorta bongo things in a back room, and there was trash all over the floor. Thankfully someone came and swept it all up, but we had to practice in the back room rather than taking the stage. Oh, well.

After practicing for a couple of hours we three went the Olympia Thriftway to buy a cheap boquet of flowers for a joke during the show. We listened to the Home Movies CD in the car. It is a fun-nay CD. After Thriftway we to El Nopal, a Mexican restaurant. I had two cheese enchiladas, even though Carrie had packed me a dinner.

When we got back to the theater we met a girl who is renting out one of the side studios for her painting. She seemed not to know that the entire building was booked every Saturday. It seems like that is information that you should tell to your renters, eh? I guess not! She was nice, though.

Anyway, the show was freakin' spectacular. It went over really well. There were songs from: Jerry the Spy & Arch Fiend; Sasparilla, USA; Monster Court; FPRL; Actor & Amateur; Tallman; Uncle Dave's Clubhouse with "Do the Photo Moto"; Strip Club Sub; Spid & Snoob; and a big finalé with Horace & Cecil, Mr. Offensive, the Cave Bros., G'nar the Duck, Saturday Town, Fezbot Sezbot, Firehouse, and Friend.

Seriously, if you weren't there you really, really, really missed out. It is one of my favorite shows of recent memory. I hope it sounds good in the recording, because for the most part my singing didn't totally suck.

After the show I got gas and then almost went the wrong way down a one-way street before making my way to the Rib Eye, where I sat with Sandy and Ed, and then later Geoff replaced Ed who went to sit at another table. On the way to Rib Eye I ate the dinner that Carrie had packed (some of it, at least), so at Rib Eye I only ordered a peanut butter slash fudge milkshake. Geoff ended up buying for the entire table, which was very cool of him. Then I drove home.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Stomach

Yesterday (Friday) after work Carrie & I went to the mall so she could look for shoes, but she didn't find anything and her blood sugar was getting low, so we swung by Tacos Guaymas where I went inside and got takeout food. We ate it at home and Carrie was feeling better after that, so we played some Mario Kart.

But then later that night Carrie got a really bad stomach ache! Boo!

Friday, May 26, 2006

Schooled

Yesterday (Thursday) I created a handout for one of Leilani's classes. I also ate some leftover barbeque food (a burger and a tofurkey dog) for lunch after picking Carrie up for her split-shift.

We played a couple of games of Mario Kart in the afternoon and then Linnea swung by and picked up Carrie to go to coffee. At 4:00 I went down to The Grand Cinema and met Brandy, and we saw Art School Confidential. Quick review: a lot of things I really liked, and a lot of things I really did not like. A mixed bag, but it ultimately just did not connect with me.

I got home in time to take Carrie to her class that evening, but the poor thing had developed a stomach ache while I was away! We played a quick game of Mario Kart to help settle it, and then I drove her to class.

I chatted with Leia for a while after that. She was on her way to the latest Nintendo DS Gathering in Seattle... wait a minute, she said she'd call me back after she found parking and she never did! Does that mean she's still out there somewhere, driving around?

Anyway, I was shocked to see that there was an episode of Numb3rs on at 8:00, one that I hadn't seen before. So I watched it. Then I watched a bit of the horror movie Darkness that came out a few years ago starring Oscar winner Anna Paquin. I definitely think they shouldn't have called the film Darkness. They should have called it Look at Anna Paquin's Breasts. I swear, the costume designer, lighting director, and cinematographer did everything they could to put her breasts into as much focus as possible in every scene she was in. At 10:00 I switched over to Predator 2.

Carrie called to ask me if this was the week for recycling, which I couldn't for the life of me remember. See, the store and our house have their recycling collected on alternate weeks even though they're only four blocks apart. Just goes to show, once you're on the other side of 6th Avenue you might as well be in a whole different town... the north end of Tacoma is the good side of the tracks, and the tracks run right down 6th Avenue.

Carrie was feeling a little bit better after class, and we even played another full round of Mario Kart before going to bed and eating some guacamol&eacue;. We played like four rounds yesterday. That's insane.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Go Away, Paige

Yesterday (Woden's Day) I had a heck of a time getting things done. For some reason everything just took longer than it should have. It took me longer to get ready in the morning than it should have. It took me longer to get some work done than it should have. It took Carrie longer to get her work done at the store than it should have. Kinda frustrating.

I made a grocery-store run at 3:00 and picked up stuff like hamburger & hotdog buns, 2-litre sodas, Heinekin, charcoal... y'know, barbeque fixin's. That's because that evening at 6:00 (after cleaning the house for an hour and a half) Carrie & I threw a barbeque to send off Paige, who is departing the Bead Factory shortly.

Paige and Brandy were the first to show, just shortly after I started the charcoal a-burnin'. Brandy pulled up first, but they both got out of their cars at the same time, so she technically didn't arrive at the party before the guest of honor.

