Random Access

Monday – 01 June 2015
It’s Monday. It’s the first of June. And… something something something-or-other.

There’s far too much blood in my caffeinestream for me to be writing a post this early. And it’s already been far too long of a day – I received a lovely wake up call from room service our after-hours monitoring company at 4:15. One issue was a non-issue, according to my manager, the other was… relatively minor in my book, but still needed some attention.

An hour and change later, after getting confirmation that the alerts had cleared, I headed back to bed. In the back of my head was a notion to go to the gym. I pushed it way back. As I laid in bed, I realized a couple of distinct possibilities:

1. I could fall asleep, just in time for my alarm to go off, or
2. I might not fall asleep and just get steadily more irritable at not being able to sleep.

I got up and went to the gym. I have to say that it was more crowded at 6 AM than I expected – the ellipticals were almost all in use and the treadmills appeared to be equally employed. So, I skipped cardio today.

But, I didn’t skip doing my leg workout. One of these days, when I’m a bit more coherent – or, Heaven forbid, I actually plan it out the night before – I’ll add a couple of things to my leg routine. Since I was early (and also because I missed a few days last week with st00pid work issues and/or a sick kid), I went ahead and did my chest and biceps routine.

Back home, started waking up Team DiVa – Vanessa requested We Will Rock You (so she could sing to it) and Diana, much to my surprise, requested Because the Night, by Patti Smith… and to my greater surprise: started singing it! Yep, that’s my kid. After that, it was shower time and I just want to go back to bed getting dressed and ready for the day time.

Let’s see what the day brings.

Workout
Today was a double-workout day:

• Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs (because I didn’t think to go do squats on the Smith rack)
• Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 x 8 x 65 lbs
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 115 lbs
• Decline Press: 3 x 8 x 95 lbs
• Dumbbell Fly: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Barbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 40 lbs
• Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Wrist Curls (fwd): 3 x 8 x 40
• Wrist Curls (rev): 3 x 8 x 40

And it was good.

Stray Toasters

• Over the weekend, Sara! and I watched John Woo’s The Killer. It made me realize just how long it’s been since I’d watched a John Woo film…
• Confession: I now own all of the currently-available Marvel figures for Disney Infinity.
• Sara introduced Team DiVa to Star Wars, by way of Vader’s Little Princess this weekend.
  
• The Single Ladies – DuckTales mashup makes my inner fiend grin.

I should probably figure out what I want to do for lunch…

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.

I forgot about this until friend posted something elsewhere: It’s Towel Day.

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!

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.

Wednesday – 22 April 2015
Today is Earth Day.

It is also No Bad News Thursday Eve.

But, possibly the most important news of the day is that my coworker, Brad, and I have come up with what could possibly be the best movie concept in the history of concepts that became movies.

We were deciding where to have lunch, when we settled on Five Guys. Then we started mutilating the name in Spanish: Cinco Hombres…

…which then became Cinco Muertes, “Five Deaths,”¹ to our amusement.

At that point, Brad suggested that the Wu Tang Clan should portray the Five Deaths. This was, in my opinion, a great idea. But, I took it one step further:

 Cinco Muertes Silenciosas: The Five Silent Deaths.

In the tradition of only the best kung-fu movies, The Five Silent Deaths set out to avenge the untimely death of their master from a rival clan… each of them taking a vow of silence until their rivals had been destroyed. Brad questioned how well this would work, as it seemed to be counterintuitive to have Wu Tang Clan unable to rap. This was a good point. I posited that they would only communicate by beat-boxing. (There could even be a cameo from Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh. Or even The Fat Boys.)

We let it go for a while and continued our drive to Five Guys.

Over lunch, we were talking about Nic Cage, King of the B Movies. It wasn’t long until our conversation turned towards The Rock – the best Michael Bay movie not to star Will Smith and not The Actor Also Known as Dwayne Johnson. For some reason, I then came to the conclusion that Nic Cage needed to star in a movie with Christopher Lloyd… and just let the crazy happen. Brad thought about this for a few moments and then noted that Crispin Glover should be added to the cast, along with Christopher Walken. I asked why not include Christian Bale, for some added intensity. Brad didn’t disagree.

Then, came the revelation: These five actors should be The Five Silent Deaths and that Wu Tang Clan could provide the soundtrack.

