MyGeekLife

I have a million things I should probably write about. However things are crazy as always, so I dont always get the chance to organize them into a post. Shit, I still need to finish my post about Pookie coming to visit, what almost 6 months ago? Jebus. At the same time, things are crazy as always at CENSORED. I’m now getting home well close to midnight, which means I usually go straight to bed. Some mornings, I have time to do things, others, I dont. It depends on what day of the week it is. Most directly, its really affecting my Tiki Bar schedule. Combine into that the fact that it looks like I may have a little bit of travel coming up, Portland is finally getting some hot summer days, and oh yes, I’m for some insane reason looking into buying a house, and well, there’s just not enough hours in the day.

But I did have time to fuck with the theme of my blog… Go figure. I was initially happy with the previous theme, and I liked all it could do. And then I got tired of it again, like I always do. Its a perpetual cycle. So I found this one, and customized it a bit. The Missus™ likes this pic, and its very me, so I chose it for the background. Now, if you’re not reading this directly on MGL, but through ButtBook, or AssJournal, you may want to head to the source, in order to see what I’m talking about.

And on an unrelated note, I would like to say for the record that I am going to miss Benny, Zach, and Adrian on a daily basis. Friends like them are a rare gift. Brent Albrecht too. And his mom. (YEYAH!)

Lets just come out and say it. In the world of digital entertainment, I’m a gamer. I enjoy video games. I always have. Way back in the day when we had shit like Intellivision, and Nintendo’s Game & Watch, I was playing games based on digital content. Over the course of my life, I’ve had:

The original NES, multiple controllers, and hundreds of games

A Sega Saturn, and tons of games

A Playstation, games duh.

Multiple PS2′s

A Sega Dreamcast

An Xbox

An Xbox 360

The original Gameboy

Gameboy color

Gameboy Advance

Sony’s PSP

a Neo-Geo Pocket

And those are the systems I remember putting decent time into. I think I also had a super nintendo, and an N64, somewhere in the mix. And not to put too fine of a point on it, but I also happen to have done my time working for the Electronics Boutique (EBX/EB/EBGAMES/GameStop) during college, in order to put food on the table. Yes, I qualify as a gamer. However, I wouldnt call myself a zealous gamer. Yes, when I worked in game retail, I did my share of midnight launches for consoles and games. It was fun and an adventure. However, I was being paid to be there. Since then, I think I went to one midnight launch. GTA IV. I needed GTA IV. Grand Theft Auto has been a staple of my gaming lexicon for a decade. It was important. Since then, I’ve picked up stuff later on, or through Gamefly. My recent attention getters, Mass Effect 2, and Borderlands, were both from Gamefly. It wasnt until Red Dead Redemption, that I actually hunted down a game on launch day (Thank you Fry’s!)

In the last couple months though, I’ve watched the Missus. She went from casually watching me play, to wanting to watch me play, to being excited to see me move through a game. Then, she decided it was her turn. Being not dumb, I handed her the controller and said, “Okay, so play.” I had no idea what to expect. Maybe she’d like it, maybe she’d have a fleeting fascination with it. Who could have known?

In the beginning, M struggled a bit with controlling a first person shooter. She had trouble with the concept of looking and moving at the same time. But she enjoyed the gameplay and the challenge of it. Over time, she really liked Borderlands. She grew into it, and even co-oped with me in multiplayer. Then she finished the base game by herself. Then she started in on The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned. She kept talking about wanting an Xbox360 of her own. So we found her a good deal. When she opened it up and set it up, configured it, got her an xbox live account, and so on, she was giddy with excitement. When we got her the Borderlands strategy guide, she hugged it as we walked around frys.

Today, we went to GameStop. She traded in two old games, and picked up her own copy of Borderlands, and Lego Indiana Jones. I picked up the component cable for her system, for hi-res graphics. She was awash in video gaming and loving it. She couldnt wait to get home and get it all put together. Once all was said and done, she killed, while I made dinner. Then, we settled in to watch netflix on the Xbox after dinner.