Anyway, besides them two ladies there was also the entire Tarbet family, Leilani, Christine & Lawrence, Heather, and later Carly, Missa, & Travis. They came so much later that I had to go put more coals on the fire so it wouldn't go out before they could cook some foodstuffs! Heather & Brandy made guacamolé, Lawrence told Lena an Anansi story; everyone tried to convince Carly that the drinking age ended at 28. Funtimes, funtimes.

We sent all of the unhealthy food and drink home with guests because neither Carrie nor I wanted to be tempted by the likes of chocolate cake or Mug rootbear. It was remarkably easy to clean up the living room when the party was over; it was practically clean already. The kitchen will be another story, though...

We played a game of Mario Kart before going to bed.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Gotta Get Back

Yesterday (Tuesday) morning I ate Carrie's leftover prosciutto-wrapped chicken. I remembered her saying that it was a little dry and could have used a sauce or something, so I whipped up a gorgonzola/parmesan cream sauce for it. Holy crap that was tasty. Later in the morning I took an Ever After check to the bank at Fred Meyer's and deposited it for Carrie. I also perused their electronics section, but what I sought was not there.

So I swung by Chéz Targét and picked up Samurai Jack - Season 3. I was very excited, because there are many episodes in Season 3 that I never got to see, or that I only saw once.

I went out of my way to the post office to buy stamps on the way back home. We were out of stamps. It's hard to mail stuffs without stamps (or so I've discovered through painstaking research).

I watched several episodes of Samurai Jack throughout the day. Good times... good times. In the evening (after I took Carrie back to the store to teach her class) I taught myself a new web programming trick that will make it so that whenever I actually set up Thirsty Robots, the customer will be able to mix-and-match various robot heads with various bodies, arms, and legs! Neat-o!

I picked Carrie & Laura up after Carrie's class and drove Laura home before coming home with Carrie. We played a full game of Mario Kart at Carrie's urgings before going to bed around midnight.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Unpolished

Yesterday (Monday) it was back to work as usual, except that it was still really rainy out. I didn't have to water the garden; the sky did it for me.

Carrie called me around lunchtime and had me print off everything I had on several beading subjects and run the printoffs over to her at the store. She went out to lunch with Viki, so I came home and had lunch myself.

After work we went to Il Fiasco to use up the gift certificate we'd gotten from the Lareaus for Christmas. Il Fiasco is a really beautiful restaurant, but its staff seems completely out of touch with it. Our waitress seemed as though she'd have been more at home in a loose-meat sandwich shop (like the one that Roseanne opened in that show Roseanne)than in a classy restaurant with $20+ entreés. Carrie described her as "unpolished," but I think I would have gone with the less polite "white trash." I got sausage rigatoni, which was very tasty, and Carrie got sundried tomato-stuffed chicken wrapped with prosciutto, which was also very tasty but a bit dry. We weren't terribly impressed, but it only cost us $10 beyond the gift certificate. We would never eat there unless someone else was paying, though. The food is not worth the extravagant prices, and the staff seems completely clueless that they're in a fancy restaurant.

I played a lot of New Super Mario Bros. in the evening and though muchly about Thirsty Robots. Hmm...

Monday, May 22, 2006

Decisions

I have decided that on my 30th birthday (in one year) I am going to buy a laptop (if I don't have one already by then). Then I am going to start actually writing in earnest. I'm not sure what my first project will be, whether it will be in script or prose format or what. Two of my favorite authors (Heinlein and Murakami) only started writing when they were 30, so it seems a good model to follow considering the output both of them created (and continues to create in Murakami's case).

But for right now I'm at an interesting point in my life: I don't have any major projects looming over my head. This begs the question, "What do I want to do with my life?" Well, more accurately it begs the question, "What do I want to do with my summer?" because my Fall project is mostly likely going to be getting ready for Winterfest.

I'm not at a shortage of things to work on, though. Not by a long shot. I just need to decide where to focus my energies. I do know one thing I want to do this summer: hang out with my friends more. I had a great time last week hanging out with Brandy, Sandy, Mathias, and Leia. I love all the Bead Factory Babes, but I can't help but feel that they're friends with me mostly because I'm with Carrie (with the exception of Brandy, with whom I was friends before she became a Bead Babe; she kinda straddles the line). I always have a good time hanging out with the Bead Babes, but there is really no substitute for hanging out with my own friends that I made myself.

But I know myself (at least I'd like to think I know myself passably well), and I know that if I go too long without harnessing my creative energies that I'll go stir-crazy. Happiness is an organism doing its designed function efficiently, and one of my major functions is creating things. But what to create? Decisions, decisions!

