And Here Are Those Pictures I Promised

Well, I may not be speedy, but I do deliver.... eventually.

I meant to get some pictures up about a week ago but I let it slide and look where we are now.

Anyway, here a few pictures from things I've been doing lately. Enjoy.

In between job searches I been filling my time up with babysitting for my niece and nephew.

A few nights back I had the chance to watch them for the evening while their parents went out looking for a new vehicle (read: bigger kid-transport).

My niece put these fangs on and tried to scare me:

It worked 'really well' as I was certainly terrified and couldn't sleep at all after being frightened by that cute face. (*wink wink*)

On a different day, I watched her brother in the morning.

He hadn't yet had breakfast, so I thought I'd make cinnamon toast for him and see if he liked it.

Trying it out

Seems to be a success!

Other than babysitting, I've also been doing some organizing at a friend's place.

He's been behind in getting his comic books filed and asked if I could come lend a hand while I'm available.

In trade for some of the work, he gave me his older 5.1 surround sound DVD player, since he'd recently upgraded to a newer system. (More on this later)

Also, I get to hang out with his kitties all day while I'm there.

See what rough working conditions I have to deal with?

Wednesday last week, I was running some errands and ended up in Lynnwood.

I stopped by the Comic Stop and later treated myself to some sushi at Sushi Misoya next door to the shop.

This place is tiny, but what they lack in size, they more than make up for in excellent food.

On this trip I had the 'paradise roll' and the 'tarantula roll'.

Absolutely wonderful and the people who run the place are fantastic!

If you like sushi and find yourself in Lynnwood one day, I highly recommend going there to eat.

Their prices are reasonable and their food if well worth it. (They also have non-sushi items on the menu as well, if that's not your "thing")

On Sunday, Hotness and I went to our first opera of the season.

Well, technically it wasn't the "first of the season" but it as OUR first one this season.

We went and saw "La Traviata". (Click the link to find out the synopsis)

It was wonderful. A very tragic opera with a suitably sad ending.

I'm not ashamed to say that I was bit sniffly at the end, but Hotness was definitely teary-eyed.

It was a good thing we'd brought tissues with us!

Here's a shot of the traffic afterwards as everybody was leaving the parking garage.

I took it from the Skybridge.

After that we went to Pomodoro for a bit to eat.

The two of us haven't been there together since I'd proposed to Hotness... 7 months ago!

Oh, it was so good and we'd missed coming there. The food was splendid (as usual) and we got to see our favorite waitress (who missed seeing us as well!).

We had our usual: calamari, halibut ceviche, as well as the Penne alla Vodka which we shared.

(Mmmm... calamari!)

I am so looking forward to our next opera, "Il Trovatore". It has treachery, deceit, political intrigue, attempted murder, kidnapping... and gypsies!

It also happens to be right around my birthday, so it's a double treat. (Guess we'll have to celebrate at Pomodoro again!)

That's most of what's been happening lately.

I probably forgot a few things, but I can't give away EVERYTHING.

I'll try to get back to this again soon, so stay tuned.

Greetings From The "Other" West

Just a brief post to fill you all in on what's been happening.

Tuesday: flew out in the late afternoon with Technogreek from Sea-Tac headed for Calgary.
The flight went fine until closer to the Calgary airport. We hit some turbulence and I started getting queasy.
Made it off the plane and after a few hours of feeling nauseous, I started to feel better. Slept well and woke up the next day feeling much better.

Wednesday: A whole lot of nothin', really.
There were incidental things to do, but not a lot. Ate breakfast around noon. Ran some errands.
Looked over the convention schedule and made changes. That kind of stuff.

Thursday: Busier day. The rest of the Seattle crew came into Calgary around 1:30 p.m.
We all started stuffing badges, mounting signs, organizing exhibitor packets, framing art (for the art auction), etc....
That night we all went out to dinner at a steak restaurant. Yummy meat! I also had a pomegranate mojito. Woo!
Got back to the house (not staying at the hotel yet) around 2:00 a.m. Yikes!
Oh! Did I mention we had dinner with James Kyson Lee? Yeah. We did. He's a nice guy. Kind of "struts" as he walks. It's funny to watch.