My girlfriend has discovered modern gaming. She likes a first person shooter. She wants to play the Lego games, and she’s voiced an interest in playing Red Dead Redemption. She’s excited by the interactivity, the story lines, and the adventures contained therein. Its a good thing.

I wonder though. Was I ever this excited by video games? Some of my favourites, I played endlessly. But I dont know if I ever got excited. Hellcats Over The Pacific, Sim City 2000, Bushido Blade, Colony Wars, GTA3, The Wip3out series, the Tony Hawk series, Monkey Island, the other lucas arts games. I vested hours, days, weeks, into these games. I enjoyed them greatly. But I dont know if I ever truly got super excited. In a sense, I look back on them in similar fashion to books I’ve read, that I loved. I fondly remember GTA3, with the same affection of William Gibson’s Neuromancer. I think back on the Monkey Island adventures, in the same way I remember Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. I could equate my fond memories of Rudy Rucker’s cyberpunk novels to the same fond memories I have of the original Medal of Honor games. I could even equate my love of Kirkman’s The Walking dead to my continuous enjoyment of the series of WipeOut games over time.

But I cant move to say excitement is the right word. More along the lines of quiet enjoyment. I quietly enjoyed sitting in my chair, playing the game, much like I enjoyed reading the book. Sure, the parallel is a little loose, but in some sense the narratives were there in the games, as much as they were there in the stories. The books created a frame of mind, a mental construct with an emotive content. I can say that the games too have given me that frame of mind, and the mental construct with an emotive content.

As I nurture M’s gaming hobby, I can only hope that she derives the same kind of enjoyment out of the games that I have. Likewise, I can only hope that developers keep putting out games that are as rich and immersive, and pull her in, as the games I’ve played over the years.

Games are good. Gaming is good. And I support the healthy inclusion of video games into human existence. Be them violent, or not.

Yesterday, my relationship hit the 6 month mark. I’ve been with this amazing girl, in a relationship, for half a year now. I’ve known her way longer than that, but still the day bears noting. The picture doesnt do it justice. This smart, funny, talented woman picked me. Mind you she’s wearing my “Lime In The Coconut” shirt, holding a beer, and sitting next to a barbecue grill, but this is indicative of just a few of the things that make her Miss Awesome.

I honestly cant imagine being anywhere else, with anyone else. She makes sense, balances me out, and most importantly, she puts up with me when I’m tired, A.D.D., frustrated, sniffly, surly, and not at my best. She takes me as I am, even when I torment her with Mr. Jinx, the foul mouthed puppet I found at Target.

My amazing girl appreciates the nerd things in life. She appreciates why I enjoy video games, computers, and snowboarding. She understood my sentiment when for Valentines day, I gave her a circuit board heart, that I spent several hours soldering components to, so it would blink when she turned it on. She sees the intrinsic value in a twinkie, and knows why rubber chickens are funny. She road tripped all the way to Seattle with me, so I could go christmas shopping at Archie McPhee, because I love that place. She squeals and shoots back when I attack her with Nerf darts, yet wont walk more than ten feet with me without holding my hand. When I bought a winter coat, she repeatedly mentioned that I was handsome devil, while I struggled to find the words to tell her that I cant take my eyes off her.

As time passes, I lose a little more of my hair, and a little less of my stomach, yet she continues to get prettier. She appreciates my need to sit in front of the computer and read the news and my RSS feeds, and always smiles when I make her coffee, knowing that the only reason I keep a coffee maker and coffee in the house is because its for her. She’s keen on my moods and my nuances, and knows that when I’m having a bad day, surprising me with packets of hard to find kool-aid flavors will cheer me up. She chastises me for wanting that damned Boba Fett hoodie Mark Ecko sells, and then periodically asks me if I’m ever going to get it, because she knows how much I like it. She puts up with me when we go shopping, because I cannot leave a store without checking the toy aisle. She text messages me after work, to wake me up, so I can come downtown and have drinks with friends, because she knows that regardless of how tired I am, I need it, and she’s right. And of course, she almost never fails to be sitting next to me at the Tiki Bar on Fridays.

