Happy Birthday, Duff

Gleadom's Duffy O'Flynn of Lee Way (a.k.a. Duff) turned 13 today. Duff is the first pet I've had whose exact birthday was known, so I like to make it a special day for him every April 29th. First he got a selection of his favorite food, tuna*:Then, I found a nice clean sock and some fresh catnip to make into a new kraksok:

After all that excitement, he crashed out pretty hard:
It was a good day for The Duff.

*I tried to sneak some Salmon and fancy Albacore in there, but he still prefers regular 'ol Tuna.

A fizziday anti-job

I've been skydiving a couple of times, done a pseudo-bungee thing, love the view from small planes, and am generally not too afraid of heights, but there is no f!cking WAY you could get me to be a window washer. The pay just couldn't possibly be enough.

Thanks, Rob.

Last night I had a dream where I was on a bicycle, being chased by a shadowy troll figure who was running after me with a knife. I pedaled as hard as I could, but every time I looked back over my shoulder, the troll seemed to be gaining on me. I'd lean in and pedal harder and harder, legs muscles burning, but I'd look back and the troll was still gaining ground.

Exactly at the point when I was exhausted and could pedal no more, I looked up to see my old landlord Rob up ahead, standing by the side of the alley with a beer in his hand. He gave me a head nod as I cruised past on the bike, and I looked back to see him stick his foot out into the alley. The troll tripped on Rob's foot and face-planted on the concrete. Rob hoisted his beer in my direction, and walked away. Dream over.

Interview Time!

Maliavale graciously kept up her end of this interview bargain by sending me these questions. If you'd like me to do the same and interview you, please ask. As Maliavale so eloquently stated: "Them's the rules."

1. The eternal brunch question: Sweet (french toast, pancakes) or savory (eggs, burrito)?
Yes, please. And I'll take seconds on the french toast. And the eggs. Oh sweet Jesus, do I loves me some breakfast. Any time of the day. Pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, croissants, breakfast burritos, waffles, omelets, crepes, fruit, bagels, TOAST, english muffins, bloody marys, and screwdrivers (with beer chasers).

2. Sudoku, crosswords or the word jumble?
First time I looked at Sudoku, I thought "Pfft! This is easy!" Then I looked at it again. Hey, this is not easy. I don't have the patience for that. Nor do I have the attention span for crosswords or word jumble.

3. What's one of your favorite earliest photos of yours, once you got into photography? Show us and tell why.
This isn't one of my earliest, but it is about 11 years old. I shot this picture on my first visit to Los Angeles, and while it's an odd shot, I love it. I was working at a photo lab where I got to do custom black and white printing at the time, and when I first saw this image on paper, I knew I loved it. So I immediately printed a full-frame 20"x30" of it that hung on my wall for years.

4. What has been your favorite nickname? Your least favorite?
Favorite nickname is... Dub. Started in college when I used to wear a Washington Senators baseball hat with a big red "W" on it. A friend started calling me "doubleyah", with a hard southern drawl, which got shortened to "Dub". I don't really have a least favorite nickname, but I dislike my full name: Stephen.

5. So you say you don't want kids, or at least don't know. What's up with that?
Oh, I know. Having children just doesn't interest me in the least. I know I'm firmly in the minority on this opinion, and I have no problem with other people having lots and lots of kids, but they're just not for me.

CopyLeft

I was just reading a blog where the blog owner has become pretty uppity about copying anything from his blog. As I was clicking around on the dude's site, I was trying to envision an instance where someone would want to copy anything on the site, and I just couldn't think of one. Not to say his blog is bad - it's pretty good - but why would someone want to copy it? IT'S A BLOG, for fck's sake.

I do hereby declare, everydamn thing on this site or in any other site I post content (Flickr, etc.) is copyLEFT. Go ahead! Steal it, bitches! I don't care!
If this blog ever gets popular (hah! that's just notgonnahappen.com), someone please shoot me if I start putting a crapload of ads in here and talking about myself like my sh!t doesn't stink.

Guilty pleasure music on a Fizziday

I've been in a sappy mood all week. Sappy moods require sappy music, and I haven't been able to get this song out of my head:
A friend suggested putting on Mom Jeans when listening to this, and honestly, I really have no room to argue. Still, I like the song because of the daydream it brings to mind. My daydreams are a lot like scenes from a movie, and the scene I see in my mind's eye when I hear this song is more than a little cliché.

I'm driving in my car, top stowed, down the California Incline onto the Pacific Coast Highway. Of course I make the light at the bottom of the hill, and curve right out onto the wide-open road. The camera pulls back as I drive off into a sunny morning in Santa Monica.

