Another day. Another shirt.

Another submission to Threadless.com. Hooray!



Go Vote!

Threadless Submissions

Hey, check out my Threadless.com submissions. Maybe if these get enough votes to become a shirt, the choice between 1 and 2 can be made on purchase. And that would be cool.

One Month

Did anyone miss me? Doubt it. Not exactly the place where people see this and say, "M@, where the hell have you been?" So what have I been up to? A lot. I turned 25. My girlfriend broke up with me. Ouch but I'm doing better. Thanksgiving with the folks and back to work. Life goes on as usual. Here something cool though.


Threadless.com I've bought shirts here before but yesterday I joined up and submitted a design. Totally sweet one that anyone who happens to read this should check it out and vote for it. Vote for "Love vs. Bananas" not cause I told you to but cause it would be an awesome shirt.

Photoshop Fun

Well this is fun. I found a site with a lot of good tutorials for Web design. www.webdesign.org I’ve mostly been playing with some of the Photoshop tutorials and here are a few samples that I did.

The first two images are sized for dual screen backgrounds.This image was first only the sun. The planets I did after learning the technique.

A nice star background for Spaceman Spiff.

These kinds of dreams

Last night I think I had a dream. I think I had a dream because I’m not sure if I was dreaming or it was actually happening. I hate these kinds of dreams. Like dreaming of falling and you wake on the floor or dreaming of something violent and you wake up kicking or punching at nothing. I really hate the non-extravagant ones that feel so real when you wake you truly believe the events took place.

I once dreamed that I put my wallet in my coat pocket. When I woke and didn’t find my wallet there I tore apart my room only to find it on the dresser where I always leave it. The reason I’m unsure of whether or not last night was a dream is because of what the dream was about- if it was a dream.

Last night I tossed and turned in bed and the clock continued to change from one hour into the next. I recall waking at least once an hour, every hour all night long. I would lay there for a couple of minutes watching the clock change. Then I woke up to my alarm clock going off and I felt rested. In fact, I haven’t had that good of a nights sleep in a while.

Did I dream the events of waking every hour or did it happen? I have no idea. Does it even matter? I hate these kinds of dreams.

a lesser evil production

I have finished the updates for my site. There are now four sections in the Photo Gallery and a few other corrections done through out the site. Check it out at alesserevil.com.

Helpless

Crap, I’ve been ignoring this blog all week. Not that anyone is reading it. I would be surprised if anyone was reading this blog.
On a happier side note: my Web site, alesserevil.com, has been updated.

There are a lot of things in this world that we can control. What we eat, where we shop, how we dress. However, I’ve been feeling less in control lately. This last Thursday, my bike broke. I think it’s been damaged for awhile, it just finally broke. The smallest-rear cog broke and I know it’s been why I haven’t been able to pedal hard lately. No big, my dad came up for the weekend and brought a spare cassette. So he and I fixed it on Saturday afternoon.
That evening I wanted to make something nice for dinner and had originally thought of this kick-ass halibut recipe and I was also going to introduce my dad to my girlfriend (I’m withholding her name, not out of disrespect, but because you probably don’t now her anyway). My roommates had other plans. I’ll admit that they asked me if I wanted to do their plans on another night but I only thought their plan was dinner. It was, in a sense; I just didn’t realize they had invited some other people too.
My dad felt out of place because of the age group and my girlfriend didn’t care for the conversations/entertainment. One of them brought a guitar and impersonated Borat; funny, but not in good company. My girlfriend left early in the evening and my dad took off early the next morning when he woke.
Sunday wasn’t bad for me. I didn’t really do much. However, my girlfriend got into a car accident. She’s OK, but shaken by the experience. She’s been stressed this semester and this just adds to that stress. She has a strong will and is currently burying her emotions in school work. We talked this evening not more then an hour ago and I can’t help but feel completely helpless in the situation. I know things will work out and I know we’ll have good times again.
It’s just hard to see the end of something when you’re in the middle. You know: Helpless.