She professes an enjoyment in watching me play absorbing and sometimes violent video games, and then decides to play them herself. She’s discovered the stress relief of sitting in front of the tv and killing pixels. I let her order first at restaurants, and more often than not, she orders exactly the same thing I was going to order. In the car the other night, we both burped, at exactly the same time, in the same pitch, for the same amount of time.

She steals my old t-shirts, my snack cakes, my xbox controller, and most importantly, she’s stolen my heart. Every now and then, the internet topic “how to date a geek” pops up with tips for the ladies about how to find, date, and understand/keep a keep for a boyfriend. My girl needs no pointers, lessons, or tips. She has this topic nailed.

My girlfriend is pretty damned awesome. All of you motherfuckers should be jealous.

(Mr. Jinx still thinks he has a shot at winning her heart and stealing her away from me. The furry blue bastard is in for a fight. He may be the Muppet Show answer to Don Juan, but I saw her first.)

Yesterday, I spent my day with The Missus™ doing “stuff.” Today, I had set aside for LeAnne. As always it was up to her to get in touch and let me know when it was time for us to do “stuff.” About 3:30PM she called me and said, “I’m gonna be over in a bit.” I said okay, and continued to watch my movie. She showed up shortly thereafter with a big pink bag. She grins and says, “I have a present for you!” Not expecting this, she explained that she got me this item as a belated birthday and christmas present, since she had no idea what to get me during the holidays. Now, I dont expect presents, and I certainly didnt expect one in may. But knowing Crash, she’s devious, mischievous, and crafty. I expect the unexpected from her. I however, didnt expect this.

Yes, that little sister of mine found a limited edition Akuku decanter, cup and swizzle set by that master of all things tiki, SHAG. I almost fell over. Tiki Farm made these in 2002. 8 years ago, they sold out. I’d seen them online, but I never expected to see one in person. I certainly never expected to own a set. But no. Annie found it and picked it up as a surprise for me. Complete and in the box. Should I mention that its signed and numbered out of a set of 500?

Yes, as shown, its set number 374 of 500, and signed by Mr. SHAG himself. You really cant get more tiki than that. Holy wow. I was literally without words. Now, I’m in the position of figuring out how I’m going to display this treasure. How, just how am I going to put these up for people to see, as part of my collection? Come new house and more space, I think I may need some kind of display case or shelf, where I can put my mugs up for show, so that people might see them. This will have to have a place of honor, and be lit up for all to see. For sure.

And, not to let all of this supersede the most important fact.

The crazy purple haired girl I call Crash (Annie, LeAnne, Annie-Kitty, etc) is about the awesomest sibling one could ever have. You should all be jealous that she’s not your sibling. She is, in a word, awesome. She means the world to me, presents or not. However her ability to come up with an amazing surprise is definitive testament to the level of awesome that she brings to the table.

As of this writing, I can easily reaffirm something I’ve said for ages, and will continue to stand by. I have the best little sister ever. So there.

Today is my Saturday. Yes, Tuesday is my Saturday. I work Thursday through Monday. Weekend days off are a rarity, and I dont see them. Instead, I work the weekend, and have weekdays off. Luckily, The Missus™ also has the same days off. Its good to spend time with one’s girlfriend, at least once in a while.

So yes. Today has been my Saturday. It hasnt been crazy, but its been fun. I slept in, read the news, and goofed off with M. Then, after committing hygiene, we wandered through several of Portland’s better adult stores. Why? Just for the hell of it. We then made it to the Lloyd Center Mall (yux) where we wandered around looking at randomness. In the process, The Missus™ was rewarded with a bounty of new underwear from the great franchise underwear purveyor of the western hemisphere, Victoria’s Secret. This was a plus. While out, we also ducked into Hot topic. I remembered hating them for many years, due to the fact that they took my punk rock heritage and repackaged it for the mainstream masses. Anyone could now get unnatural hair dye, and spikes for their jackets. Curse them for making my rebellion main stream!