I could work on creating websites (the added bonus of this is that some of them might actually make me some money), like doing (yet another) revamp of ANGRY BEEF or finally getting Thirsty Robots off the ground.
Thirsty Robots also involves another creative output, that of glass etching. I could start etching up a storm, getting an early start on my inventory for Winterfest.
Or I could concentrate on my drawing/painting skills, and maybe actually amassing enough finished works to go to a gallery space here in town (like at The Rosewood) and saying, "Here, put my stuff up on your walls!"
I could concentrate more on This Website, writing more than one Article and/or Movie Review per month. This would keep my writing skills in use for when I actually finally commit to writing for reals.
Heck, I could even dig out all of my old tracker programs and samples and start writing music again, something I haven't done for a couple of years!

So on what (other than hanging out with friends) should I focus my energies? That's not just a rhetorical question; I want to know what YOU think I should be creating this summer!

I'll make an executive decision at the end of the week.

I Am Sausage!!

Yesterday (Sunday) morning Carrie & I went out with the folks from Northwest Diner Blog to breakfast at The Homestead Restaurant and Bakery. Syrup and I both had the corned beef hash. Eggs got the usual pancake meal he gets most everywhere, although he started out the meal with a hugely enormous cinnamon roll that he shared all around the whole table. Four of us each took a piece that in a regular bakery would be considered the size of an entire cinnamon roll. Grits also got a pastry appetizer (before her actual meal of "The Cattleman," which is biscuits and gravy with a huge ham steak on top of the biscuits), this time a marionberry strudel that was about guaranteed to put us into diabetic shock. Carrie eschewed her pescitarian diet for the morning by ordering the Farmer's omelette, which has bacon and sausage in it.

It was a lot of fun. On the car ride back to the house we all decided that my nickname should be Sausage and that Carrie would be Coffee. I am Sausage!!

Then I went up to practice at my bro's apartment and we figured out some shorts that are almost more dialogic scenes than shorts. They're all really funny, though.

In the evening I tried to barbeque some cod, but there wasn't enough charcoal to get the grill hot enough to actually cook the fish, so we had to finish it in the oven. There were a couple of games of Mario Kart before that, though.

There was a marathon of The Ultimate Coyote Ugly on in the evening, so Carrie of course watched that. I f**king hate reality shows like that right now. So I stayed away from the bedroom. At one point in the evening Carrie modeled for me the clothes she had bought on Saturday (including a super-cute skirt!). ran a couple of loads of dishes (the dishwasher is having trouble rinsing things cleanly right now... I wonder what I can do abouts that), played some New Super Mario Bros., and caught up on my weekend internet funtimes.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Go Away, Katie

Yesterday (Saturday) I recall sleeping in a bit... until just after 9:00. Around 10:00 Leilani showed up. She and Carrie went shopping whilst I got ready for the day and cleaned and what-not.

Carrie came home in the afternoon and we played some Mario Kart (we've been playing so much recently that I almost don't need to write it down; it's practically a given). Then at 3:30 I gathered all of my Fools Play things and the two of us drove down to Lakewood to the "Go Away Katie" party being held at lawyer Fred's house. It was a pretty nice, one-level house that had a backyard two or three times larger than ours. The backyard was dominated by a pool! You hardly ever see built-in pools in this neck of the woods! There was also a firepit and a built-in barbeque that had its own chimney.

I ate two bratwursts and a cheeseburger.

Other than Carrie and Katie, the people I knew at the party consisted of

Melissa
Travis
Christine
Nikki
Mackenna (sp?)

Around 5:45 I gathered my incredly-stuffed self up and drove down to Fools Play, where we performed "Mailbag."

It was a funny show because earlier in the week Ed had a bicycle accident and mildly fractured his arm, then on Friday Geoff dislocated the middle finger of his right hand while training. So I grabbed a wrist splint and my brother got band-aids and an eyepatch and Ed brought more bandages and fun stuff like that. All the Fools got all dolled up in injuries and we played "Guess Which 2 Fools Are Really Injured" with the audience.

I got to dust off my Bill the Mailman persona, as well as Escaped Liberace. I also sang a song about a weatherman whose forcast called for blood raining from the skies. I don't think it got recorded, which was a shame, because it was one of my best vocal performances to date. I was probably actually in tune 70% of the time or more!

I was still very stuffed after the show, so when we went to Rib Eye a milkshake was all I ordered. Damned tasty, though: chocolate and peanut butter, and the adorable waitress added some marmalade into it as a "secret ingredient." It made it a little sweeter and added the chunks of rind... it was really good! I recommend that if you're out at a place that has milkshakes, you should order a chocolate-and-peanut-butter shake and then add one of those little packages of marmalade to it.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Let's Eat Pie and Swear

Carrie had the day off yesterday (Friday). I'm trying really hard to remember what happened in the morning, but my memory is horrible right now for some reason. Sigh.

Anyway, in the afternoon I filled up at the gas station and then drove to the bank on Mildred and opened up a savings account with my stored-up tax cash. On the way home I realized that when I had put Carrie's handout on the computer on Thursday I had forgotten to date it. If I don't put a date on it, then Melissa won't know which handout is the most recent handout and might print out an older, more crappy version!