Today: packed up my stuff as I am actually checking into the hotel today.
I'm also spending the day in the hotel lobby greeting guests (Oh.. like Jewel Staite, Terry Moore, Margot Kidder, Bruce Timm..... expecting to meet about 100 different guests as they check in)
I've got to give them their badges and program guide for the show.
I also have to get to a bank before they show up, as I'm starting to run out of my Canadian money I brought with me. I need to exchange the rest of my American cash.
On a side note; also hoping to hit a Tim Horton's this morning as well.

Anyway, I gotta wrap this up. Heading out to the hotel in a few minutes and I gotta give this laptop back to it's rightful owner.
I'll update again if time permits.

Convention Time - Seattle Version

Well, this is it.
It's time once again for the Emerald City Comic Convention.

I'll be volunteering at the show, as will Hotness, so I'll be "off-the-grid" for the next few days.

Look for my report of the show, complete with pictures and hopefully a bunch of new art next week after I recover.

If you're coming out to the show, make sure to say "hi"when you're there.

Be back soon!......

Happy Valentine's Day

Typically I don't really get to excited about Valentine's Day.
I don't really like the way it's presented as the one holiday where guys can try and not screw up by doing something nice for their 'special someone' this one day out of the year.

But this year I actually had made plans and was going to do something special for Hotness.
That is... until she had to leave town this week.

Her mom's health is taking a turn for the worse, so Hotness and her brother took of for Montana yesterday to spend time with her.
That leaves me at home with the cat on Valentine's. Not quite the romantic scenario I was looking for.

In the meantime, here is a "How To Survive Valentine's Day Alone" video for all you single people out there:

Real Life Heroes

".... We were also doing something because we believed in it.We were attempting, through our personal efforts, to make our country a safer and better place to live in. Individually, working on our separate patches of turf, we did too much good in our respective communities to be written off as a mere aberration, whether social or sexual or psychological."
~ from WATCHMEN, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

======================================================

I've recently begun re-reading "Watchmen" again in preparation for the movie release in just a few short months. It's a lengthy read and I want to be sure to have plenty of time to soak it all in before I see it on the big screen and hopefully not get disappointed.

But shortly before I pulled it off of the bookshelf, I had just finished reading an article in Rolling Stone magazine about real life superheroes that are popping up all over the planet fighting crime in their own individual way.

When I started reading the article, all I could think of was shades of "Mystery Men", where kooks and freaks of all sorts were purporting to have powers and be superheroes.


But although that appears to be the case on the surface, when you scratch a little deeper you find out that these guys (and gals) are committed to their duties and really are trying to make a difference and improve their communities. They aren't just attention whores looking for an endorsement (although some might actually seem like that).

A friend at work emailed me a video that was broadcast just today regarding an interview with "Razorhawk" who fights crime in Minneapolis.

Part of me wants to laugh out loud that people are dressing up in costume and running around "fighting crime"... but then what exactly am I doing when I get off work to make my neighborhood and town a safer place? Sitting on my fat ass blogging?
And besides, this is coming from somebody who still gets giddy when the comic book convention comes to town so who am I to judge?

These folks are organized (sort of) and they are taking matters into their own hands to effect the change they want to see in the world.
Whether it's stopping a robbery, handing out clean socks and clothes to the homeless, or guiding wayward drunken lasses from the clutches of nefarious men... they are helping people.
As "Razorhawk" says in the interview, "The costume helps to inspire people", but we can all try to do better with or without a costume.
(and maybe in the process we can let these ass-monkeys fade away into obscurity)

The term "hero" gets used way too often nowadays. Practically anybody who breathes air can get labeled a 'hero' just for standing at the right place at the right time... whether they actually did anything or not.
I don't know any of these costumed crime-fighters personally, and I'm a bit reluctant to call somebody a hero just for doing a good deed (like collecting food for a local foodbank) or their civic duty (like filling out an accident report). But they are inspiring and setting an example of what we can accomplish if we try.


