Sunny days are here again

Mother Nature has been working overtime to make up for such a shitty start to spring. I love all this sunshine. On Monday, Chris and I went fishing. We didn't catch anything, but there is no such thing as a bad day of fishing. We tried out Rice Lake on the north shore. They had just stocked it a few days before we went, so the fish were probably still shocked from the move because none of them were biting. We ended up going for fish and chips at a nearby seafood shop, and brought home some fresh halibut burgers to cook up for dinner. So we did end up eating fish. That sorta counts. Right?

Down Time

I decided to take a couple of days off from my cyber activities. I was too tired to come up with much and the thought of typing more than a couple of sentences was too much to bear. I know, I know, typing is such hard work. But really. I had some long days, late nights and early mornings.

So as I said in the earlier post, I went to Bowen Island with my team mates on Tuesday. It was a "team building" day. We took the ferry over in the late morning. Then walked around a beautiful small lake. And finished off at the pub near the ferry landing. 

I took a bunch of pictures, got a mild sun burn, and drank free beer. It was great. My coworker Matt and I got separated from the group while walking around the lake. They all powered on while we took our time to enjoy the surroundings and take some pictures. I like my coworkers, and was not trying to avoid them, but it was nice to hang back with Matt and take in all the nature. The group thought we were lost and phoned us a couple of times to make sure we were alive. Matt and I laughed though when we caught up with some of them at a cross point on the trail and discovered that they had all taken a wrong turn and ended up taking the long route back to town. 

We had lunch and drinks on the patio at the local pub. The view from the patio was nice and I stuffed myself with chicken wings and beer. I didn't get shitfaced because I knew I would have to drive later, but I did get a buzz on. The whole group played a couple of rounds of Scattergories, which was good for some laughs. Matt, Dinah, Sarah, and I stayed to play more Scattergories and drink more beer while the rest of our team left to catch the four o'clock ferry. 

Such a great day. And the sweetest part was that I was getting paid to be there.

Here's a link to the rest of my pics.

Lazy Bastard

Once again I am too tired to write a lengthy blog. Yesterday we went to Bowen Island. Long story short, we had a great day. I got a mild sunburn. My boss paid for drinks. 

Tired

I had a busy day. I am tired and I don't have the energy to post much. I will post tomorrow regarding the trip to Bowen Island My team mates and I took today. Here is a sample pic from our trip.

Blah

I am battling a severe  case of apathy today. I feel like doing something creative/productive but I can not muster the energy to do more than wander throughout the house. I can think of a dozen different projects I could be working on, but using my brain beyond that is too much work. I don't want to waste my day, but unless I break through this apathy towards everything, this blog post may be the most productive thing I do.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.

Mass Murder Averted

Today we went shopping in North Van. We often go to Park Royal because it has the stores we like and there are less people. The mall today was fine, but since I was out late last night, my energy levels were low to begin with. I ended up taking a nap in the car while everyone else continued their shopping. I did score a cool pair of sandals for this summer (Yay cool feet).

But then came Wal-Mart.

I am a very patient person, but when I'm tired and hungry, watch out.

Lucky for most, I express frustration through humor. For example: While we were circling the parking lot in search for a spot, some jackass behind me honked because I failed to mow down pedestrians. I responded by driving even slower, letting two other cars turn, and when he tried to pass me I blocked him and drove ahead. Everyone in our car was laughing while I could see Mr. Impatient fuming in my rear view mirror. Honk at me in a busy paring lot? Jackass.

Wal-Mart was a zoo as usual inside. Chris and I were not looking for anything in particular, so we decided to wander while Sarah and Justine shopped. We just wandered aimlessly and looked at stuff. I like stuff. We drooled over some large flat screen TVs (clean up in electronics).

I finally succumbed to my hunger and stopped in the McDonald's for a snack. Big mistake.

I find that most McDonald's employees are sufficiently competent, and I know how shitty it is to work an entry level job for minimum wage. So I am often forgiving or at least I don't set my expectations too high. But the woman that took my order was about as useful and intelligent as a bag of hair. I can't even describe how she screwed up, because it didn't make any sense. All I could say to her was "standing there with your hand in the air is probably not going to work". All I had ordered was one of the new Mac Snack Wraps. This is probably not the best name to give a new item when a large percentage of your employees have a limited grasp on English as it is. For such a simple order, it took forever. Then when I sat down to eat it, I discovered that they had gave me a grilled chicken wrap by mistake. Simple mistake I guess, because both items have the word wrap. I was too pissed to even deal with it and ate the chicken wrap anyway.

