Ugg.

I have a headache and my stomach is a mess. I know I'm sick because I actually had a dream where I was sick. Then woke up feeling the same.

I had a dream that a group of people were using dinosaurs to take over the world. I was one of the few survivors along with, of all people, Martin Sargent. We found him in a house that was literally filled with hundreds of thousands of old wrestling magazines. It was scary. It would have been better if we let the dinosaurs eat him. I blame it on a late night conversation with Stef last night. Since she's the biggest MS fan on earth. Or so I say ... she's probably going to hit me for exposing her dirty little secret to the world. She says she likes Kevin, but everyone knows Canadian girls go for M A R T I N.

Reuploading parts of the sites right now. When I resized photos the other day I noticed that I hadn't done the 10% compression the last time I did captures so I ended up reconverting them as well. So HOPEFULLY those George W. Bush captures will be a bit easier to download now without too much quality loss.

Last night the Trio channel had a show on called "American Mullets" where they featured, well, fat people with mullets. Nothing wrong with being fat, however, a 250-lb. woman who looks exactly like Penn Gillette of Penn & Teller going on and on about her mullet is liberating and how the world needs to get over gender roles and accept her and her mullet as the sexiest ... okay at that point I flipped the channel. I was able to sit through the Billy Ray Cirus look alike because he wasn't too bad, but female Penn with a mullet just scared the hell out of me. I thought I was going to have nightmares about it but I dreamt about people riding dinosaurs and using them to eat people instead. Go figure.

We still should have let Martin to all those wrestling magazines.

Why couldn't I have dreamt about Morgan? Finding her in a house full of wrestling magazines would be strange, but dammit, it's MORGAN, you know, the current femme fatale of TechTV. The girl that they're pairing with Cat because Cat's popular with the executives but they realize that they need Morgan there to balance out the segment or NO ONE WILL WATCH. Plus they're hoping that she'd get seduced by all the attention and finally put on the bikini and make their dreams come true.

Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.

Days like this I miss soda at 8 am.

k9

Steal Someone's Entry Day

This is an insane idea from Rachel, aka, Moopie. Steal someone's blog entry day.

I stold her's from Oomph-girl.

"International Steal Someone's Entry Day
I declare today International Steal Someone's Entry Day. Yeah, it's going to be the raddest new thing. I'm not really one to start these things, and well, my blog isn't too well known, but I'm totally bored and I'm going to see what I can do. So, what do I have to do? Ok, so find someone's blog entry that you want to steal, write a comment and put International Steal Someone's Entry Day linked to your entry where you will copy their entry and put it in your blog. Make sure you link the person you stole it from. It can be any entry of someones.

So for my International Steal Someone's Entry Day I stole Julie's entry named "Hump Day"

it's morning.
it's snowing.
i have to work.

i am going to have a good day, even if i have to kill someone.
--------------------------------------------

And that's there is all to it! I have a feeling no one will do my insanly stupid idea. If you do, please leave me a comment in my blog, I want to see all the people who participated."
-------------------------------------
There I stole the blog entry of someone who was stealing the blog entry of someone else! Mohahahaha.

I'm going to blow your minds.

k9

test

Blogger ate this entry. Damn blogger.

Monday Morning

I feel like hell. It's 4 degees out and I don't want to move. I'm up and I'm at the computer now. Didn't sleep all that great because I didn't check what time I was working (turns out to be 9 am) and I was all worried about getting up on time. Of course I woke up at 8, since I ALWAYS WAKE UP AT 8.

My cat, Bubbagump, is obsessed with my laundry basket. He was lying in it last night around midnight when I went into my bedroom. I let him sleep in it until I went down and got my final load of laundry. Came back in my room, emptied the basket and got in bed. About a minute later he threw my door open and jumped right back into the basket. So I want to go to bed about 10 minutes later. I try to explain it to him. I'm like "Uh, Gump, time for bed dude, you pee in here if I let ya stay and close the door ... so like it's time to go ..." and he glared at me. I tried to pick him up and he tried to bite me. I just gave up, picked up the laundry basket, and carried it to the computer room. He didn't move. He's obsessed with that darn thing.

I'm reconverting jpgs now. I forgot to change them to 10% compression. So they were frigging huge. This is how life is. I'm so bored that I'm talking about file compression. Oh god. Shoot me. I didn't even drink and I'm hung over. What the hell?

I'm going to go back to bed for 24 minutes.

k9

The TSS Curse

It's Sunday night and I'm half watching the Superbowl. I really don't care for either team, but I guess I hate the Raiders more so go Bucs. It's 20-3 in the 3rd right now and hopefully there will be a lot of dejection on the TSS set tomorrow. Let's face it, anytime they openly and obnoxiously cheer for a team (World Series anyone?), that team gets crushed. If you're a betting person, anytime the TSS set gets obnoxious about ANYTHING -- put all your money on the other team, it's the curse of death.

Since no one is around (hey everyone has a life), and I'm not working tonight, I decided to convert some of my mpg captures to bmp then I'll convert them to jpg file for use on the site. I capture in mpg-1 format then I take a program called VideMatch (http://www.videomatch.com) to convert them to bmp files. It crops out the noise that the channel produces at the top of the capture (any time you see lines at the top of a screen shot, that's what I'm talking about), and resizes them back to 320x240 bmps for me. I then take them into paintshop pro and batch convert them to jpg files since psp produces smaller jpg files natively than videomatch.

27-3 Bucs now.

I'm not totally off-line. I have my AOL pager up now. Just checking my mail (an obsession). Watched the Saturday Night Live Superbowl special instead of the lame ass ABC halftime show. Okay, so I flipped back to see Sting with No Doubt, but it was still total crap. Last year with U2 they did it perfectly. It was subtle, it was awe inspiring, and it was tasteful. This year? Eh.