2009 is almost here.
Maybe being a "Real Life Superhero" isn't my cup of tea, but I'm certainly looking forward to trying to do and be better.

Adopt A Bunny

This economic crunch is really affecting all levels of society in our country.
No one is immune (except for maybe those that caused it in the first place).

Case in point:
83-year old Hugh Hefner has to lay off staff of his multi-million dollar empire as it struggles to cope during the global economic turmoil or face bankruptcy.
Hefner has already said he won't be throwing any more wild parties in an effort to cut down on costs, but now the famed bunnies will soon be looking for new homes.

So, with many of them needing a place to stay I propose an Adopt-A-Bunny plan to keep them from wandering the streets.

Who's willing to help out?

A Downright Shame

Thanks to Geeked who I just found out about this from.

I'm merely re-posting information from another site, as I have a few (yeah, I know you're out there!) readers who come from more than my comic circle of friends and this type of information NEEDS to be presented to everyone so that it can be stopped.

There is no place for sexual or verbal harrassment anywhere at anytime. Period.
____________________________________________________________
From John at "Bully Says":

Overheard at San Diego Comic-Con while I was having lunch on the balcony of the Convention Center on Sunday July 27: a bunch of guys looking at the digital photos on the camera of another, while he narrated: "These were the Ghostbusters girls. That one, I grabbed her ass, 'cause I wanted to see what her reaction was." This was only one example of several instances of harassment, stalking or assault that I saw at San Diego this time.

1. One of my friends was working at a con booth selling books. She was stalked by a man who came to her booth several times, pestering her to get together for a date that night. One of her co-workers chased him off the final time.

2. On Friday, just before the show closed, this same woman was closing up her tables when a group of four men came to her booth, started taking photographs of her, telling her she was the "prettiest girl at the con." They they entered the booth, started hugging and kissing her and taking photographs of themselves doing so. She was confused and scared, but they left quickly after doing that.

3. Another friend of mine, a woman running her own booth: on Friday a man came to her booth and openly criticized her drawing ability and sense of design. Reports from others in the same section of the floor confirmed he'd targeted several women with the same sort of abuse and criticism.

Quite simply, this behavior has got to stop at Comic-Con. It should never be a sort of place where anyone, man or woman, feels unsafe or attacked either verbally or physically in any shape or form. There are those, sadly, who get off on this sort of behavior and assault, whether it's to professional booth models, cosplayers or costumed women, or women who are just there to work. This is not acceptable behavior under any circumstance, no matter what you look like or how you're dressed, whether you are in a Princess Leia slave girl outfit or business casual for running your booth.

On Saturday, the day after the second event I described above, I pulled out my convention book to investigate what you can do and who you can speak to after such an occurrence. On page two of the book there is a large grey box outlining "Convention Policies," which contain rules against smoking, live animals, wheeled handcarts, recording at video presentations, drawing or aiming your replica weapon, and giving your badge to others. There is nothing about attendee-to-attendee personal behavior.

Page three of the book contains a "Where Is It?" guide to specific Comic-Con events and services. There's no general information room or desk listed, nor is there a contact location for security, so I go to the Guest Relations Desk. I speak to a volunteer manning the desk; she's sympathetic to the situation but who doesn't have a clear answer to my question: "What's Comic-Con's policy and method of dealing with complaints about harassment?" She directs me to the nearest security guard, who is also sympathetic listening to my reports, but short of the women wanting to report the incidents with the names of their harassers, there's little that can be done.

"I understand that," I tell them both, "but what I'm asking is more hypothetical and informational: if there is a set Comic-Con policy on harassment and physical and verbal abuse on Con attendees and exhibitors, and if so, what's the specific procedure by which someone should report it, and specifically where should they go?" But this wasn't a question either could answer.