We wandered Wal-Mart for a while longer, and reunited with Sarah and Justine. As we approached the checkout hell I had reached my limit and just left for the car. I had the feeling that if I had waited in the checkout queue I would very likely kill an inept Wal-mart employee or two, and several innocent bystanders in the aftermath. 

The peace and tranquility of my car was instantly soothing. I waited patiently for Sarah, Justine and Chris to make their way through the checkout, drove over to the exit to pick them up with their purchases, and happily headed home for the day.

Gee, that sure looks like a.....

I often lament to myself that I rarely have things happen throughout my day that I can post about. Mainly it's due to the fact that I'm not allowed to talk about the kids I work with due to strict confidentiality laws. And since a large part of my day is spent working, that leaves less time in which post worthy things can happen.

But something happened today that was to hilarious not to share. And leaving the kid's name out will not detract from the story what so ever. Therefore it won't break the confidentiality laws.

Oh and for those of you that don't know, I am a Youth Support Worker. I spend one to one time with foster kids doing various activities and helping the youth achieve goals.

So today I was out with one of the boys I work with. We had a bit of time to kill and it was a beautiful day so we decided to go for a walk. I can't say exactly what town we were in (rules) but lets just say it is part of the Tri-Cities. So we were walking along a suburban neighbourhood street, just talking about stuff, when I noticed something in the gutter just ahead of us. At first I thought it was one of those things that when viewed from an angle looked like something else but when you get a closer look it turns out to be trash. And my first thought was so absurd that I hoped it was trash. But as we got closer it didn't transform when viewed from a different angle. It became clear that it was in fact what I thought it looked like.

I stopped dead in my tracks and started laughing. The kid I was with hadn't noticed it and turned to see what I was laughing about. He is a 15 year old boy that is well aware of the world around him, so he knew what it was right away, and started laughing as well.

Sitting in the gutter on a quiet suburban street was a two foot long, black, double ended DILDO.

Can I trade it in for a new model?

I am sore. My joints hurt. My muscles ache. I am falling apart.

All because I was a little more active the last couple of days than I have been in a while. 

I hate getting older. 

Yes, I know I'm not that old in the big picture. But if this is what it's like now.....Gaahh!

I should start saving for a motorized chair now, so when I need one I can get the deluxe model.

Do do do doot do do do dooooo

 My last few posts have been long ones.

Today's post will not.

That is all. 

Is that laptop breathing?

I have always been a fan of computers and the wonderful things you can do with them. And when the Internet became a household figure like the TV and telephone I was really excited. I have always had a knack for using things with buttons. What surprised me though was my lack of drive to become a computer addict. I spent all of my teen years without my own computer. I would often dream of the system I would one day own. The first computer that I had was given to Sarah and I when we moved into our first apartment. I took to it well, and had a lot of fun with it, but I never did much more than surf the net, download MP3s and play a few games. I found that I would grow bored very quickly, so I never developed as anything more than a casual user. It stayed that way for many years. I could never afford much in the way of upgrades, but I did manage to keep our original PC running smoothly for over 6 years. In fact it still works, but it currently gathers dust in my basement. I purchased a new PC a few years ago. It was pretty fast, but I didn't shell out the big bucks for a state of the art machine. It did have an LCD screen, and a DVD burner. Those were huge upgrades from my old beast. So with that I increased from casual user to casual pirate. I didn't go so far to make copies and sell stuff. I just found ways to have games and movies for next to nothing. Once again I found myself barely scratching the surface of what was possible with a decent PC. I did dabble in more activities, such as DVD burning, and digital art. I even got a cool stylus so I could draw using photoshop and illustrator. But once again my short attention span got the better of me. The programs were too complex to just sit down and draw they way I can with pencils and paper without taking the time to learn all the functions. I have tons of resources and tutorials. I plan to get to them one day.

Then one day our PC got a nasty virus that I could not remove. The only solution is to back up data files and then format the hard drive and reinstall the OS. My problem was that I don't have an external hard drive, and burning 150 gigs of data to DVD is far to time consuming. Since the virus only targets online activities, and Sarah had a nice new laptop to surf the net, I gave up on fixing the PC and was content on minimizing my usage. That was the way it stayed for quite some time. 

Then I got my own laptop.