So I swung by the store and fixed that. Heather & Cat told me to tell Carrie that they missed her. And Brandy gave me a kickass birthday card! Check it out:

Click picture for larger version
The card was made by a company called Uncooked, which has some really cool things. And they're in a store in Seattle (though Brandy found this one in NYC, of course).

I came home and made a huge batch of potstickers because by this time it was well into the later afternoon and I hadn't eaten lunch yet. Whoops! Carrie went down to a store to see about them maybe carrying her jewelry, but they were closed for the day. Boo!

At almost exactly 5:00 I packed up my Nintendo DS and all six of my games and drove up to Seattle. You see, there was a big get-together of a whole bunch of people who have the Nintendo DS, including Leia, Sandy, & Mathias. There were also a whole bunch of people I'd never met before. It was all part of the Nintendo DS Connection (hey, something good actually came out of MySpace? No way).

We played a lot of Mario Kart DS (I pretty consistently got either third or fourth; I'm so WAY out of practice on the Mario Kart DS. Carrie & I have been playing so much of Mario Kart Double Dash, which has much different controls), and at one point even got ten people together to play Tetris DS. Tetris DS was surprisingly a lot of fun, but I can't see myself buying it because I don't enjoy playing Tetris by myself, and only one person needs to have the cartridge for up to ten people to play. Mathias & I played some verses New Super Mario Bros. And Sandy & I played some Bomberman DS. It was really hard because we kept on killing ourselves before we even got to each other... until I found Zombie mode!

It was held at Oasis Tea Zone, a bubble tea place just across the street from Uwajimaya. At one point during the evening Sandy, Mathias, Leia, and I all took a stroll through Uwajimaya so they could buy things in order to get their parking validated (I had parked up a couple of blocks near that awexome Maneki restaurant... I really like Seattle's ~~Chinatown~~ International District).

It all lasted until about 11:00 when Sandy, Mathias, Leia, and I all called it quits. I drove back home and appropriately listened to Cibo Matto in the CD player. When I got home I was starving; I'd eaten lunch so late that I hadn't been hungry enough to eat dinner while at the bubble tea place. So I made a big batch of nachos and ate them in bed.

Owen Wilson is Stealthy

I don't know if I can imagine this happening to any other celebrity.

Friday, May 19, 2006

The Wrong Movie!

Yesterday (Thursday) I went for a morning walk, as has been my habit sporadically. Instead of walking to the west, I decided to walk over to Christine's new house. Did I mention that she bought a house? Yeah, she did. It's about three houses away from Linnea's. So in walking that direction I walked by Linnea's house, and the whole family was out in the front yard watering and weeding and what-not. Lena made me chase her up and down the block a couple of times.

After swinging by Christine's house I walked back towards my house and passed a really gorgeous house one block south of Linnea's. Sigh. I then went and walked to the west as usual, up that big hill both ways.

In the afternoon I took a modified handout to the store and put it on Missa's computer for Carrie, then brought her home. Carrie (who had a split-shift) and I played a lot of Mario Kart that afternoon. Probably something else happened as well(!), but I can't remember.

Then after I took her back to teach her class I drove down to Olympia to go see a movie with Brandy at the Capitol Theater. She got either the date or time wrong, though, and so instead of seeing the movie we were planning on seeing, we saw Tsotsi. But that's okay; I went more for the company than for the film anyway. And it turned to to be a good film (about which I knew very little going in) but it had a very different emotional content than what we were originally going to see. I'll write a review of Tsotsi either this weekend or shortly thereafter. And so, too, I trust, will Brandy. You hear that, Brandy? Anyway, we're going to go see another movie next week.

I got home around 11:30, had a beer and went to bed.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Stuff On My Cat

I swear, there's a website for anything nowadays...

Kids' Stuff

Yesterday (Wednesday)... um, I don't remember much of the first half of the day, really. After work Carrie & I went and babysat the Lareau kids at their house. We fed them hot dogs while Carrie & I had salmon patties (though I had a hot dog as well). Then Carrie took Sophie for a walk along the Tacoma waterfront while the boys played World of Warcraft.

Then in the evening I got the pleasure of introducing the kids to Mythbusters. They'd never seen it before, but they totally dug it. That was cool.

We came home and Carrie almost immediately fell completely asleep. It took me quite a while longer than that!

My Heros

When I grow up, I want to be just like these people.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Suddenly Last Summer

Well, yesterday (Tuesday) it officially became summer. Highs in the mid-80s. Had to open all of the windows and turn on all of the fans in the house. At 10:00 PM it was about 80 degrees inside still. Summer.

