Random Access

Friday – 12 June 2015
It’s the end of the (work) week. Amen.

It’s been a good, though tiring week, as Sara! spent Tuesday through Thursday at Altitude Summit… including being a panelist on Wednesday. This means that Team DiVa and I had to fend for ourselves on those days. We all survived the experience. And, we even managed to do an art project and make s’mores in the process. I’d call it an all-around “Win.”

I even made it to the gym five days this week; I haven’t done that in a few years.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
My news feeds have been full of articles about Rachel Dolezal, president of the Spokane Chapter of the NAACP and how it appears that she has lied about being Black. The story apparently came to the national spotlight after her mother outed her. It’s interesting to note that this story is not about someone adopting or borrowing from a culture, but rather has asserted, to no small degree, that she actually is a member of that culture.

What I find curious is that no one has talked about the historical precedent for the reverse of this: Light-skinned Blacks “passing” as White. For decades in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, people of mixed race and fair complexions lived among the general populace, identifying as White… or at least claiming to be, when it benefited them. For a fictional account of such “passing,” I highly recommend reading Mat Johnson‘s Incognegro (1, 2, 3).

I don’t know of any stipulation in the NAACP’s charter that requires members to be “of color.” Hint: There isn’t one. ANYONE is welcome to join.

From the items that I’ve read, no one is calling into question her right to be a member of – or to be president of – the Spokane chapter, which is good. The whole issue seems to stem from her racial identification.

I am most curious to see how this shakes out.

Workout
I should probably log these before I forget. Again.

Monday

• Elliptical: 10 min/1.1 miles
• Lat Pulldown (long bar): 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Lat Pulldown (shortg grip): 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Row: 3 x 8 x 80
• Tricep Rope Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 70
• Standing Tricep Press: 3 x 8 x 70

Tuesday

• Squats: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs

Wednesday

• Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 115 lbs
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Dumbbell Fly: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Wrist Curls (fwd): 3 x 8 x 40 lbs
• Wrist Curls (rev): 3 x 8 x 40 lbs

Thursday

• Elliptical: 5 min/0.55 mi
• Squats: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs

Friday

• Lat Pulldown (long bar): 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Lat Pulldown (shortg grip): 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Row: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Dumbbell Overhead Tricep Extensions: 3 x 8 x 30 lbs
• Tricep Rope Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Standing Tricep Press: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs

Stray Toasters

• When this is posted, it will make my 7,000th Tweet.
• I’ve received quite a few comments over this morning’s Twitter post; I am still somewhat amused by the situation. I intend to address it with the appropriate people on Monday morning.
• Superhero Stance
• These Are Some of the Longest Movies Ever Made
• For Second Year in a Row, Female Readers Are a Growing Market
• How hip-hop can teach you to code
• It looks like there’s a new trailer out for Fox’ upcoming Fantastic Four.
• A card game that teaches kids about women in science
• This Chart Compares the Hidden Fees of Major Airlines Reward Programs
• After ‘Avengers’ Uproar, Marvel Planning a ‘Big Focus’ on Products for Girls, Women

I think that’s good for now.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 03 June 2015
It’s a sunny #NBNThursdayEve in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain.

Last night, I was putting Team DiVa to bed and, as they were getting into bed, they reminded me that “…we didn’t do a special story,” which is how I referred to Monday night’s D&D-style story. We spent the next ten minutes spinning a tale of their new adventure. (Yes, this made my inner #geekdad grin like a fiend.) They went to bed; I went to pick up this week’s comics. Win-Win.

I managed to make it to the gym this morning… after oversleeping. But, I went. I had a decent workout. Back home to help get Team DiVa ready for the day and out the door. And to get me ready and out the door, too.

Work’s been good and there haven’t been any major monkey wrenches thrown into my day, so I consider those all positive things.

Workout

• Elliptical: 5 minutes/ 0.55 miles
• Lat pulldown (wide grip): 3 x 8 x 70
• Lat pulldown (short grip): 3 x 8 x 70
• Dorsi Flexor row: 3 x 8 x 75
• Row: 3 x 8 x 70
• Standing tricep pulldown (rope): 3 x 8 x 70
• Standing tricep press: 3 x 8 x 70

Stray Toasters

• The balloon art of Masayoshi Matsumoto
  
  
• Samuel L. Jackson Is Not in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and He Doesn’t Know Why
  To TPTB at Marvel: Fix. This. Now.
• TIL that Jack Kirby – yes, that Jack Kirby – worked on production design on Thundarr the Barbarian.
  • I also learned that the character was created by Steve Gerber, creator of Howard the Duck and the guy who resurrected the Guardians of the Galaxy property at Marvel.
• The Iceman List: Classic movie antagonists who were actually pretty much right the entire time
• ‘Suit Up’: NASA Documentary Celebrates 50 Years of U.S. Spacewalks

Quote of the Day
I found this quote as part of an interview with Joy Williams, formerly of The Civil Wars:

Moving on doesn’t mean neglecting my past.