So, according to published con policy, there is no tolerance for smoking, drawn weapons, personal pages or selling bootleg videos on the floor, and these rules are written down in black and white in the con booklet. There is not a word in the written rules about harassment or the like. I would like to see something like "Comic-Con has zero tolerance for harassment or violence against any of our attendees or exhibitors. Please report instances to a security guard or the Con Office in room XXX."

The first step to preventing such harassment is giving its victims the knowledge that they can safely and swiftly report such instances to someone in authority. Having no published guideline, and indeed being unable to give a clear answer to questions about it, gives harassment and violence one more rep-tape loophole to hide behind.

I enjoyed Comic-Con. I'm looking forward to coming back next year. So, in fact, are the two women whose experiences I've retold above. Aside from those instances, they had a good time at the show. But those instances of harassment shouldn't have happened at all, and that they did under no clear-cut instructions about what to do sadly invites the continuation of such behavior, or even worse.

don't understand why there's no such written policy about what is not tolerated and what to do when this happens. Is there anyone at Comic-Con able to explain this? Does a similar written policy exist in the booklets for other conventions (SF, comics or otherwise) that could be used as a model? Can it be adapted or adapted, and enforced, for Comic-Con? As the leading event of the comics and pop culture world, Comic-Con should work to make everyone who attends feel comfortable and safe.
__________________________________________________________


If you go to a convention of any kind and are a victim of harrassment, please report it.
If you witness harrassment, don't stand around like an idiot. Report it.
Unless this is brought to the convention promoter's attention, this type of behavior will continue.
It is unacceptable.

Comments are turned off for this subject.
Actions speak louder than words.

Gas Scam

A few weeks back, Hotness and I were running separate errands and had taken our respective vehicles to go do them and then ended up meeting later in the afternoon.

She needed to fill up her gas tank so I went to the gas station with her and waited. (Actually I bought some candy & beef jerky while I waited... but that's not important).

On the sidewalk, in front of the station, in full view of everybody at the pumps was a guy sitting and holding a sign that said "Need gas. Ran out".
I thought about helping him, as I wasn't actually there to get any for myself, but then I started to think "You know, it's expensive for everybody. Maybe he did run out of gas but what if he's just trying to get a sucker like me to pay for him to drive around?"

I ended up not getting any and as I've driven by that station since then (several times, in fact) I've never noticed him or anybody else again.

So maybe he did need help and I failed to be a nice guy and help a fellow human with with a couple gallons of gas. (I'm a big jerk!)

Or maybe... just maybe.... he was like this guy:
Officer foils Cadillac driver's free gas plan

Not Getting Involved

What ever happened to being a Good Samaritan and helping people out when something happens?

A co-worker just showed me this video (it's a little disturbing but nothing graphic, so it's safe for work) about a guy who gets hit by a car while people just watch or drive by and NOBODY helps him.


Granted there have been studies done on this sort of behavior, but that's not an excuse to let it happen or condone it.
That no one stepped up and tried to at least check on the guy until the cops arrived is just appalling!

You want to think that people are inherently good inside, and then you see something like this.

A Good Cause

I once read or heard somewhere that you should always try to buy lemonade from a kid's sidewalk stand.
It's just a nice thing to do, and it's a simple pleasure to engage in.
The kids make a little change to spend on candy, movies or comic books and it makes you feel good.
Plus it's really tasty if the weather is hot and they make it all nice and cold.
So I tend to try and keep some extra change in my car for just such an occasion when the weather gets nice and the kids are out of school.

One time, I saw some enterprising young lads selling not just coffee, but STARBUCKS coffee at a roadside stand during winter break a few years ago. (No kidding! Their sign said; "Hot, fresh Starbucks coffee. $2.00 a cup")
They were on a corner in a residential neighborhood selling their goods to anybody who was on their way to work, so it was like 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning. Talk about dedication!

Anyway, I saw this story and thought I'd fit it into this post.
A couple of kids are selling lemonade to raise money for surgery for their cat.