Today’s trip to Hot Topic however, was bittersweet revenge. Their inventory of stuff was crap. They sell no hair dye, most of their shit was marked down, they cater to mainstream culture and there were even t-shirts for country musicians on the wall. Hot Topic repackaged my rebellion in order to sell it to the masses. They themselves were then normalized and rendered irrelevant by the same faceless millions that they hoped to sell the rebellion to. What a waste. Hot topic isnt punk, industrial, or goth. They never were. Its a franchise retail brand that tried to be, and then catered to the masses when being punk and goth wasnt popular anymore. Oh, but Twilight is. Bullshit vampire knock offs are everything now. H.T. had an entire wall of that shit. In short, if you want a blue mohawk and spikes on your leather, go somewhere else. But if you want a Twilight snuggie, Hot Topic has you covered like a motherfucker.

Okay, so I needed to rant there. I see that now. I think I’ve made my point. Well, maybe I need to get in one or two more jabs. While in hot topic, M discovered the small stash of Invader ZIM stuff that Nickelodeon is still licensing, in order to milk money out of the aforementioned masses, in order to turn a profit off ten year old cartoons. She couldnt leave without purchasing an iphone case, earrings, necklace, beanie, and so on. If it makes her happy, I’m for it. Conversely, I’m sorry, Mister Scolex, at the pillaging of your creativity. Oh well.

Anyway, I also wandered into the local skate shop, and was disappointed there too. Is nothing from my younger years, the way I left it? Dammit. At least I was able to walk into Nordstroms and find my shaving soap. Yes, Nordstroms. I had to brave my way into a department store in order to purchase a $22 jar of shaving soap. Because I cant use aerosol shaving cream. Because all you morons dont know what quality is, and shave with crap. I buy quality shaving soap. Which means department stores. And scary, patronizing sales people. Are they always that plastic? Fucking creepy.

In the end, while I bitch, and wax poetic about how much I hated the mall, I realize that I spent the day with The Missus™, treated her to new undies, actually DID get my shaving soap, and even swapped out one of M.’s earrings without tearing her earlobe off. I’d call it a good day. Now? I’m going to make mac & beef, play some borderlands with my laydee, and look forward to another day off tomorrow. Nooch.

yeah, stuff...

She’s figured it out. She’s stuck with me. She’s embraced the horror. There’s no escaping now. She’s doomed, kept, owned, taken, and so on. She has no recourse. She is, yes…wait for it….Ms. Awesome.

So, I’m not going to bring things up to speed. I’m just going to recap slightly. After work last night, I hauled it up to Target, and dropped $60 on a humidifier. I’m tired of the winter air killing my sinuses. After setting it up and getting the world cleaned up a bit, I went to bed. It would seem that I slept pretty soundly last night, as M messaged me 3 times this morning, and I slept through them all. I didnt wake up until she rang the doorbell. So I’d call the humidifier a total win. I then got the chance to spend some morning time with my laydee. I say this because she’s given me permission to speak about her in the digital space. Since she’s no longer a banned subject, yes, I spent the morning with my girl. And of course, just as she’s heading for the bath, the doorbell rings a bunch. Its the UPS guy. I’d recognize how he rings the bell any day. I run to the door, and he’s gone, but as always, he’s left my package. The dude rocks.

I bring the box inside, and I open it up. What’s inside? A present from my five year old niece, my step-sister, and my brother in law. what did I get?

Lego Falling Water!

Yes, you see it correctly. I got FLR’s Falling water, in LEGO! I have the best niece (and her parents) ever.

Between my girlfriend, and one awesome christmas present, I cant lose this morning!