I like it. It strikes me as an interesting corollary to a couple lines from Time Stand Still by Rush:

I’m not looking back
But I want to look around me now

Namaste.

Friday – 29 May 2015
“The best laid plans of mice and men…”

That is an excellent quote for the past 36 hours. Wednesday night, thanks to a couple of adorable children, I had a less-then-stellar night of sleep. As I noted yesterday, I figured that I might hit the gym after they went to bed last night.

No go, Flight.

I didn’t get out of the office until nearly 8:30 last night, chasing down what appeared to be a mail server issue. (More on this later.) By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was eat dinner and then do a lot of nothing. I was  highly successful at accomplishing both tasks. Before going to bed, I resolved to hit the gym this morning.

Strike Two!

Last night, Diana started getting a little sick and was up many times in the night. Mostly moaning “Mo-o-o-o-mmy…..” or “Da-a-a-a-a-ddy…..” or both. A couple of times, she came into our room for cuddles and/or to sleep. According to our Sense, either Sara or I (or both of us) were up about seven times last night. That made getting out of bed damn near impossible. I finally dragged my carcass out from the sheets around 7:45… and I felt like a zombie. (But nowhere as perky as Gwen Dylan/Liv Moore from iZombie (1, 2).)

Back in the office a little early – and a couple of cups of coffee later – I was informed that last night’s high-profile, high-priority email emergency was not only non-existent, but also a complete misunderstanding/miscommunication between two parties.

*grblsnrkx*

#ajobaintnuthinbutwork #LifeInIT

Aside from that, it’s been a decent day. It’s been relatively quiet.

It was also coworker Adam’s last day. He got “an offer he couldn’t (and shouldn’t have) refuse.” Fortunately, we only live a couple of miles apart and our daughters like playing together, so I don’t consider this him riding off into the sunset.

Stray Toasters

• Separate & Unequal, an article by my friend, Bryan Young. Read it.
• CHART: The Qatar World Cup Death Toll Is Stunning
• Roland Park Reflections on the Riots
• I may or may not have introduced Shake Your Bon Bon to Team DiVa…
  • They may or may not occasionally change the lyrics to “Chicken Bomb Bomb”
• Miniature LEGO Adventures That I Create in My Spare Time

Okay, there’s a little more work to be plowed through before the day is done.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 20 May 2015
I didn’t get up this morning to go to the gym. No, that’s not entirely correct. Let’s try that again: I woke up this morning, in time to go to the gym, but decided not to do so, thanks to a not-happy stomach and a headache. I regret nothing.

At work, I called into a meeting, had a couple of impromptu business-related talks with people and apparently spaced off another meeting altogether. Go, me! The later meeting was for a software upgrade – one that I didn’t have to do – and got pushed back a bit until I got to the office. It was further delayed by some VM issues, along with a side helping of someone needing a cluster of servers rebooted. The shutdowns were easy; the reboots were not, mostly because the servers were on a VMware host whose existence I was only tangentially aware of.

::: braincramp :::
“Drat these computers…”

But, I managed to get things resolved.

For lunch, Adam, Brad, Kelsey (!), and I went to Lucky 13. There was a pretty major wait for food, but it was worth it. I went with the Hot Pastrami and Swiss Burger; I was not let down.

Now, I’m tackling an issue that popped up this morning… as a side-effect of the software upgrade. We’ll see if that takes me until the end of the day to rectify.

Stray Toasters

• David Letterman steps down from the late night stage tonight. I’ve been a fan of his since… 1985, I think. Possibly ’84. Either way, it’s the end of an era. I wish him well on the next leg of his journey.
• I quite liked this series of strips from Sinfest:
  
  
  
  
  
• Princes of the Apocalypse is D&D’s Killer App

.eof

Monday – 18 May 2015
Happy Miracle Monday (1, 2).

Today finds me back in the office. I enjoyed last week’s class, but it was a LOT of information crammed into five days. I appreciated the time away from “work,” but there’s something to be said for being back in the swing of things.

Of course, I would have preferred to have gotten back to it this morning, rather than last night…

I got a call, just as Team DiVa was going to bed, that a server was down. By the time I was able to log in and start looking, I got another call, from a different user, saying that another server was down.

::: braincramp :::

Once I started looking, I noted that it wasn’t so much a “server” issue as it was a “virtual host” issue. And it was one that didn’t want to let me fix it remotely. So, into work I went. At 9:30 at night.

*grblsnrkx*

After banging on things for a while, I resorted to the time-honored IT tradition of: “Turn it off and then turn it back on.” That worked, for the most part. There was still one issue that didn’t resolve. I tinkered with a few settings and got that issue fixed… at least for the time being. There’s a long-term solution in the works, it’s just a matter of timing.

Workout
This morning, I also woke up a little before 6:30, chock full of the good intention of going to the gym. I actually got up and out of bed and – albeit a little more slowly than I should have – got ready to go. I had to abbreviate this morning’s routine due to time constraints, but the bottom line is: I got in a workout.