Anyway, yesterday I spent my birthday moneys. In the morning I went to Borders and actually used some Christmas moneys (in the form of a gift card from Geoffs) to buy Home Movies - Season Four and Cibo Matto's Stereo Type A. I was planning on listening to Cibo Matto on the car drive back home, but I discovered to my delight that Home Movies - Season 4 came with an audio CD with most of the musical numbers from the show (excluding the stuff done by TMBG)! I listened to that as well. Much of it is really funny, especially the "Don't Put Marbles in Your Nose" song and others.

In the afternoon I created a handout for Carrie's class, and got a call from Joni to do some work on her site. Linnea stopped by for a little while and I actually held baby Eva for a bit. She weighs less than Fantastico!

I put Carrie's handout on a disc and brought it down to the store with her to print it out, but I discovered that I had saved the image files with the wrong setting! So I had to drive back home and fix 'em and then drive back to the store and print them out agin. But I ran into a returned Gretchen, and Steph said I was "good people," so it wasn't a total wash.

From the BF I drove straight to GameStop and bought New Super Mario Bros. Then I swung by Safeway and picked up a grocery list for Carrie that included such stuff as asparagus, cheddar cheese, and brussel sprouts.

In the evening I played much New Super Mario Bros., of course. There wasn't anything on TV to distract me. Carrie called me close to 11:00 to pick her and Laura up 'cause Laura doesn't have a car. So I drove Laura to her house, as is my custom. We played "Don't Put Marbles in Your Nose" for her. Then I took Carrie home. We watched the first disc of Home Movies - Season 4, which was very exciting for us. Now if we watch a different disc each night, we'll be able to get 12 full days out of Home Movies instead of just 9!

Pancake Meow

Is it just me, or is this completely awexome?

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Exhausted

Yesterday (Monday) I finally planted all those strawberry plants that Carrie had bought quite a while back. Hopefully they're none worse for the wear for having sat in their little plastic tubs for so long.

Carrie went for a walk after work with Steph, Christine, and Cat. I lit up the barbeque and cooked up some salmon while she was out, and we at as soon as she got back. She got back exhausted.

We played some Mario Kart and then went to Trader Joe's. We also needed to go to Safeway to pick up the stuff they don't have at TJ's, but carrie was exhausted. So instead we just came on home. Carrie camped out in the bedroom to watch all the television she likes on Monday that I don't like at all. I did a massive cleaning effort to the living room while watching Transformers. My effort was a resounding success, as the living room does not look like a disaster area any more.

It was really hot in the house; it was still 75 degrees inside at 11:00 at night. That's when I called it a night and went to the bedroom, but Carrie had me go and grab the GameCube and hook it up on the bedroom TV so we could play some more Mario Kart before going to bed.

Transformers CGI Test

But HE is going to be red in the final version, right? RIGHT!?

Dumb Dinosaur

This Dinosaur is dumb.

Monday, May 15, 2006

母の日

Yesterday (Sunday) was Mothers' Day.

Carrie & I got up relatively early so we could get her to her folks' house in time to get me to my folks' house by 10:30. As it was, she took too long to get ready and we ran just a few minutes late. At her folks' house I picked up my DVDs of Firefly - The Complete Series, which her dad had ordered for me, but they didn't arrive in time for my birthday. Happy birthday to me!

I got to my folks' house about five minutes late, and then we went and picked up grandma and drove up to Pancake Chef near the airport. I was fully intending to eat pancakes there, as it is called "Pancake Chef." However, I almost immediately noticed that they had fritters on the menu. Real fritters. How often do you see those on a menu in western Washington? So I settled on Blueberry Fritters with warm blueberry compote and two strips of bacon, to which I added an egg.

Man-o-man that was some tasty foodstuffs. Susan also opted for the fritters, but of the apple variety. They came with applesauce and were dusted with powdered sugar.

After brunch we all trucked back to my folks' house where my mom opened her presents. One of which was for me! Michael had ordered me Transformers Season Two Boxed Set, Part 1 for my birthday, and it had only just arrived. Happy birthday to me!

I got my mom some really cool fabric, five colors in the same pattern. Susan got her a Rachel Ray recipe card book, and also a book about food disasters that looked to be pretty funny. Michael got her a DVD player and Rachel Ray DVDs. Show-off.

Then I followed Michael over to his apartment, which is like five minutes away from the folks' house. The apartment is nice enough; it reminded me much of Leah & Kedar's apartment. Very cookie-cutter. But nice and new; the bathroom smelled like a hotel bathroom.

We had Fools Play practice there, and were joined by Geoffs. We figured out some new line games, which means nothing to those of you who don't know what I'm talking about.

After practice we watched the Venu Songs DVD. That deranged millionaire is very funny.

Then I drove all the way home just in time to catch Steph & Carrie as they were about to leave to go to Nicole's gradumation party thing. So we piled in the car, went and picked up Katie, and headed over to the ritzy part of North Tacoma near Point Defiance.