Off line

It’s amazing how much our lives are dependant on technology. Earlier last week my headache started with our department’s server being hacked. Joy. We couldn’t access half the things we needed and our printer drivers were on the server instead of the individual computers. I was sad to see how slow everything ran without the additional processors the server provided.
This week the Internet went down… and phones. It was a very boring day. Nothing was getting done but most everyone in the office seemed very relaxed. Course when everything finally got fixed, everyone was in a panic to make up the lost time. Why can’t lost time just stay lost?
Instead I have taken hold of this free time to work offline; my resume, the redesign of my Web site and my photography. Wish I had more time to work on these things.

Super Superstition

Friday the 13^th is a good day in my book. While the superstitious and the un-lucky cower in fear, I walk with my head held high. I have luck and it has good days and bad days but today is not a bad luck day for me. I was born on Friday the 13^th. Check it out if you don’t believe me…November 13^th, 1981. Any calendar, that lets you go back 25 years, can show you that day landed on a Friday. I tell people this and I always, ALWAYS, get the same response, “Explains a lot.” Nobody has been able to explain it yet. I find it funny.
Earlier this summer was the infamous date of June 6^th, 2006 or 6/6/06. I honestly thought there would be mass hysteria cause of the whole Millennium thing but nothing happened. That date happens every hundred years and I though people hated that number, sign of the beast and what-have-you, but nothing happened. I’ve seen a lot of news coverage on bad things being blamed on the date on these Friday the 13^ths. All I saw back in June was this report in China (or Korea, can’t remember) about mother’s giving birth on June 6^th, 2006.
Were they concerned? Or worried? Or whatever? No. The nurse being interviewed said mothers were less concerned about that date than other dates of the year. These dates included leap year, Halloween, or All-Saints Day, and the biggest date of concern is, of course, Friday the 13^th.

I should start a support group. Not that we need it.

A sad day

I have met the unhappy iPod icon of doom and am sad for it.

It all started last Wednesday when my iPod screen froze. I pressed buttons, rolled the wheel, even toggled the hold switch; nothing worked. My roommate is a tech guy so I called him up for advice. “Hold the menu and select buttons for 10 seconds and it should reset,” he said and it worked. My iPod was alive again! That only lasted a couple of days.
It froze again Friday afternoon. “Could be serious…but it’s only a little over year old,” I told my self and went home. My iPod is important on the ride home because my mode of transportation is my bike. I bike everywhere when I can even in the winter which, sadly, still hasn’t hit.
It was Saturday morning as I was getting ready to do the dishes when the unhappy icon of doom appeared (I like to zone when I do the dishes). Disappointed but not defeated, I went ahead with the dishes without the music. Afterwards I checked the Web because my iPod (it’s so smart) told me to.
The icon would appear with the support site displayed, http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/, which states…

“In most cases, the sad iPod icon indicates a hardware issue. If you are able to force iPod into Disk Mode, then it may not be a hardware issue, and you should try to restore your iPod with the latest software.”

…I could not force iPod into disk mode…

“If you cannot force your iPod into disk mode and restore it, then your iPod is in need of service, set up an iPod Service Request or visit your local Apple Retail Store.”

So I visited the Tech Center on campus where I got the iPod a year ago. I got it on discount when I bought my laptop, Susanne (that’s right, I named her). I told John, the Tec Guy, the problem and he said, “it’s toast,” confirming my fear.
However not all hope is lost; my birthday is in a month!

Thought Brewing

Earlier today a co-worker asked me if I “feel like a cup of coffee?”
I had to think about it for a second. Did I feel like a cup of coffee? Well I don’t know, what does a cup of coffee feel like? Warm, good, uh… caffeinated. That led me to think about what coffee has to go through to become a cup. Beans picked, cleaned and possessed, possibly cooked or conditioned in some sort-of fashion. Packaged and sold to me before I take them home. Ground up then run boiling water over the grounds to make a cup of coffee. Yikes, that’s a horrible thing to ask someone, “Do you feel like a cup of coffee?” I feel sorry for who ever does feel like a cup of coffee.
Of course it was at 8:30 this morning and I had woken up at 6:00 to bike in and take a shower before work started. So I said, “Yes.”

Here's to Thursday

Over the hump but not quite the end; I must say that Thursday is one of the better days of the week. I believe my reasoning is simple enough and now (because I have really nothing else to talk about tonight) I will elaborate.
Monday just sucks. Everyone knows this and everyone probably has similar reasons. Nothing happens on Tuesdays, which leaves it open for recovery of what ever happened on Monday. Wednesday is "Hump Day," I hate that saying but it's true. It’s the middle of the week so your boss humps you for a progress report. Everyone loves Friday to much dismay. The end of the week usually gets reserved for catch-up work, busy-work or frantic get-your-shit-done work.
There is no question; Thursday is a good day. It's a simple law of physics.