• Elliptical: 7 min, 0.75 mile
• Lat Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Short Grip Pulldowns: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Row: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Standing Rope Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
• Standing Tricep Press: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Saturday night, Sara! and I watched Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. It’s been a while since I’d seen it. I celebrated the occasion by live-tweeting it… which entertained me nearly as much as the movie itself. I think we’re going to watch Return of the Jedi tonight. I may live-tweet that, too. Because… I can.
• Kronkiwongi
• Who were the Forty Elephants?
• I hope to be as understanding and willing/able to let the girls explore their choices as this mom was: Mom’s dilemma: Should I let my 6-year-old daughter shave her head?
• As I mentioned above, today is “Miracle Monday.” The story was written by Eliot S. Maggin, who also wrote Luthor’s Gift, a short story I just discovered today. Enjoy.

Okay, back to the grind.

Namaste.

Friday – 15 May 2015
I should get around to writing this before it is no longer Friday.

Things have been good during my extended radio silence. What’s kept me from posting? Basically: Laziness. I’ll freely cop to that. That said, I had planned to write something this afternoon, but wound up getting wrapped up in a project and the next thing I knew,  it was time to get Team DiVa from daycare. Oh, well, better late than never. On the other hand, I got to have dinner with these two cuties, so it was worth it.

One of the good things of the past two-ish weeks has been that Sara and I have rejoined a gym. More specifically we joined Vasa Fitness, a rebranded gym that we used to go to before Team DiVa was born. We’ve been trying to figure out schedules that would allow us to both work out 2-3 times a week.

Another good thing from this week, was in a training class for work (at home!) which had an east coast-based schedule. That meant that I was up each morning for a 7:00 AM class. That also meant that my “lunch” time was around 10:30 each day. I used that time to go to the gym, instead. I actually like the idea of getting up a bit early and starting my day with a workout. My plan is to keep getting up around 6:30 and putting in forty-five minutes to an hour at the gym before getting on to the so-called “friction of the day.”

Sidenote (since I just made a Rush reference): I’ve been tracking my visits to the gym on Swarm/Foursquare with the tags #carveawaythestone. Why? Because it’s less typing than #OhDearLordHowAndWhyDidILetMyselfGetSoOutOfShape and a bit less embarrassing than #WhyDoesThisHurtSoMuch.

And, being back in the gym means that I need to start tracking my workouts again. So, let’s get the past couple weeks out of the way:

• Thursday- 23 April 2015
  • Elliptical: 15 minutes, 1.3 miles
  • Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets / 10 reps
  • Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 90 lbs
  • Inclined Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 50 lbs
  • Fly: 3 sets/8 reps – 2 sets, 70 lbs; 1 set, 90 lbs
• Monday – 27 April 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 minutes, ~1 mile
  • Leg Raises (Roman Chair): 3 sets/10 reps
  • Rotary Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
  • T-Bar Pulls: 3 sets/8 reps, 45 lbs
  • Standing Tricep Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 50 lbs
  • Seated Tricep Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 45 lbs
• Wednesday – 29 April 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 minutes, ~1 mile
  • Leg Press: 3 x 10 x 60 lbs
  • Leg Extensions: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs
  • Leg Curl: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 10 x 60
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 40
  • Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 95 lbs
  • Reverse Punches: 3 x 10 x 10 lbs
  • Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Wrist Curls: 3 x 15 X 30 lbs (forward)
  • Wrist Curls: 3 x 15 x 30 lbs (reverse)
• Tuesday – 05 May 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 minutes, 1 mile
  • Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 95 lbs
  • Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Fly: 3 x 8 x 60
  • Vertical Press: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Dumbbell Fly: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Barbell Curl: 3 x 8 x 30 lbs
  • Dumbbell Curl: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Plank: 3 x 30 seconds
• Saturday – 09 May 2015
  • Fitness Assessment
    • Walking High Kicks: 2 x 10 steps
    • Walking Quad Stretches: 2 x 10 steps (each leg)
    • Walking Butt Kicks: 2 x 10 steps (each leg)
    • Kettlebell Overhead Tricep Extensions: 3 x 10 x 15 lbs
    • Kettlebell Squats: 3 x 10 x 25 lbs
    • Lunges: 3 x 10 steps x 15 lbs (each hand)
    • Hollow-Body Hold: 3 x 30 seconds
    • Russian Twists: 3 x 10 x 20 lbs
• Tuesday – 12 May 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 min, 1 mile
  • Smith Squats: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Leg Press: 3 x 10 x 60 lbs
  • Leg Extensions: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs
  • Leg Curls: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 10 x 60 lbs
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 40 lbs
  • Seated Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Wednesday – 13 May 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 min, 1 mile
  • Lat Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  • Short Grip Pulldowns: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  • T-Bar Pulls: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
  • Row: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  • Standing Rope Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Standing Tricep Press: 3 x 8 x 40 lbs
• Thursday – 14 May 2015
  • Treadmill: 10 minutes, ~0.7 mile (betw. 0 and 2% incline)
  • Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
  • Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  • Leg Extensions: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Leg Curls: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 10 x 60
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 40
  • Seated Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 25
• Friday – 15 May 2015
  • Elliptical: 7 minutes, 0.75 mile
  • Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 115 lbs
  • Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 1 @ 20 lbs/2 @ 25 lbs
  • Dumbbell Fly: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 2 @ 20 lbs/1 @ 25 lbs
  • Wrist Curls: 3 x 15 x 2 @ 30 lbs/1 @ 40 lbs

And that was that. It’s going to take a while to get back to where I was when I stopped going to the gym, but I’m enjoying the journey so far.