I'd totally buy at least a gallon to help them out if they were in my neighborhood.

Oh Canada!

Firstly, I should mention that SOOOO much happened that this post could go on for days.

So in an effort to keep it interesting and short, I'll post the major hilights and some pics but when you see me in person I'll tell you more in-depth stories.

Day 1:

Stayed at George's on Wednesday night so I could catch a ride and carpool with Technogreek, Palindrome, 2.0 and Bogath Thursday morning to the airport.

All went well, and in my usual "Pollyanna" way, I told anybody who'd listen that it was my first time flying to another country and using my first passport, etc. I was excited to say the least.

Here we are on the plane:

and soon after take-off, it was Wii time! Mario Kart-style:

Got to Calgary in the early afternoon, but since we were early there wasn't much to do before the show. So we checked in to our rooms and chillaxed a bit. We hung out in the lobby and met one of the guests, Stephen Silver, and talked with him a while. Technogreek and Bogath had to do a few airport runs so 2.0, Palindrome, Stephen and myself went out to downtown Calgary to see a movie.

On the way to the theater, I tried to locate a hat to keep my bald noggin warm. The temps were just above freezing and I didn't bring one with me. I learned my first Canadian word that day: Tuque. I went into a couple of sporting goods stores and asked for a stocking cap, to which their first response was "You want a what?". After I explained what I wanted (complete with hand gestures) they said, "Oh, you mean a tuque. They're right over here."

Also, while we were on the way to the theater, we met a former Miss Canada who was quite chatty. In fact, I first thought she may have been a prostitute but I kept my mouth shut and didn't ask. She parted ways into a dept. store and we continued on to the theater.

We watched "In Bruges", which I thought was a fine Indie-foreign film. The ending was a bit peculiar, as the screen faded to black right before the credits rolled and we all thought it was part of the cinematographry and made for a unique finish... except that wasn't the case.

The bulb just happened to burn out at that time.

Back at the hotel, we got some of the posters and banners for the show delivered to our room which needed to be mounted. So we did that until late in the evening and that was pretty much our day.

Day 2:

Friday was spent mostly at the covnetion center getting things put up and in the right places.

There was a reason the five of us were brought up to Calgary to help out. While several volunteers showed up that day, it seemed like there were too many bodies without much work getting accomplished.

I helped in registration for a bit, until I was able to pass that duty off to somebody else.

Palindrome and Bogath worked with the crew that was setting up the booth dividers. (Making sure they were spaced properly and in the right places) This seemed to take ALL day, as requests that were made early in the day were still not finished after 4-5 hours later.

So myself and 2.0 took it upon ourselves to "help" them along, and proceeded to do their work for them when they weren't looking. In fact, one thing that needed to be accomplished (install a pole with a curtain against the far wall) took the two of us less than 30 seconds to finish, but we had been waiting for over 4 hours for it to happen.

From there we made adjustments to booths when asked, instead of waiting for the work crew to do it. We would tell whoever requested something, "Go take a walk for about 5 minutes. When you get back, it'll be done but I can't tell you how it happened." So with a nod and a knowing wink, they left while we performed our ninja booth set-up techniques.

This went on for most of the day until we were called to join in the dinner with the guests before the show.

We took off and went to the hotel where we waited for vehicles to arrive and cart everyone off to eat.

I spoke with Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Bill Willingham. I also re-introduced myself to Jim Mahfood, Josh Middleton and a many others whom I've met before.

It took a while for everyone to get shuttled to the dinner, and near the end I noticed George Takei and his partner Brad coming out of the lounge. I didn't know if they knew about the dinner, so I went to introduce myself as a volunteer and invite them to join us.

I spoke to Brad first, as George was signing an autograph at that time.

All was going well. Brad said they had a pretty stressful day and wanted to be well-rested before the convention, so they were going to stay in their room rather than go to the dinner. About that time, George turned to us and said (in my best Mr. Sulu impersonation) "What is going tonight? What are we missing?"