My Plan

Remember when you were a kid and you played board games with you parents. If you screwed-up you could beg for a “re-do.” Or you could press the reset button on you Super Nintendo. Now a day we hit Ctrl+Z when there is a mistake. Where’s the one for my Life?

I suppose I don’t really need to reset my life but I do need a change. My current job, my living arrangements, my education and my habits all need an overhaul. The only thing keeping me sane lately is my girlfriend, my photography and my programming hobby.

So this is my plan; I need to find a new job within the university so that I can get paid well and get a tuition waiver. Next find a small efficiency apartment to move into; maybe a cabin. Then get into the software programming masters program so I can a little more out of school. This may take a while since I may not have the proper prerequisites for some of the classes. Either way that’s the plan.

Considering that I’m a self-destructive procrastinator with to much creativity, time and luck on my hands this may take a little while longer.

Another weekend come and gone.

I survived yet another weekend! Take that evil ninja monkey! You’ll have to come up with a better plan than that last one to catch me off guard.

All silliness aside, it was a pretty good weekend. Started off like shit on Friday but had good time on Saturday and Sunday. My mother came up from Anchorage for the weekend though she did arrive Friday evening after I was a few glasses into my bottle of rum. Oh well. She took me and my sister out for breakfast that morning and we all hung out most of the day. I even had my girlfriend over for dinner on Saturday to meet her and it went all right. It was a little strange to go out for breakfast Sunday with her and my sister again with the addition of my girlfriend.

But it’s Monday now and I’m back in my cubical doing what I usually do. Check my email, read some news and when I finally get bored with all that; I find out what’s going on for the rest of the week. Horary for the circle of cubical life.

Never Thought

Here I am at 4:25 a.m. Saturday morning... awake. Not sure what woke me but whatever it was I can't seem to fall back asleep. Was it my roommates coming home late from a night at the pub? Was it because of the quarter bottle of Morgans (rum, for those who don't know) that I polished off? Was it the shity day I had yesterday afternoon that lead to the bottle and then the early bed time? Yeah, that could be it.
Never was much of a sleeper. Eight hours and I wake up like an alarm was going in my head. Wouldn't matter if I was exhausted or didn't have any reason to get up the next morning; 8 hours. Sometimes it's great to know that I'll wake up on time but it can be a curse too. Ever have one of those mornings where you don't have anything to do so you roll over and sleep a few extra hours then wake up feeling that much better? Not me; I just lay there staring at nothing until I get so bored I have to get up and do something.
It's 4:38 now. I think I went to bed around 8 so I may be up for awhile still. Damn. I may fall asleep again in a few hours... I hope.

Change

Check out the insanity that is me! I decided earlier that the template wasn’t exactly me; so I changed it. MUHAHA!!

Nothing too terribly fancy; a few color changes, different font, a graphic for a title, you know the usual stuff. Now I just need to figure out where to put this logo thingy. ...hmmm...

To Pat

This is easy to set up and easy to use. My suggestion is that, as an office, we recommend using this as a means of posting important information. Kind of the same thing I wanted to see the governance web pages do anyways. The same way Jeff Stepp is using his. Instead of people reading through minutes... select a few important things that may be of interest.

What we can do is set this up as an office blog where you, Jodi, the new coordinator or even my position can have access. What's really nice is that it's all editable and you can have multiple blogs under one account; i.e. one for each governance group.

And you don't need an account to view this!

Some thing new

OK…so this is blogging.

I suppose the only real reason I set this up is do to my current job. My boss is being asked to set something similar up for the departments and asked me to check out what was out there. MySpace and Facebook seemed like good enough options until I found a few articles on their comparison. MySpace would seem unprofessional and Facebook was too selective. Not only that but you have to be a member of those sites to even see any of the stuff on there. Besides, all we needed was the blogging ability. So that settled my decision on Blogger.com.
Let's see what happens from here...

The photos bellow were attached on 9-10-2007 for use for this blog.