Stray Toasters

• Since cutting the cord, nearly two months ago now, I haven’t missed cable.
• I’ve been quite pleased with and a occasionally surprised by my Comics-On-TV shows of late: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Flash, and iZombie.
• By way of Mike B.: Space X gets certified to launch NASA science missions
• I’ve seen Avengers: Age of Ultron twice now. I’ll see if I can’t type up a two-part review in the next day or two.
• Team DiVa asked me to play Candy Land with them last weekend. It was, not surprisingly, the first time I’d played the game in many, many years. And, it was fun, too.
• Check out this Flash Gordon animated short, by Rob Pratt
• Confederates in the Jungle
• I don’t recall how I stumbled across this item, On Being a Cripple, by Nancy Mairs, but it is a fantastic and fascinating read. It is long and, for some, might not be necessarily “easy” to read, but I think that it’s very much worth the time to read.

And, it’s well into Saturday morning, now. I guess I’ll just schedule this to post sometime after the sun is up.

Namaste.

Saturday – 02 May 2015
Today is Free Comic Book Day, a day awaited by the comic faithful all year long. Long story, short version:

Celebrate and discover the amazing world of comic books on Free Comic Book Day! Taking place annually on the first Saturday in May, Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book specialty shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops!¹

Sara, Team DiVa and I got up, had breakfast, and headed to Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection to partake in the bounty!

We stood in line for a bit… before friends brought us up to their spot in line… and then went inside to get comics for the girls and me and a couple of action figures (1, 2) for Team DiVa. We also managed to find a few other heroes to take pictures with.

Click here to see other pictures from the event.

All too soon, it was over… until next year!

And, of course, thanks to Dr. Volt’s for hosting this event.

¹ – Source: Free Comic Book Day website.

Thursday – 05 March 2015
It’s just another Manic Monday No Bad News Thursday.

My day started a little earlier than usual, as I had to be on-site about an hour-and-a-half early to follow up on a [EXPLETIVES DELETED] [REDACTED] project. As I was getting ready, I heard Vanessa milling about in her room. I went in and told her that it was still “sleeping time” and that she should go back to sleep. She didn’t, but she did lie quietly in bed.

Ten or fifteen minutes later, I heard her making (mostly) quiet noises; I went back in to check on her. She asked “Is the sun up?” I told her that it was, but that it wasn’t time to wake up yet; I asked if she wanted to go into the other bedroom and hang out with Sara! until it was time to get up. She said “no,” and that she wanted to read in bed. I told her that would be fine. She got one of her My Little Pony comics, crawled under her covers, and proceeded to “read” it.

Shortly, I was packed up and out the door. I didn’t set the coffee maker last night, therefore, I had no to-go cup of caffeinated goodness this morning. I rectified that with a trip to Pin-up Girl Espresso.

I paid with a card, but didn’t have anything smaller than a $5 bill with me for a tip. So, I gave Mia the five, told her to take her tip out of it and to apply the rest to the next person’s drink order. Why not make someone else’s day a little better, if you can, after all?

On to work.

And that’s where I am. Time to chase down info for this project, put out some fires, and just be awesome. Possibly even in that order.

Quote of the Day
I messaged Sara! a little while ago, to see how morning prep with Team DiVa went. This was how that conversation went:

Robert:
Good morning!
I hope that getting under way wasn’t too bad…

Sara:
Good morning!
The only big meltdown was when the girls realized that you were already gone for the day and they couldn’t give you a hug and a kiss. It was meltdown city.

Robert:
Well, damn. I’m sorry.

Sara:
It was very sweet that they were so upset. It was okay. we sorted it out.

Robert:
Okay.

Sara:
And, we took a rocket ship ride to the moon this morning. Then the rocket ship took me to work. So the astronauts are going to stay on the moon all day, and the rocket ship will pick them up and bring them back to earth tonight.

Robert:
HAHAHAhA that’s awesome.

Sara:
Yeah, it was pretty good. DIana wasn’t into it this morning (contrast to yesterday) but by the time we were almost to learning tree she was on board looking for planets and aliens. So it turned out okay.

I love those kids and their imaginations.

As I noted above: It’s No Bad News Thursday… get out there and attack the day!

Namaste.

Thursday – 19 February 2015
Last night, Sara, #Team DiVa and I went out for dinner – the girls’ choice. While out, I ran into this little lady, my “cousin,” Kylie:

Kylie: Disneyland – Electric Light Parade

The only thing: She wasn’t so little anymore. This picture was taken in 2001, so you can imagine what adding 13.5 years would do. And, it’s been at least 4-5 years since I last saw her. She has grown into a lovely young lady. (Her mom has every reason to be proud.)