It changed everything. I now have a blog. I keep up to date on my email and facebook page. I am using twitter, and RSS feeds. I log into the remote desktop for my office to log case files. I am finding new things to do with my laptop almost every day. I even take it with me when I leave the house. I am quickly becoming the computer addict I had always envisioned as a youth. Soon I will be loading Adobe CS3 into it so I can finally start making the digital art I have always wanted to create. I am even beginning to use the built in web cam. I am becoming so attached to this laptop, that I have to remind myself that I can remember a life without it. I am sure that I will find a happy balance between being a computer geek and a functioning member of society. As long as can stay off War Craft.

As the world turns

I am starting a new project. It is not an original Idea, but one I have wanted to do for some time. The reason I started it today is due to my freshly shorn face. I have sported a full, and often bushy, beard for the last couple of years. I like having a beard (most of the time) and will be regrowing it. I started fresh today because I wanted an official playoff beard. I am what you would call a part-time hockey fan. I don't watch games religiously, but I do keep a finger to the pulse of our local team (more now than ever due to Chris and Justine). I feel that I am more than a band wagon jumper. I don't just watch the playoffs. So now that the Canucks are done regular season play and are entering the playoffs, I wanted to start a brand new playoff beard.

So the fresh face has prompted me to start a daily photo log that I will string together after I feel enough time has passed. Like I said, it has been done, many times. And now I want to do it too. 

This is the starting point.

April 13th, 2009. 

I am looking forward to seeing my beard grow in time lapse. Once I feel enough time has passed, I will make a video and post it for all to see. And with the frequency that I get my hair cut, it will be amusing to see it grow as well.

Stay tuned.

Comicon Part Two

Part Two

The convention was amazing, despite the long and bewildering line to get in. It was a lot bigger than last year. I was surprised that the lines to meet the artists were not very long at all. I guess there was more than enough to keep people busy. I did see some huge lines for things that I had no interest in, such as the media celebrities. I sorry, but Will Wheaton is barely a celebrity, let alone one I would wait in line to meet. Ray park was there. He is pretty cool, but again, not someone I would wait in line to meet. Besides, what would I say to Ray Park? Uhh..You were awesome as (insert role here). 

I had done my homework on the official site for the comicon. Or at least I thought I had. I knew that Frank Cho would be there. He is one of my biggest idols, and by far one of the best comic illustrators I have ever seen. It was great to finally meet him, but a little disappointing overall. He was friendly, but not very engaging. There was not a huge line to see him, so I was kind of expecting to get to chat for a few minutes. All I got was a smile and hello, he signed the books I brought, and then I shook his hand. That was all. He didn't even ask my name. Like I said, it was great to meet him. I guess I was expecting more from an Idol.

Now Ben Templesmith was more than I expected. He was one of the few artists I specifically wanted to see. I brought my copy of the first issue of Fell for him to sign. 

Meeting Ben Templesmith was awesome. He was funny and engaging. He asked my name and personalized the signature he gave me. He made me feel appreciated as a fan. He cracked a joke about only having to sign one book instead of the usual stacks that most people bring. It restored my faith as a fanboy. Chris was there with me as well, and Ben drew a quick sketch with his signature. Such a great guy.

I had read the list of artists on the website, but I guess I had missed some names because while we were wandering around the artist alley, I found David Petersen. He is the creator of one of my favorite independent comics.  

Mouse Guard is an amazing fantasy tale about an elite group of mouse warriors. It looks cute at first glance, but it is a deep and gritty story. I was so happy to meet David, and get signed copies of his latest story arc. He was happy to meet a fan, and was pleased to hear that I found his work inspiring. I even got a couple of buttons for my collection. It was a pleasant surprise to meet him.

The other surprise encounter I had was with Dave Kellet. I had met Dave briefly at last year's comicon. He was handing out promotional fliers for his web comic Sheldon. I was taking fliers all day last year, so I didn't give it more than a cursory glance at first. I read the sample strips during the ride home and found them hilarious. That evening I went to the website and instantly fell in love with the characters.  So to see him again this year was much different than our last encounter. This time it was as a true fan. I watched as he sketched a hilarious cartoon of a Borg with a pot belly for a kid and his brother. Then I got to introduce myself and tell him how much I loved his comics. He was very happy to hear that I discovered his work at last year's convention. When I told him that the US postal service owed him a set of buttons he remembered me from the order I had placed last year for a set of Sheldon buttons that he had to re-send after the first set didn't arrive. Dave was selling copies of his books, so I picked up the one I really wanted.

He captures the humor of the breed perfectly. I told him about the two pugs we had when I was a kid. Then Dave sketched and signed a picture of Oso the Pug in the inside of my copy. It was the highlight of my day.  