The house was frikkin' amazing. It faced south and had a completely unobstructed veiw of the Tacoma Narrows bridge and surrounding waterways. We spent pretty much the whole time out on the front porch (which was on the 2nd floor of the house for even better viewing). There was a really good food spread (including teriyaki meatballs and barbeque pork). A lot of the Bead Babes ended up showing up; other than Carrie & Steph there were Leilani, Christine, Brandy, and Viki.

We reluctantly left that $2 million house and came back to our rather cute house, but first we took a quick detour over near Linnea's house to look at a house that Christine was trying to buy. It was really skinny and tall, but with the right touch (i.e., mine) the yards could be super cute.

Anyway, Steph drove Katie home, and it turned out we were home right in time for Carrie to watch The Apprentice. Yippee. So I came into the office here and did computer funtimes for an hour until the show was over. Then I also went to bed.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Her Name is On the Window

It's 9:00 at night and this is the first time all day I've had time to sit down at my computer and write. I guess I'll have a lot to write about tomorrow morning!

Anyway, yesterday (Saturday) Carrie & I had to get up at our regular time because Carrie had to work on a Saturday! Boo! Boo, I say! I ate my leftover enchilada from El Toro for breakfast, and then drove out to JoAnne's Fabrics and bought my mom's Mothers' Day present. I'm a good boy!

Later that morning Brandy called. She was craving a drink that she could only get (I guess) from Kickstand Café, so she told me to meet her there.

Did you know that Kickstand was closed for renovations? Neither did we!

So instead we walked around the corner to the bakery next door to the ballet school. The bakery is called "Corina Bakery." It's mostly a dessert-style bakery, with lots of pies and cakes (mostly cakes). I settled on a lemon bar (actually a big 3-4 inch square) and Brandy got a coconate cake thing that ended up being a huge triple-layer slice. She got melk and I got a lemon tea.

We sat down at the bakery's only table and dug in. It was really tasty. After we were there for a while chatting, this young girl of about four years old appeared from the kitchen. And called out to us, "Hi!"

We both said Hi back.

Girl: My name is on the window! We looked; the window said "Corina Bakery." Brandy: Oh, are you Corina? Corina: Uh-huh. Chris: Do you own this place, then? Corina: Uh-huh. I go to daycare on Tuesday and Thursday!

Brandy answers while Chris coughs back a startled laugh.

Brandy: Oh, really? Corina: And then I go upstairs and do ballet.

This interests us because we know a handful of the ballet people.

Brandy: Oh, who's your teacher? Is it Ms. Erin? Corina: I can't remember. I'll go ask my mom.

And so Corina disappeared back into the kitchen for quite a while. We figured she fogot about us. In the meantime a kinda crazy old man wandered in and expounded to us the joy of actually having enough money to buy something to eat at the bakery. We heartily agreed. Also a couple of older girls with their hair done up in a ballet bun stopped in.

Eventually Corina re-appeared.

Brandy: Did you find out who your teacher was?

Corina affirmed that indeed she had, but I can't remember the name she said; I didn't recognize it so I tossed it out of my brain. Brandy then asked Corina how long she'd been taking ballet and Corina quickly held up two fingers.

Brandy: Two? Two weeks? Two months? Corina: Two days! Brandy & Chris: Oh! Corina: But only on Tuesdays. I've only gone twice. Brandy: What have you learned so far? Can you show us?

So Corina proudly went into first position and did a little move that I know how to pronounce but not how to spell. We congratulated her and asked her what else she'd learned. She said she learned how to skip, and immediately demonstrated it across the lenght of the floor.

The crazy old man, seated on the bench by the wall, said, "Oh, are you dancing?"

Corina: I'm not dancing! I'm doing ballet!

At which point Brandy and I almost bust a gut.

Anyway, Brandy couldn't finish the piece of cake, and I was pretty full (plus she'd eaten all of the frosting off of the remnants, so I wasn't that interested in eating a non-frostinged cake). We left and she said how she still wanted some coffee to drink, so we separately drove up to the Starbucks near my house and met up there. She got some sort of giant caramel machiatto with six or seven instructions to it. It was like five bucks. Yeesh!

She went straight to work from there and I went straight home and took my last two Tylenol, as I was having the first pingings of a headache. I put on some Season 3 Batman: TAS and kinda dozed in and out as my headache steadily increased.

Carrie got off of work around 4:00 and we drove down to Ever After so she could drop off some jewelry stuff there. Then I drove her down to Katie Downs on the waterfront where she met her folks for din-dins. I drove straight to Bartell's and bought some more Tylenol (as well as some Altoids). I went home, took some more Tylenol, then ate the potato that I had barbequed the day before.

I gathered all of my stuff and drove down to Fools Play. I took another two Tylenol an hour before the show and I was feeling fine by the time we started the show. It was a rather good show ("A Life"), but the audience was a little small. Afterwards we went to Rib Eye and I sat with Jake, Leah, and Kedar. One of the funnier moments of that was my brother singing the song of "The Littlest Portcullis." Let's see if I can recreate it here:

The Littlest Portcullis Could only close halfway. And the drawbridge laughed, And the mean moat laughed, And this is what they'd say: Come down Little Portcullis, Come down if you can. Come on down Portcullis, And penetrate that man!