I lost it right there. My jaw dropped open and all I could say was "I.. uh.. I.. er.....".

After a few seconds of acting like an gibbering idiot, I apologized and George laughed a bit .

They went on to their room and I joined the dinner caravan.

Dinner was at Coco Brooks and was very informal. Just a chance to meet everyone and have a good time before the show started the next day.

There was still much to do at the convention center, so we went there after dinner and continued to work until around midnight.

On our way back to the hotel for the evening I got attacked by a zombie at the convention center.

Coming up... The Calgary Expo

Personal Shopper ver. 2.0

It's starting to become a habit now.

I spent the earlier part of the day Saturday helping one of Hotness's co-workers put together some "business casual" outfits.

To make a longer story short, he just didn't have an eye for matching things up properly.

WTF? Are you an Easter egg? -->

So when he & the boss were to make some sales calls recently, he put together an outfit that made his boss cringe and send him back home to change.

<-- vertical stripes + diagonal stripes = NO!

I offered to go shopping with him and help him pick out some things that he could wear to the office, to a sales meeting, and just casually out for an evening.

He ended up getting 5 pairs of Dockers and 6 or 7 solid color shirts along with a few ties and a reversible belt.

Enough to mix-and-match and have a different outfit for work every day for 3 weeks.

He'll be presentable for the company. His boss'll be happy. His wife will be happy.

It's an all-around win/win situation.

After shopping, he treated for lunch (Hotness joined us) and we went to The Cheesecake Factory near the mall. I had some incredible Tex-Mex spring rolls. Just a tad spicy and served with some pico-de-gallo and an avocado sauce on the side. And a Patron el Diablo (Patron silver tequila, Cointreau, pomogranate and grapefruit juices).... Ka-pow!

After eating, I took a couple of the shirts and ties and paired them up with some pants and folded them together. I told him, "Wear these for starters and when we get a chance we'll come take pictures of what can be mixed so you'll have a visual reference to use later."

We all had a good time and he seemed very happy to have gotten some outfits that go well together.

I'm kinda digging this personal shopping thing.

I've been doing it for Hotness for a while. She hates to shop and try on clothes, so on several occasions I've just done it for her. I know her sizes and I pretty much know where things will fall into place on her so I just start picking up stuff that looks good and it usually works perfectly.

I'd say I have a 90% success rate when it comes to picking out stuff she can wear.

I'll have to get cards made up that say "Dr. Ferretnick - Retail Therapist".

But this wasn't everything we did that day. More soon!

Personal Shopper

Today went okay for the most part... until my boss left me hanging out to dry with a customer.
Yeah, good times at the office.

Aside from that, I met up with Senor Mysterioso himself... G-rod.
We drove up to the Comic Stop to get, what else? Comics. (if you were going to say "crack" you'd almost be correct)
Saw Technogreek and caught up on the latest, then went over to the mall to pay a bill and spend more money.

G & I went to Macy's so I could make a payment on my credit card and while we were there I wanted to look at a few new dress shirts and ties.
I should mention that my New Year's resolution to wear a tie at least once a week is still going strong. I was wearing one today, along with a nice dark blue shirt and black slacks.
I was looking sharp, if I might say.

So I'm standing there. Mixing and matching up ties and shirts and getting G's opinion when a woman came up to me and asked if I worked there.
I told her I didn't and she apologized.
She said, "I'm sorry to bother you. You just seemed to know what you were talking about and I thought you might be able to help me."
I told her if she had a question it would be no trouble to ask me. I might actually have an answer for her or could find someone who did. All I was doing was killing some time shopping.
She explained that she and her fiance were about to get married and she was looking for a particular type of shirt / pants / tie combination for him to wear.
The shirt she wanted to get needed to have French cuffs, but there weren't any to be found at Macy's in the style she was looking for.
I suggested she try Nordstrom's, and she said, "Yeah, they have them there. But with the pants, tie and vest it's over $400. I just can't afford that much."