It was a very pleasant surprise to my evening.

Stray Toasters

• Your Coffee Addiction Is Officially Good for You (not that I needed validation)
• Someone posted the following picture into an H.P. Lovecraft group yesterday:
  It… inspired me to come up with this:

  Spider-Cat! Spider-Cat!
  More evil than a Devil-Bat!
  Claws your arm or your thigh
  Makes you sleep with one eye…
  OPEN!
  Here comes the Spider-Cat!

• Adult Wednesday Addams
  “Adult” as in “not a child,” not as in “risque.”
• DC Comics has made some… curious… decisions in the past few years. One decision that has been “good” is the one to start a new, out-of-continuity Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman book. If you’re a Wonder Woman fan and are not reading this book, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
• From Javier Grillo-Marxuach: The Audacity of Being Jaded

Namaste.

Wednesday – 18 February 2015
Today is Ash Wednesday. It is also NBN Thursday Eve.

I was going to post something last night, but I got too distracted by The Flash and Firestorm(!)¹.

And a RubySnap cookie and a glass of milk.

And Titanfall.

So, I’m posting today.

This past weekend, Sara!, Team DiVa and I took a trip to Promontory, UT to visit the Golden Spike National Historic Site (read: “TRAINS!!!”) and Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty. (For pictures, click here.) It was only a couple of hours to Golden Spike, which wasn’t as bad as I had thought. The site is way out in the middle of God’s own country, though. I commented to Sara! that for all the time – not really that much – that it took to get there at 65 MPH+, I could only imagine what it must have been like to try to cover that distance via horse, or wagon. Or, slower still, while trying to lay miles of railroad track. The site was nice, but I was a little disappointed that the locomotives weren’t on display. (That just means that I’ll have to head back up there to see the reenactment of the driving of the golden spike in May.)

From there, we headed out to the Spiral Jetty. While the two sites are only 15 miles apart, it took about 45 minutes to get from Golden Spike to the jetty. The water level on the Great Salt Lake was low. Very low. So low that we were able to walk out to the end of the jetty – 1500 feet – and we were still at least 300 feet from water!

Sunday, we decided to tackle a painting project: Our bedroom. Furniture out. Ladders in. Paint on. We moved our bed to the living room Sunday night, which threw Team DiVa for a bit of a loop Monday morning:

Diana: Why is your new bed in the living room?

Me: It’s not a “new” bed, we just moved it out here.

Diana: Oh.

We went on to explain that we did it since we were painting the bedroom; that answer appeased them.

Sara spent Monday morning/afternoon re-doing the baseboard and crown molding paint, while I vacuumed and shampooed the carpet, replaced four electrical outlets… and then tried to suss out why the overhead lights wouldn’t turn off.

*braincramp*

After a quick consultation with my father-in-law, he suggested that I check the old outlets and verify that they had broken metal connectors on the hot side. They did.  I broke the connectors on two of the new outlets and the lights worked in the manner to which we were accustomed once more!

We moved the furniture back in and slept in our newly-painted room on Monday night. Selah. It was a lot of ass-busting and elbow grease over two days, but it was worth it.

Stray Toasters

• I stumbled across a picture of VP Biden holding/rubbing/whatever the shoulders of the newly-appointed Secretary of Defense’s wife last night and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add a caption:
  

  Creepy Vice-President is creepy.

• Windows Updates. *sigh*
• Despite the fact that Krispy Kreme UK unwittingly deemed today “KKK Wednesday,” I kind of still want a doughnut.
• Today is apparently “National Drink Wine Day,” as well. I might have to imbibe a glass or two tonight.

And with that, I think I’m going to get “right on to the friction of the [rest of the] day.”

Namaste.

¹ – Firestorm: The Nuclear Man debuted in 1978. I didn’t really become aware of the character until the second series, which started in 1982… but from then on, I was a fan. I haven’t been as invested in the New 52 version of the character, but I still like the character and the concept. So, when the news broke that he/they would be appearing on CW’s The Flash, my curiosity was piqued. The origin had been tweaked to fit the show, but it was close enough to the original for me. And, it featured all three of the main Firestorm characters – Ronnie Raymond, Martin Stein, and (in a nod to the updated, pre-New52 character) Jason Rusch.

Friday – 06 February 2015
My niece, Grace, turned seven today:

Team DiVa and I got to talk with her – and her sisters, my sister and brother-in-law, and my dad – over Skype this evening. I believe that it was one of the most engaged conversations that DiVa has had over Skype.

Other things that made today good:

1. Post-work/post-daycare with Team DiVa.
2. An end-of-the-work-day chat with Sara!.
3. Introducing Team DiVa to Undercova Funk before bedtime.
   