At the moment, I’m sitting at PDX airport. In about an hour, I’ll be on a plane bound for Houston, which will then segue me onto a plane bound for DC. At that point, I’ll meet up with Jason. Its been since last winter since I’ve had a vacation. As of 5PM this evening, I’m out the door of (Censored) for ten days. I’ve realized over the years that I need a vacation every six months in order to stay sane, doing what I do. The compressed environment lends itself toward burnout pretty quick if one isnt mindful. Luckily, I know when its time, and its most definitely time.

This weekend, I’ll be home for Jason’s wedding. An awesome affair if I ever heard of one. It should be a hell of a a party, and I’m the best man. Honored and privileged to be sure. Along the way, I’ll get to play with computers, see old friends, eat dinner with my parents, and see the atlantic ocean again. I’d almost given up hope on that. I have to say that the Pacific Ocean really is as blue as you might think it is in your dreams. But being back in Hatteras will be a good time and a rekindling of memories of old. I cant complain.

In the interim, I’m glad to say that in two weeks I’m paying off the car, my land lady has decided not to raise our rent, and I’m typing this on a new Macbook Pro. Can it really get any better? I dunno. On the down side, I’ve been sick since sunday, and I’m just starting to feel better. Hopefully by the time I’m home in DC, I’ll feel top shelf. We’ll see. On the other downside, I went to tiki bar before coming to the airport. I havent missed a week in three years, not about to start now. However, I still feel a bit rubbery. My typing is a good indicator of my inebriation level, and I’m not making any real mistakes, so my drunkulation level is minimal. I still feel a bit “soft” though. Nobody else would probably ever notice, but I do. And since my opinion rules here, I have the say. One drink was more than enough. On the upside though, I scored two tiki mugs before I left. Yes, the ones that look like my tattoo. One for me, one for Jason. My gift to him.

Now, all I have to do is survive a flight home, which will land me there at about 9AM my time. that equates to a total of 26 hours of consciousness for me. There sure as hell better be a decent breakfast sammich when I make it to houston. Seriously. Otherwise, I might have to smack a bitch. (appropriate bitch for smacking to be named later.)

Its strange. I cant say that my life has any particular routine (other than tiki bar friday), but it seems we’re keeping up with the norm. Chris is job hunting, I’m either at work, or asleep, and in between, we fill the time with friends, movies, and nerdery.

On the nerd tip, my G5 is now up and running. Aptly named The Boom Box, I’ve finally got everything pulled together into one place, which is amazing. It pleases me to no end. Following that, I also built another machine completely out of spare parts, in order to fulfill a promise I made to a friend. Now I need to pull together the monitor and airport card, in order to make good on it all. Go figure.

I’m also in the process of dedicating my time this week to review. So much to read! There is a test coming up next week, and even though I’ve been passing the same test every year for nine years now, I get to take it again, as a formality. And of course, being me, I want to nail it. So I’m reading up and stuffing it all back in my head so that I can do just that.

In between building and studying, I’ve been trying to do a little cleaning, which has had a questionable result. It seems like as soon as I get some thing cleaned, other things are messy again. I cant win.

And of course, as of Sunday, I’m out of town. I’ll be in California. A chance to do work related stuff, and see some friends. Maybe some tourista stuff too. We’ll see.

Until then however, I keep cleaning and studying. There’s also been some video gaming, and some movie watching too. The house has also been party to some quality time involving an Amy type house guest, and a Meghan type houseguest. It seems we’re good at having a third person in the house, and it seems to be a trend. Maybe the futon really is that comfortable… Wait, I’m saying that, and I realize that chris is asleep on the futon, snoring happily. Yup. Must be comfy. Wait. It was only my bed for 2 years. Heh.

And now, having put fingers to keyboard, in order to feel like I’ve contributed to my own digital presence, its time to tackle the kitchen, and get that bitch clean. More Later.