I told her that if it were me, I would piece a few separate items together into one nice, whole outfit. Maybe get the shirt at Nordstrom's if they had what she wanted and find the pants, etc. elsewhwere. This seemed like a good idea to her also, so we went off to look for a pair of pants.

Shortly after that, I got a call from my buddy Dug who I'd been trying to contact before this Friday. (I'm off early, and we talked about meeting for lunch if that ever happened)
I turned around to see that the woman was back with a something in her arm and waiting to ask me another question. I got off the phone and she asked if I would mind looking to see if the pants she'd found would go with the vest she was holding.
The pants were black with a very fine, thin pinstripe but the vest was a solid black.
As she was holding them together, I just looked at it and my face kinda scrunched-up.
"It doesn't look right, does it?" she asked. "Mmmm... not really," I said.
She had mentioned that her husband worked in construction so I suggested that perhaps he would feel a bit overly-dressed by having a vest, since he's probably never dressed up like this before. He might be more comfortable in just the pants and a nice shirt and tie. She thought about it for a moment and said, "Yeah, I think you're right. He might think it's a bit too much."
"Do you think just a shirt and tie would be okay with these pants for him?" she asked.
I said based on what she'd told me about him, I thought he'd be more comfortable and still look very dapper if she went with that ensemble.

We went and looked at a few ties, and I found one that had a woven paisley print in black. When you moved, it caught the light just right and had a slight eggplant color to it (which happened to match the color in the trim of her dress).
She loved it and thanked me for being such a help.
I said it was no trouble at all and I'm glad I could offer assistance. Then I wished her congratulations and good luck for her wedding.

I also picked up a few more ties and even a nice, new copper-bottomed sauce pan to use in the kitchen. (They were having a really good clearance sale!)

When G and I were finished we took off to get my car so we could each head home.

Now I'm home and trying to wind down from the day's events.
We'll see what tomorrow brings....

Hannukah Ham, Anyone?

Mmm-mmm! Yummy!

Nothing goes better with meals during the Festival of Lights than good old-fashioned pork!

Or... at least that's what somebody thought when they put signs up at a grocery store in Greenwich Village to let people know their hams were on sale.

Manhattan novelist, Nancy Shapiro, noticed the sale and took pictures to post on her blog.

Shortly afterwards, the signs were taken down.

-----------------------------------

In unrelated news:

The holidays are an awkward time to breakup with somebody but if you're planning to become a 'free-agent', here's how you can dump your honey at holiday time.

I'm here to help.

World Aids Day

I was going to post much earlier today, but I got side-tracked and it just never happened.

I woke up this morning to a nice layer of freshly fallen snow, so I decided I'd better get the snow tires on the car before I got in a jam without them.
But before that, I had to refill the bird feeders. (The little critters barely waited long enough for me to hang them back up in the trees before descending upon them and emptying them out again. Ungrateful little things.)
No sooner had I gotten the tires on the car when our new mattress was delivered for our new bed.
Then I was free for the rest of the day, so I met up with G-rod to have lunch and hear about his T-day vacation in Mexico.

It was a clear and blue sky when I left the house, but we had just sat down to have lunch when I looked outside it had started snowing. Like crazy!
People all started getting panicky, so the parking lot was a mess while a mass exodus took place to get out and get home.
Here's G & me outside after our lunch:


We were going to check out a holiday art & craft sale, but I forgot where it was and the weather was getting worse, so we called it a day and headed our separate ways.

I was glad I had put on the snow tires earlier. My drive back was pretty slippery and more than one time I slid while driving. Nothing major, but still it was kind of scary to not be in control for a second or two.

This is what to road looked like right before the turn to go up the hill (small mountain, more like) to our house:



At the bottom of the hill, my neighbor was getting out of his truck and preparing to walk the mile trek (UPHILL!) in the snow because his truck just couldn't make it.
He saw me and gave the 'hitch-hiker' thumbs-up sign.
So I picked him and drove him home.
He was kidding about me giving him a ride, 'cause he said, "Your car will make it up this hill with the snow? My truck just kept sliding until I was sideways. I finally gave up and decided to walk."