I left there around 11:45 and drove home.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Bar-b-Don't

Yesterday (Friday) Carrie worked from 9:00 to 5:00, which is actually very unusual for her. She went to meet Cat & Heather for a walk at 6:30, so she had me fire up the grill so we could cook some salmon when she got back.

So I fired up the grill and put a potato on it for me (I wanted a baked potato with my salmon). Right before she was scheduled to come home, Carrie called me and said that Cat, Heather, and their respective Chrisses were going to El Toro for dinner. Would I like to do that instead of grill up some salmon?

Would I!

So I wrapped up the prepared salmon, took the fully-cooked potato off of the grill and mashed it up with butter, sour cream, and bacon bits, and was shortly thereafter picked up by Carrie. All three Chrisses and their respective wives had a great, fun dinner at El Toro that involved some kiwi margaritas (they were a special; only $3.75). Since dinner didn't even start until around 8:30 we didn't get back home until almost 10:00. Carrie had to work the next day (today, Saturday) and was pretty tired from working so much this week that we just went to bed and watched Numb3rs. She was asleep way before the episode was over.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Juvenile Humor

Why does this book make me giggle so when I look at pictures from it?

Welcome Back

Yesterday (Thursday) Carrie & I did not get up early in order to get her to work early, as we had been doing the couple previous days. She did not have to be there until 10:00, so we slept in until 8:30 or so.

She called me some time after 1:00 and wondered if I could bring her some lunch. I made her curried vegetables over brown rice and brought it down to her in the back, then walked out to the store and said hi to Brandy, back from New York only last night and already working! 'Twas good to see her again.

I was only out there for a few minutes, but by the time I walked back to Carrie's office she had already eaten all of the food! I was astonished. I went back out into the front and had Leilani dig Carrie's paycheck out of the safe. I then ran that to the Fred Meyer bank, during which Carrie called and said I should just come by the store and pick her up afterwards becasue she was almost done. So I did.

But she wasn't quite done because they'd discovered another tray of stuff that needed to be put out for the big India Trunk Show that was going on that evening. So I hung out in the back with the ladies for a while before Carrie was ready.

My mind is blanking on what happened in the afternoon... I remember Carrie went to Bartell's and I also remember watching a lot of "new look" Batman: TAS. I sliced up my leftover steak and made a grilled steak sammitch with bleu cheese. Man-o-man. That was some tasty fish. I also ate the leftover potatoes, which are really good from Marie Calendar's.

Carrie had to go back to the store at 6:00, so I drove here thence. I ran the dishwasher and made myself some orange/ginger chicken. Unfortunately when I was transferring it from the pan to a bowl I managed to drop a whole bunch into the dishwasher, all over some newly-cleaned dishes! I cussed a little bit and then ran the dishwasher again.

I then watched a whole tonne of "new look" Batman: TAS episodes. They're really, really good. Really.

Carrie went out to Red Robin with the girls after the Trunk Show, so I watched some TNA wrestling, the main event of which included me wreslting Rhyno (and some other people were in there, too; it was three-on-three) before Carrie came home and we went to bed. Carrie let me watch Batman while we fell asleep! Awexome!

Thursday, May 11, 2006

I'm Not Squemous of Ferting

Did you know that Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog?

Supergirl vs Brainiac... and Brainiac's Monkey

Yesterday (Wednesday) Carrie & I once again got up plenny early so she could get to work by 7:00.

Around 11:30 I packed up a man purse and drove out to the Firestone at the Tacoma Mall to get two new tires (and also get the alignment fixed). It took them almost three full hours, so I wandered up and down the mall a few times, stopping in the bookstore for a bit and playing some Chibi Robo in GameStop. I bought a Bacon 3-Cheesesteak Sandwich for lunch and read some of Stranger in a Strange Land before wandering back out to the Firestone and reading some more.

It was expensive, but it really needed to happen. The tires were basically falling apart, and the car was pulling really hard to the right.

I went straight from there to pick up Carrie after work. It was kinda funny driving the car with perfect alignment. We were both so used to it being wonky! I did some cleaning in the afternoon while Carrie did many jewelry repairs that she'd been neglecting. I think she said she did six out of eight.

In the evening we drove up to the Marie Calendar's in Federal Way to have a birthday dinner (for me) with my fambly. I had a big ol' steak. Afterwards we went back to their place where they gave me presents, including volumes 3 and 4 of Batman: The Animated Series (which finally completes my collection of that), Equilibrium, much cash, and Susan ordered me a TMBG CD that had to be back-ordered, so it hadn't arrived yet.