Lastly, Happy Birthday to my friend, my brother, Mr. Jim. Happy Birthday as well to my lovely and awesome niece, little miss Hob-Goblin.

I realize that I’ve been less than forthcoming with the writings in this space. Over time, I’ve been wrapped into many other things, which seemed to sap my desire to blog my existence. Not that they werent interesting, or that I didnt have anything to say, but more that I didnt feel like taking the time to write these events down. Something I wish to remedy. To that end, I plan to make a point to post something once a day for a while, even if its of no singular importance. Be it a photo, or a small update, something. I also plan to make myself more present in the twitterverse, as I’ve been sadly lacking there too.

Now, I think a lot of factors have led into my lack of writings. Firstly, there’s the job. Blogging about work is very much verboten. And seeing that I like my job with MotherFruit™, I make a point not to say anything. My previous rantings aside, as well as all thats come before, in the here and now, when it comes to the technology that spawned my career, inundates my daytime life, and pays the bills, I no longer say jack shit. Do I want to? Ha. HA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Of course I do. To think otherwise would be stupid. But I cant. And I wont. Given the current economic climate, a good job is gold, and I have a good job. And I shall not in any way, risk angering my frutarian masters. Nuff said.

In other news, the personal life changed again and I am now single again. I cant say that this is a great thing, nor a horrible thing, but rather that it is. I keep mindful of the thought that you dont know if you dont try, as I hear Everlast from House of Pain saying “and life goes on…”

As far as Life In Portland™ goes, there seems to be lots of consistency. Get up, go to work, come home, eat, entertain, clean, go to bed. There are weekly trips to the tiki bar, a decent spate of snowboarding, the Annual Caitlin Visit of Snowboarding Victory, there’s been an Evan visit, and there was even a Jim and April visit before Christmas. Upcoming, there’s a Jenifer visit, possibly a Parents visit, and I dont know what else. I’m still itching for a day trip to Seattle, I expect The Parents™ will be out to visit eventually, and when certain things I cant speak about (this sentence will become routine) take place, there will also be a two week trip to the San Francisco bay area. Yes, Pam. Yes Carina. Yes Mikey-San (Dr. Awesome). I owe you all face time/hang out time. I havent seen Pam since Vegas. I havent seen Mikey since Richmond. And I havent seen Carina since well, since my NoVa days. I need to spend time with these people.

Of course, there are portland folks I need to spend time with too. I lament I havent seen a lot of the MF crowd in way too long. I dont talk to any of the TMS folks at all, except for the ones who migrated to MotherFruit™. But that makes sense. The upside is that I very much wish to make time for these folks. The downside is that I spend all my time on the clock, so when I get home, its pass out time. Go figure.

In yet other news, it looks like I’ll be home at the end of september. And by home, I mean NoVa. That crazy guy I call Jason is getting fucking married. At his insistence, I have taken up the mantle of best man, and will be in attendance, wearing a very classy bowling shirt, and a giant sombrero. I may also be flying a kite during the wedding, if I can get away with it. Will I be drunk during all of this? Heh. I’ll be lucky if I can even stand.

Strangely, given all of the busy, and all of the insanity, I’ve still made time to create bacon chocolate bars, make bacon vodka, work on my beer battered deep fried cheese burgers (The Wuncler Burger), and work on the liquor collection. Its coming along. Its not amazing yet, but getting there for sure. Now, I’m delving into things like fried chicken, french fries, tacos, and so many other things I love to cook. Once could say that I’m becoming friends with my kitchen again. This pleases me to no end. Especially since I love to cook. In fact, tomorrow’s meal extravaganza will be homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and strawberry pie. I cant wait. Its gonna be awesome. For serious.

As of this moment though, I’m quiet. Its quiet. I can hear myself typing, and Chris is in his room reading. I’ve finished up the laundry, and soon I shall make something to eat. Then maybe throw in a movie. We’ll see. Tomorrow, more posting. I promise.