4. Learning that Sana Amanat, former editor and co-creator of the new Ms. Marvel, got what are colloquially referred to as “big ups” as she was named Marvel’s new Director of Content and Character Development.
5. Conversations about fashion and style with a trio of coworkers.
6. A discussion with a coworker about my standing desk, her pilgrimage o The Garden of Sweden to acquire one… and the confused looks on the employees’ faces as they showed her their standing desk (much more expensive) and she kept telling them “That’s not it.”

Things that did not make the day good:

1. Yet another email spam/virus outbreak at work. (Fortunately, we caught it quickly and got ahead of it before it became too widespread.)
2. Not getting to eat lunch because of the above.

On the whole, I’d call the day a “Win.”

Stray Toasters

• I am running a nominally Valentine’s Day-themed tournament tomorrow. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of teams my players bring.
• I should comb through the various and sundry links that I’ve posted here, see if the links are still active, determine if I still care about them, and pin the worthy on Pinterest.
  • I may even move The Covet List from an Amazon Wish List over to Pinterest, as well.
• The Pro Dumpster Diver Who’s Making Thousands Off America’s Biggest Retailers
• It may just be the way I’m wired, but I’m not sure that I entirely agree with How Often You Really Need to Shower (According to Science)
• Speaking of which, how often do you wipe down your kitchen counters?
• Marvel, in other news, also announced a new book, spinning out of the upcoming Secret Wars: An all-female team of Avengers.
• And, before I forget: Someone at DC seems to have had a rectal craniotomy and decided to make Starfire a little more palatable/accessible to readers, including those who mostly/only knew of her from the Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! cartoons.
• I might actually be one step closer to running a new Shadowrun campaign.

Time to find something to do now that Team DiVa has finally knocked out for the night.

Namaste.

Saturday – 31 January 2014

UPDATE: Of course, when I posted this last night, I neglected to include the link to the gallery of pictures I took. D’oh! So, here’s “take two.”

It’s been a good weekend… and it’s only half over!

Thanks to #BestWifeEver, Sara!, I attended the 2015 Salt Lake Comic Con Fan Xperience, colloquially referred to as “FanX” (pronounced “fan ex”).

I went Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon for a few hours each day. Friday, I went with my coworker, Adam, and wandered the show floor, checking out the event. I ran into a few people I knew and saw some really good costumes, but I mainly wanted to see who and what was there. As I was originally not planning on attending the event, I decided not to go in costume.

Shortly before we were ready to leave on Friday, I ran into Jay Whittaker, who was dressed as Deadpool. Okay, let me amend that: I was talking with Big Movie Mouth Off and Geekshow Podcast‘s Jimmy Martin… and there was someone dressed up as Deadpool. I tried (mostly) to just ignore the cosplayer. Then, he just said: “Rob! You have no idea who I am,” and started laughing. Then I started laughing, because I recognized the voice. He told me that he was enjoying the anonymity of cosplaying behind a mask and noted that he was going to be cosplaying as Miles Morales – the Marvel Ultimate Universe Spider-Man – on Saturday. I jokingly quipped that I would have to show up on Saturday as Nick Fury. He said that I should do it…

Saturday morning, I broke out the Nick Fury outfit and headed back to FanX. My game plan for the day was to catch up with a few friends and to attend three panels:

1. The Bechdel Test, hosted by Hello Sweetie Podcast‘s Charity O’Haodagain
2. Comic Books on Television – DC, featuring my friends Jake, Jeremiah, and Jimmy, and
3. Cosplayers and Charity, hosted by Jay (which I didn’t know until Saturday afternoon).

I’d barely gotten to the main floor when someone stopped me to take a picture. I was a little late getting to the Bechdel Test panel, but I did get there. It was a great discussion and some of the audience questions were insightful. I had some time to wander after the panel, so I caught up with my friend, Jamie. We wandered a bit. I got stopped for more pictures. We wandered some more.

I ran into Josh, Jack and Melody and their son. I’d seen pictures of Mel’s costume, but hadn’t seen the actual handiwork until today. The pictures don’t do it justice. That was an impressive piece of work. (Of course, that’s not entirely surprising, having seen her other artwork.) From there, it was off to the Comics on Television panel, which was just… fun. More wandering. More pictures. Then it was time for the Cosplayers and Charity panel, which featured six cosplayers from five charity cosplay groups (and one independent charity cosplayer). The panelists related stories of how they both got into cosplay and into cosplaying for charity.

After that, I did a little more roaming. I ran into Jamie again and we both ran into Danielle, also from Hello Sweetie. Charity and Sean passed by us on their way out and I took that as a sign that I should probably get on my way as well.

All told, the FanX event was a smaller affair than its September sibling, but that was not a detriment. It was easier to navigate (“Not all asses and elbows,” as I told a few people) and less chaotic. But, nevertheless, it was fun. I’m glad that I went and thankful to Sara! for the opportunity to go.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 28 January 2015
Today, Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection hosted a Neal Adams signing event.

For those of you who are unaware, Mr. Adams is a comic book and commercial artist (bibliography). Wait, I left out a word: “Legendary.”

When the signing was announced, it was a given that I was going to attend. And I knew what I was taking to have signed:

This is the cover of the issue of Green Lantern/Green Arrow from the month and year I was born. This…this is what I would have signed!