My car has never let me down yet, and today was another win for the "Battle up Snowy Hill".
I dropped him off at the end of his driveway and came into the nice warm house.

Now Hotness is folding clothes and I'm blogging.
Not a very exciting life, but we can't always be the social butterflies we're known for.
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Today is (or was, anyway) World Aids Day.

Not much of a holiday to celebrate. Cases in the U.S. have risen recently, so something is obviously not working or people are just getting reckless again.

I fail to see the logic of people who think that those who get it certainly deserve it.

Does a child who gets it from an infected mother during pregnancy deserve it? What if that mother got it from being raped by an infected assailant?

How do either of those cases make it a "disease for fags"?

I've known a few people with AIDS, both gay and straight, and I wouldn't wish it anyone.

Yes, maybe they should've taken better precautions instead of thinking "Oh it won't happen to me. I'm always careful", but still.

Be informed.

Be careful.

Be compassionate and help those who have to live with this disease.

DVD Delivery & Birthday Party

Saturday morning, I got up and got stuff together to head over to my aunt's aptartment.
I promised her I'd get her a DVD player when I got paid this last time, so I was going over to hook it up and drop off some movies for her to watch.

I took the back roads getting to her place, and went by the property my grandparents used to own when I lived with them in High School.
That area has sure changed!

It took a little over an hour to drive to her place, so I picked up some lunch for both of us before I got there.
After we ate, I opened up the box for the DVD player and started hooking everything up.
Now let me just say this, it wouldn't be a big deal for most people to have to talk about this, but nothing is ever as easy as I'd like it to be.
My aunt's TV didn't have any REGULAR inputs for video and all that.
All she had on the back of the TV was a single coaxial input. Very Old-Skool!
I had to also get a phono-to-coax converter to get it all to work right.

I plugged the phono plugs into their respective places, attached the coax cable from the wall to the converter and then.... found out that the coax cable from the converter was a "screw-on" type but the coax input on the DVD player was a "push-on" type. WTF?!?
So I had to run to Radio Shack and pick up an adapter. A 15 minute drive there & back for a $1.99 part.
Except when I got back, I got the wrong adapter.
I needed a 'screw-on coax-to-phono" adapter.
So back in the car to Radio Shack again.

Luckily I was able to exchange the part without having to shell-out another 2 bucks.

I got back again, and then discovered that.... ta-da!... I was trying to plug the DVD player back onto itself.
I really didn't need that adapter at all.
2 trips to Radio Shack and $2 dollars spent on a part I didn't need in the first place.
Oh well, I finished plugging it all together and then tried out a couple of videos to make sure it worked, which it did, and then I left.
Success!
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I beat feet back home to take a shower and get ready to go to Puyallup for a friend's birthday party later that evening.
Hotness drove (Thank goodness!) and we got there in plenty of time.

It was sort of a birthday / new job celebration for him, as he has just recently started a new job as a financial consultant for an International firm.

We ate lots of great food that his wife put together, played some Nintendo Wii, and just hung-out for the evening.

We weren't keeping track of the time, and so it was around.... yup, you guessed it... after midnight before we left to go back home.
I think my life is becoming a Judas Priest song!

Since his birthday wasn't officially until Sunday, we were there long enough to be there when it became his actual B-day.

So.... Happy Birthday Joe and congratulations on the new job!

Make A Difference

I was just wasting some time while it's slow during the afternoon at work.
I found out that REI has a link on their website to help you find an organization to offer your time as a volunteer.

I did a quick search and found over 200 ways to volunteer my time within 20 miles of my home. (Imagine if I were willing to go a little further)
Heck, I found out I could spend an afternoon or evening hiding so that a Search & Rescue dog could find me as part of it's training. That sounds like fun!

Anyway, if you've been thinking of helping out, but don't know where to go or what you might be interested in, check it out.
It's Nation-wide, so you're not limited to finding something in Washington State only.