Strangely enough, Sandy & Mathias also gave me a present, even though they themselves were not present at the time. But their present was really cool:

Vintage 7-Eleven Superhero plastic cups from 1973!

Although why they didn't just wait and give them to me the next time they saw me is beyond me.

Anyway, we came back home and I watched the "Mad Love" episode of Batman, which is the only episode I had actually never, ever seen. I still do not know how they got away with half of the stuff they did in those "new-look" episodes.

Oh! And we heard back from Tidefest. Lisa & I didn't get in, but Carrie did! Awexome!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

What You Kids Call "Issues"

Yesterday (Tuesday) there was much drama with Blogger, as it wouldn't let me (or anyone else who had my hosting service) publish to my website. It seems to have resolved itself now, but apparently it was a big problem since Saturday; there was quite a foofooraw on the Blogger Help Group about it. Many pissed off people.

Anyway, Carrie had a split-shift and we both basically slept all the way through it. I think it had to do with the fact that we both got up at 6:00 in the AM so Carrie could get to work by 7:00. That's early. Not as early as Sandy having to get up at 3:45 or whatever. But still early for us.

I'll be back tomorrow with a more regular update. Mucho!

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Birthday Break

I took kind of a Birthday Break from blogging, but I'm back now. Let's run down some of the things that happened this weekend:

Had to get up at 5:30 AM in order to run to get our Tidefest submissions finished and run them over to Gig Harbor High School.
Brandy was my only friend to call me and wish me a happy birthday on my birthday, which was greatly appreciated. In all fairness, almost all of my other friends had either seen me the day before at the Gateway dinner and/or saw me at Fools Play later that evening. But Brandy's call was still greatly appreciated.
Carrie & I went out to breakfast at Knapp's with Lawrence, Christine, Katie Stricker, Katie Felesina, Steph, and a couple of Steph's out-of-town friends. One of those friends got syrup dropped on her by the waitress!
We went back and forth to Tacoma General Hospital several times to visit the Tarbet family due to Baby Eva having to go to the hospital. Don't worry; she's perfectly fine and everybody is back home now.
I went to Metropolitan Market yesterday (Monday) and bought lunch for Carrie and myself, and brought it to the store so we could eat it together.
We went to dinner at Katie Downs with Carrie's folks and Grandma K.

So far for my birthday I've received several CDs, the Face/Off DVD, and the complete Firefly series on DVD. No, I did not already own it. I know, I know. Actually I still don't have it because it hasn't arrived yet. Should arrive today, though.

Carrie gave me Alton Brown's cookbook, which is highly excellent and really makes me want to get a cast-iron skillet. No, I don't have one. I know, I know.

Awexome

Look out! There is a Giant mechanical elephant in London! With pics and a couple of videos. The friggin' thing actually walks.

Also, it seems as if Israel has developed some sort of a force field thing. But upon further review, it might just be an advanced interceptor system. Still, the videos of RPGs blowing up in midair is very impressive.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

The Day Before

Yesterday (Friday) I drove back over to Michael's (the store, not my brother's place) and picked up some more paint and also a wide picture frame (the frame part itself is wide; it only holds a 3½" by 3½" picture), which I brought home and painted for the third and final Tidefest jury piece. I then printed out one of my Robot & Bird pictures onto a 4" by 6" piece of photo paper, cut it out, and put it in the frame. Ve'y cute!

That took most of the morning and early afternoon. Carrie called me and I drove down and met her at Primo Grill for a birthday lunch. I had a new prosciutto and fig pizza that was pretty good, but I shoulda gotten the mahi mahi. I walked back so Carrei could have the car, 'cause she needed to go to the store directly from work and buy cupcake fixin's.

I cleaned and cleaned all afternoon. I had let Roomba run around while I was at lunch, and he was still runnin' around when I got back home.

Carrie came home and made cupcakes and helped me clean, then at 7:00 we swung by the BF so she could grab some U-pins, then we went to Gateway to India for my day-before-birthday dinner. Let's see if'n I can remember everbody who showed up:

Me
Carrie
Melissa
Travis
Mike
Sandy
Mathias
Leah
Kedar
Lawrence
Katie
Ed

And that's pretty much the order in wiich they showed up, too! I had Gohst Masala that was very tasty, but I ate too much. Carrie was somehow able to finish hers.

Geoff got a flat tire and so was unable to join us for din-dins, but that's okay because after dinner everybody except for Ed, Leah, & Kedar came over to my house for Carrie-made Cupcakes. Geoff showed up at my house a little while later and partook of the cupcakes. Carrie also made him some potstickers because he hadn't really eaten all day.

At midnight, when it was actually our birthday, there was still Me, Geoff, Carrie, Lawrence, & Christine. We were doing horrible karaoke (available free with Comcast cable On-Demand), which Carrie recorded onto Christine's home answering machine. I bet it doesn't sound all that good...

This is Chris dot com

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Baby Spiders