I left work a little early and headed to Dr. Volt’s with my copy. As I got there around the time that most people were just getting off work, I was there before a crowd gathered. I picked up a trio of prints…

 

 

…and I got in line. A few moments later, I was at the head of the line and about to get my items signed. I also had a chance for a photo op.

I stuck around for a few minutes to talk with the guys at Volt’s before heading home.  It was at this point that Andrew reminded me of something: A few months ago, I’d bought a copy of Green Lantern/Green Arrow #87, the first appearance of John Stewart… which was also drawn by Neal Adams. He said that I should get that signed, too.

Then I remembered something else: I had left it at home.

::: grblsnrkx :::

I did a little mental math and realized that I could make it home and back before the signing was over AND still run the other errands that I had planned for the evening. Decision made, I did my best Smokey and the Bandit impression.

And I made it.

I returned with GL/GA #87 and got back in line. Mr. Adams looked at me and asked, “So you found something else…?” I replied that of all the Lanterns, John Stewart was my favorite. He signed it and, putting down his pen, said: “With this, you’ve earned the right to hear the story of John Stewart.” He then proceeded to tell this story:

He had gone to Julius Schwartz with the idea that Green Lantern Hal Jordan needed a backup, in case something happened to him. Schwartz told him that Jordan already had a backup: Guy Gardner.

Adams retorted with: “So, a purple alien comes to Earth, dying, and sends his ring out to find a worthy successor. It passes Batman, Superman and all of the other heroes in the DC Universe and finds… a test pilot. Now, I’m a big fan of Chuck Yeager, so I get it. But, when the time comes to find another worthy person, the ring goes out again… and passes Batman and Superman – again – and finds… a white, blonde, gym teacher. What about all the other people in the world? Is it just going to pass them by?! Twice!?”

“Gardner needs to get hit by a bus. If he just breaks his arm, he’ll be back – good as new – in a month. If he gets hit by a bus, he’ll be out of action for a while. There would have to be a new backup.”

Schwartz realized that Adams wanted to introduce a minority character as Jordan’s backup. He tried to dissuade him by saying that Hal Jordan’s mechanic was Asian. Adams said, “Yeah, and you call him ‘Pieface!’ That’s offensive.” They went back and for a bit, but Schwartz eventually relented and said “Denny (O’Neill) will write it and YOU have to draw him.”

And he did.

When the story was done, O’Neill handed it off to Adams… who didn’t get far into the story before finding another point of contention: the name – “Lincoln Washington.” He confronted O’Neill, who told him that it wasn’t his idea and that Schwartz had come up with it. Adams went to Schwartz “…and closed the door, because I knew there would be shouting.” He argued against the name, calling it not only offensive, but also noting how blacks of the day were changing their names to get away from ‘slave names.’ He also told Schwartz that he could keep the name, if he was adamant, but that e would also fill his office with letters from angry readers. Schwartz responded that he “…[knew] guys with those kinds of names,” and then asked Adams what kind of name he should give him. Adams simply replied, “A name. A real name. Just… pull out any name.” Schwartz eventually relented and told Adams to come up with a name. He picked “John Stewart.” He then laughed and asked, “How was I supposed to know that he was going to be come a comedian?”

He wrapped up his story with the following epilogues:

“This story has two endings.

Ending Two: DC wound up making a movie with Hal Jordan, Green Lantern. There were 10 million kids who were asking ‘Who’s Hal Jordan!?’ Putting Jordan in the movie, they basically went from Gil Kane straight to Geoff Johns, jumping over me and Denny O’Neill – our names weren’t even  credited. And, DC lost $150 million dollars on the movie.

Ending One: When I pitched the idea of a black Green Lantern, I did it because I could draw a black person and no one else could or did. All of the artists, even the black ones, were just drawing white faces and then having them colored to be black. And they were drawing them with wavy hair. Black people don’t have wavy hair, they have kinky hair. It takes a whole lot of shit to make it wavy. And we also had to put the color notations in our artwork, so that the colorists would know how to color the characters. Black characters up to that point were all light-skinned, we used to call it ‘khaki brown.’ When I put in my color notations for John Stewart, I made him dark. Julie Schwartz and (publisher whose name I don’t recall) came to him and asked, ” Are you sure that you want him this dark?” Adams confirmed his intention. He then added, “Then they asked me something that has stuck with me until this day: ‘Aren’t black people going to be offended?” Adams laughed and said, “You can send me the first letter.”

When he finished his story, I told him “Ending Three: John Stewart is the reason that I’m the Green Lantern fan I am today. I grew up watching Hal Jordan on cartoons, but I was never really into the Lanterns until John Stewart showed up on Justice League. In fact, I became so much a fan that when I got married, this wound up on my wedding ring…” I showed him the GL insignia on my wedding band and simply said, “So, thank you.”