Sorry for the delay

Part One

Chris, Ryan, Theressa and I went to the 2009 Emerald City Comicon on Saturday. We had the most incredible day. We left Vancouver at 7:00am and headed for the border. We waited in line at the border for almost an hour, despite road signs that stated a 15 to 20 minute wait. That turned out to be one of only two hiccups in our otherwise amazing day. 

None of us had eaten breakfast, and I have a bit of a ritual of stopping at Jack-in-the-box whenever I go to the States. The closest Jack-in-the-box to the border that I knew of was in Bellingham, which is not too far. But I was very happy to find out that they opened a new one just before Blaine. It was only 5 minutes south of the border! That is a dangerous notion considering that my friends and I often get cravings for Jack-in-the-box. And I can drive from my house to the border in about 30 to 40 minutes if traffic is light. My mouth says Yay! My heart screams NO!!! 

So after a grease filled meat and cheese fest, we headed for Seattle. Ryan, Chris and I had great conversations about music and stuff, while Theressa napped the whole way down. We reached Seattle around 10:30am, quickly found a sweet (but creepy) parking spot in the garage under the convention centre, and entered the convention centre where we discovered the most bizarre social experiment I have ever encountered. And I am not talking about the comicon itself. I am speaking of the line to get into the comicon. It was enormous. But the thing that made it strange, was the way they made everyone queue up. The line started in a hall way, then we emerged into a huge glass foyer that overlooked Pike street. The line proceeded to zig-zag back and forth across the whole floor, much like the queue for a roller-coaster. What made it really weird was the lack of dividers. No ropes or queue markers, like at the bank. Just people doing this strange zig-zag shuffle from one end if the room to the other. Slowly progressing line by line across the foyer. It was hilarious. And as expected in a room full of hundreds of nerds, there were witty comments and jokes abound. One guy was miming a glass wall between his line and ours. Others were saying hello to people they passed almost a dozen times. I was bleating like a sheep. Then we made it to the door way that was visible the whole time. At last, an end to this strange dance of dorks...WHAT!? Another room! Yup, two rooms of the zig-zag shuffle. I was surprised that there wasn't a mad dash to the ticket booths. Then I remembered who they were dealing with. These folks were about as likely to riot as they were to win a beauty contest. That being said, you would not want to cut in line. Hell hath no furry like a fan boy scorn.

The line up was strange, but it was a good chance to people watch. There were a lot of humorous costumes, and a myriad of dorks, geeks and losers that made us feel better about ourselves. I know, I know. I was attending the con too. And I will not deny that I am a dork. But come on!

Nerd Fest!!

My friends and I are going to the 2009 Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle tomorrow!!

That is all.

Is it spring yet?

It's the first of April, and it seems that Mother Nature is the real prankster. I woke up this morning to a cold, grey day with rather white looking rain falling...SNOW! It was snowing! Snow! In Vancouver! In April! WTF!!!!

I wouldn't be surprised if I was waking up in Ontario. In fact, I can remember several Easter mornings with more than an inch of snow on the ground. But Vancouver! At least it wasn't sticking to the ground.

I have been on the beach, sunning in shorts and no shirt (sorry for the image) in March. Spring is supposed to start in March here. Not May. 

Snow. Bah.

We are still here!

I had heard a rumor that there was a big scary computer virus that was supposed to cripple the Internet on April 1st. I didn't really look into it to see if it was a real threat or just another prank. April fools day after all. So I just waited to see if the world wide web would come crumbling down around us. I was kinda looking forward to it. Don't get me wrong, I love the Internet and all it has allowed our society to do. It is a very powerful tool and does get put to good use. But it also gets put to use by every aspect of society, which leads to things like sites dedicated to the mundane, the bizarre, and the down right disgusting, and things like widespread devastating computer viruses. So I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen to our society if the web did grind to a halt. Would there be mass chaos and rioting in the streets. Or would we simply revert back to how we did things in the early 90's, before the Internet was a staple in our lives. What would all those losers living in their mother's basement do? My guess is that they would continue their disturbing past times. But they would remain in their dark, musty basements, where they belong. We would also see the end of mindless posts on Facebook and Twitter, or whatever the "social" network flavour of the month is. And let us quickly forget that anyone can create a Blog about the banal existence they call a life. Constantly posting about what they ate for dinner, which movies they saw, and how they are frustrated that all they can post about is that all they post about is not having anything to post.