Somebody get me an agent, I have a movie to make.

¹ – Apologies for any horrible bastardization of the Spanish language in this post. I took Latin in high school, so Spanish isn’t exactly my strong suit.

Thursday – 02 April 2015
Another No Bad News Thursday draws to a close and I realize that it’s been a little while since I’ve blown the cobwebs off of here.

Life is good. I really can’t complain. Oh, sure, getting Team DiVa to actually go to sleep when we put them to bed can be… trying, but they’re kids. It’s normal. I just hope that this phase passes relatively quickly. (That’s normal, too, right? I mean, to hope for that as a parent…)

Last weekend, we took the girls up to Antelope Island. (On which, I have never seen antelope…) We did see bison, however. We also flew a kite and the girls threw rocks in the water. What can I say? It’s one of their favorite pastimes. They also touched the Great Salt Lake… and got a little muddy and sandy, which caused a little consternation on their parts/amusement on ours.

I also stopped at a train store not far from the island, Almosta Junction. Although, compared to the last time I was there, it could just as easily be called “Almost a train shop.” It was a bit sad to see how little inventory they had. That store is definitely a labor of love.

Later that evening, I went to hear Jonni Lightfoot and W. James Woods play at a local restaurant.

It was a good evening, until the waitress – not 10 minutes after I had paid – came back to tell me that they had no record of me having done so.

*grblsnrkx*

Fortunately, my bank and its app, had my back. Right there on the screen, big as day and twice as bright, was the charge against my account. Idiotsticks.

Stray Toasters

• We “cut the cord” last week. We bought an HD over-the-air antenna (which has been great) and are just using our Roku (with Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Sling). It’s been good. I do miss the flexibility of having a DVR to catch the things we miss, but I’ve been able to stream those shows, so no major loss.
• This past Sunday was Palm Sunday. Every year, I recall the song Palm Sunday Downpour, as done by a trio of guys I know who used to go by the band name: Hat. On a lark, I decided to see if I could find a copy of the song on the ‘tubes. Lo and behold, I did. Not only that, It’s been updated and redone by one of the original band members, Christian Scott Martin. It’s not quite the version I remember, but it’s pretty damned close.
  
• I’ve been playing – and enjoying the crap out of – Disney Infinity. I just finished the Avengers Play Set a few days ago. The final boss, a Frost Giant monster, took out my entire Avengers lineup. I wound up having to finish it off with Rocket Raccoon, which made me grin like a fiend. God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, I’ll probably get started on the Guardians of the Galaxy set this weekend.
• Boom de yada
  Boom de yada
  Boom de yada
  Boom de yada
• Words that I never thought I’d string together: “Read this insurance company fan-fic.“

That’s good for now. And, I can still get it in under the wire and still call it “today.” Nice.

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.

Monday – 02 February 2015
A few days ago, I set up an inexpensive standing desk in my cubicle at work. Why? Because I could. Also, because I have gotten tired of sitting in a chair for eight hours (plus or minus). I occasionally used a standing desk when I worked for the USPS; it provided a nice change of pace and I enjoyed the option of going from a seated desk to the standing one.

I had a few “technical difficulties” getting things set up the way I liked, but I’ve managed to work the bugs out of the system and things are working well now.

When I started working this morning, the following popped into my head:

Tony Stark: [Covering his eye, looks around] How does Fury even see these?

Maria Hill: He turns.

Tony Stark: Sounds exhausting.

Which made me think of this…

…despite the fact that I wore my long leather coat today, my standing desk and I aren’t nearly quite as cool looking.

Namaste.

Monday – 02 February 2015
Not only is it Monday…

…it’s Groundhog Day.
(Be glad you’re not Bill Murray. Or this clock, as the case may be.)

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.

This afternoon, I went to the local Toys ‘R’ Us and picked up a new Disney Infinity Play Set. Since Sara! Got me a Nick Fury figure for Christmas, I decided to get the Avengers set…

…only to discover that I can’t the figure in this set. (He’s part of the Spider-Man set, apparently.) Oh, well. So I started out with Iron Man and then Thor and finally Captain America.

And I’ve been having a blast. Possibly even more fun than I should. And that’s just fine with me.

Namaste.