I had a lot of fun at the signing, meeting Neal Adams, and listening to him tell stories. (Come on, meeting the man who was responsible for one of my favorite characters?! Yeah. Not a big surprise there.) He was charming, a bit gregarious and an interesting man to chat with. He will be at Salt Lake Comic Con‘s FanX on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. If you are attending the con, I suggest stopping by his booth and saying “Hello.”

This took about an hour and a half longer than I had expected, meaning: I’m up MUCH later than I had planned to be up. However, I wanted to get this down, while it was still relatively fresh in my mind. I’d call it worth it.

But, now… it’s time for a tour – an abbreviated tour – of The Dreaming.

Namaste.

Monday – 03 November 2014
A new week (and a new month, give or take a couple of days) is upon us.

Friday was Hallowe’en. After picking up Team DiVa from “school,” we got ready to take them trick-or-treating and prepared for visitors of our own.

To check out more pictures of our resident superheroes, click here.

We took the girls out about 6:40 (after dinner and getting costumes in order); we didn’t run into other trick-or-treaters. Our neighborhood doesn’t have tons of kids, but there are a few around.  I had expected to see at least one or two costumed kids out there. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Nada. Not only that, but we didn’t receive any trick-or-treaters, either — we left candy and comics in a bowl on the front steps while we were gone. No takers. Oh, well. Their loss and more candy for us… like we needed it.

Saturday morning, Sara! headed off to quilting and Team DiVa and I hung out for a while. After Sara returned, I headed out to play in the “War of Light” HeroClix tournament at Dr. Volt’s. I went 1-2, but still had fun. Back home, Diana was starting to feel not-so-good, so we had a low-key afternoon around the house. I decided to see if there were any “new” cartoons that might be alright for the girls to watch. I was hoping to find something with Wonder Woman, but didn’t feel like giving Amazon money to watch old Super Friends episodes. I did, however, find episodes of Justice League of America and Teen Titans from 1967. The girls were able to readily identify Superman, Green Lantern, and The Flash from the JLA toons; they also mistook Wonder Girl for Wonder Woman in Teen Titans, but that was an easy mistake to clear up. On the plus side, they were rapt by the cartoons. Parenting win!

Sunday morning started early: 3 AM, when Diana started feeling sick (fever). She crawled into bed with Sara and me. For the next couple of hours, sleep became… not as easy as we would have liked. She went back to her room around 5 AM and we stole back to The Dreaming for a few more hours. After everyone was up, we went to breakfast at Millcreek Cafe and then took a Team DiVa-requested stroll around Wheeler Historic Farm. The girls took long naps, which afforded me the chance to put a major dent in cleaning up the Train Room. After nap time, the girls asked to watch more Teen Titans; so we did. Then it was time for Sara’s pre-birthday dinner at her parents’ house. Lamb curry. Pakora. Samosas. All good. Diana was still a little feverish and tired, so we put the girls to bed a little early.

Today, I’m playing Mr. Mom to one sick kid and one semi-sick kid, while trying to keep an occasional eye on work-related items… and watching more My Little Pony in one afternoon than I have in a month, apparently. That’s fine, though, because the cuddle factor makes it all worthwhile.

Namaste.

 

Sunday – 26 October 2014
As of 7:00 AM EDT, I officially turn(ed) 44.

This has been a good year. I’ve been fortunate and blessed enough to have spent it in the company of a great family and friends.

I took Friday off, as we have a project starting at work on Monday for which I need to be in the office. It’s surprising how much work I wound up having to do at various points in the day. By the time I had figured that I was done and could relax for the evening, one final thing cropped up. No rest for the wicked.

Yesterday, I didn’t get to sleep in quite as long as I would have liked, but you can’t really complain about a morning that starts with the little ladies coming in for “family cuddles.” Absolutely nothing wrong with that. We ran a couple of errands, including a trip to Dr. Volt’s. I picked up a few birthday presents for myself:

• Adventure Comics #371,
• Legion of Super-Heroes #2 (1973), and
• D&D Player’s Handbook (5th Edition) – not that I have a group with which to play, but “just because” is good enough. For now.

After nap time and running a couple more errands, we had family and a few friends over for cake and ice cream. Sara, made a Green Lantern-themed cake…

…and it was good! Being the parents to Team DiVa keeps us “kind of” busy, so we don’t always get the time to spend with others. It was nice to take a couple of hours to unwind, sit and just catch up. Time well spent, I’d say.

We wound down the night with the premiere of Constantine and Doctor Who “Forest of the Night.” I enjoyed Constantine – it felt closer to the source material than the movie starring Keanu Reaves – but it was definitely a first episode. There’s still new show smell (actors getting used to roles, a lot of easter eggs and foreshadowing) on it, but I’m going to give it a go. The Doctor Who episode, on the other hand, I think may be the weakest episode (thus far) of the season. Oh, well. They can’t all be gold.

Today, not sure what’s going to happen during the first part of the day, but I get to choose the menu for tonight’s family dinner/birthday dinner. It shall be burgers and brats. Selah. Added birthday bonus: There’s a Ravens game this morning/afternoon. I’m good with that.

Time to see what the day brings.

Namaste.