Cheesy, right? I know. But I love it, and I will re-enact the scene when I get there in June. I can't wait. I miss my home.

Milestones

A blog friend of mine just celebrated her 300th post, which made me realize that I had no idea how many times I've posted or for how long. I was surprised to find that I have posted 322 times since April 13, 2005. So not only did I miss the blog's 2 year birthday, I've also missed the post count milestone.

Anyone who knows me well will likely not be surprised - I forget birthdays and anniversaries and other such dates all the time.

Hairs, cut.

Despite the multiple examples of bad haircuts I've sported in the past (and shared with my dear readers here), I do manage to get a good haircut from time to time. Today's is a prime example:I'm pretty happy with this one.

An article I read

Offered without opinion:
Pearls Before Breakfast

Film Racing?

ASSuming I can finish writing the script for Helpdesk, I'm considering ponying up $75 and entering this:

(click the pic to check out the site)

I'm thinking this might be a great way to jump-start Helpdesk, and have a place to show it. Anyone wanna help?

Advice.

1990:
Someone once told me, "If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning." When it comes to fixing cars, my dad embodies the latter half of that theory. Back in the days when I was learning how to do my own car maintenance, I used to ask dad how to go about fixing the various and numerous things that broke on my old truck (the venerable SS RUST).

The first few times I tried solo projects, I'd pay heed to his advice and take good notes, following his instructions carefully. But invariably, his advice would take me in ridiculous directions. I'd get halfway into the job and start wondering what the hell he was talking about. It took awhile, but it finally dawned on me...

Get dad's advice, and do the exact opposite of what he suggests.

After I figured that out, I never had a problem fixing the truck. To be fair, he wasn't wrong all the time - he often steered me in the right direction in the bigger picture, but got the details wrong. He meant well. And I learned.

Who knows, maybe he steered me wrong on purpose.

What was I thinking? (Pt.3)

1990:Yeah, that's my skinny ass posing seductively on the back of a Chevy Citation. I was hawt.
Also 1990:Peek-a-boo! Same ridiculous hair helmet, even sweeter sex machine vehicle. Chix dig rust holes.
1995:What woman could possibly resist me looking that delectable next to my '82 Tercel? It's yellow! With 4 doors! And brown vinyl seats! Rawr!

Buck up, little camper.

Last week, Minneapolis enjoyed a nice little break of warm weather. Three days of sun and even one day where the high temperature record was broken. That came to an abrupt end about 5 days ago, and I don't think it has been above freezing since.
Normally I'm not too bothered by the cold, but after the calendar flip to April and those few warm days, the idea of going outside is about as appealing as a turd sandwich. I'd just as soon stay inside and snuggle up to the radiator than walk to the bus stop on a morning when the wind chill could kill me.

On April 7th, 19 degrees that feels like 5 is just wrong. The more time I spend in this place, the more I wonder how people can tolerate the climate.

Two months. Two months.

What was I thinking? (Pt.2)

Summer of '89:

And the view from the back:

That's just about 42 kinds of Not Good. I do dig that t-shirt I was wearing in the car, though - remember those Banana Republic t-shirts with the safari theme animal drawings on them? I used to have a bunch of 'em.
I'm still looking for my prom picture. I know I have it; problem is, it's one print in a disorganized box with literally ten thousand other prints. I spent three hours looking for it last night and came up empty. But I'll find it and post it for your amusement soon.

What was I thinking?

Monday May 6, 2002:

I should never sport a goatee. Thankfully, I came to my senses and shaved that damn thing off a few days after I grew it.

A sho(u)t out to a friend...

Resolutions.

As for my list of 2007 resolutions:

1. Lose 2 pounds per month: Started at 200.5 on 1/1, 198 on 2/1, 199 on 3/1. I had wanted to get to 194 by today, but I didn't make it. I'm at 197. I'm planning to take things more seriously this month, and get to 192 by 5/1.

2. Get on a budget: Doing pretty well on the 'ol budget.

3. Take a standup or improv comedy class: Due to the expense of the class and my upcoming move to LA, I will likely wait on this until after I've paid for the move. Besides, I suspect there are more and better options for classes in LA.

4. Get the show online by March 1st: I'm officially changing this resolution to "Get my short film "Helpdesk" shot and online by 6/1." I'm in the script writing stage right now.

Time lapse.

This is a little time lapse movie I made yesterday.

13 hours compressed into 52 seconds.