34-3 Bucs now.

Last year was a great game that came down to the last second. This year? Along with the return of the horribly bad half time show, ta-da, it's a blowout. The Raiders have no chance. They need a major miracle to have any chance to get back into this and I hope to god one of the Raiders comes on TSS and beats the hell out of everyone. It is the TSS curse.

Okay Raiders coming back 34-10 now. Maybe the TSS curse is letting up.

Wow. Blocked punt and 34-15 Raiders. Maybe something is happening. Nah. Just getting tired in the 2nd half.

Once these captures finish converting, I screen the conversions and take out shots that I don't need or shots that contain text that I can't use. It's one thing to have a great shot of Morgan that I can use, it's another with her having a great shot of her with "Windows XP Sucks" underneath it. Okay, I know no one cares, but I do. I like to use shots that make logical sense so I don't have to refer to them in the strip to explain them.

34-21. Hmm.

41-21. 1:18 to go. TSS curse. Remember that.

48-21. 0:02 to go. Just remember, next time the TSS set gets obnoxious about something, put your money on the other team. That's one thing you have to remember. If you had put money on the Bucs tonight you'd have thanked me.

I'm outta here,

k9

Sunday Morning

Man, I'm out of it. I'm at work but there's not much going on. I'm watching Chevy Chase in "Funny Farm" again and wondering if I'll ever find a life. Let alone, get over my strange obsession for this movie. SOMEONE make it go away. Please.

It's going to get cold today then it's going to warm up to all of 23 degrees F on tomorrow. That's a heat wave compared to tomorrow, with the high of 15 and low of 1. It's allegedly going to snow today, but god only knows if that's true. I'm now glad that I bought the video card instead of the snow blower. We haven't had an inch of snow since the day I was going to buy one and decided not to. Typical. At least I'm using the video card.

Friday night I actually recorded my first DVD quality recording. I taped the new Penn & Teller show off of Showtime. On the show they debunked (debunking, for those who don't know is proving something is a lie; such as debunking a myth means you're proving it was just a story and not based on truth), the psychics who allegedly talk to the dead. Due to legal constraints they couldn't call the psychics liars. However, they could call them vulgarities such as "BS Artists" and "Assholes." It resulted in more swearing in one 30 minute show than I've heard in a while (with the exception of Moopster on a rampage).

It showed exactly what I expected: most psychics are apparently con artists. When you watch one of those "talking to the dead" shows, you're not seeing the fact that the psychic often talks to his or her subjects before the show and specifically asks them who they're trying to contact. You're also not seeing the amout of "misses" (or getting things completely wrong), that the psychic produces during the session because of the heavy editing for TV. Penn & Teller went so far as to have their own "psychic" do readings for people as compared to another "psychic" who does it professionally. Their psychic did the "readings" as well or better than the "professional psychic." The thing is, their psychic wasn't a psychic at all. He was a reformed con man who works closely with groups who debunk things like this.

People want to believe we can talk to the dead. "Psychics" know this and they use a general pattern of information gathering in order to produce "hits" and make you believe. They make a lot of money doing this. They also have the people who attend these services sign binding non-disclosure agreements so they can't talk about anything that goes on at the tapings. They have something to hide and they're going to keep on doing this for as long as people want to hand over gobs of money for being lied to ...

Oh well, back to work.

k9

Saturday Night

Okay so I'm watching "Trading Spaces" for the first time since my obsession with the red head ended. Looks like the California blonde is still on it ... but it's not the same. The red head was so cute then she got pregnant and ... got absolutely evil! I don't think she's on the show any more.

I overdid it today. It's going to be well below 0F tomorrow night and it's supposed to snow all day tomorrow. I ended up getting more wood for my folks because my dad is obsessed with the pipes freezing. He thinks that if he falls asleep the downstairs is going to get cold and the pipes will freeze. I put a portable heater down by the pipes but I got up this morning and found he had unplugged it. Why? I don't know. I give up.

My toes hurt. I was going to give up the pain pills yesterday. The way it's hurting today I'm so glad I didn't throw them out. Dear god.

My mom picked up my comics when she was down south this week, alas, she's been away the past couple of days so I didn't get them until today. So tonight I bagged six months worth of comics, coming 5 comics short on bags, dammit. For those who don't know better (Moops), bagging means putting protective comic book bags on them. Some people put comic boards in the bags with the comics too, but I dislike boards. My comics are for reading and boards get in the way. Some people have them professionally graded and permanently sealed (which increases their value by 800% if you believe E-bay sales), but again, my comics are for reading. You can't enjoy a comic if you can't read it.

Started another book today, "the Pentagon Wars" by James Burton. I saw the movie adaption of it on HBO the other day (a very dark comedy), but the book goes into far more details. While the movie focuses on Burton's fight to get the Bradley Fighting vehicle tested under actual combat conditions (you know, like, to see if it could actually withstand the stuff the bad guys were going to throw at it), the book covers that -- and the reforms that a group of people brought to the United States military from the 70's onward.

It's a very interesting book so far and I'll go off on it one of these days. I'll keep ya posted.

k9

More Stuff

It was incredibly stupid of me to try to drive today. I'll say that. Even though I bought myself Wendy's for dinner and I'm happy, walking around the Giant Grocery store to get to the bank and then walking around Wal-Mart was enough to convince me that I'm a dumbass. I really am. I should have just said no when my mom asked me to take her check in.

Bought an Adam Sandler 2 back. "Mr. Deeds" and "Big Daddy." It was on sale for $28 or so. Of course I take the plastic off of it and the security devices off of it then open the little box up to find ... both DVDs are covered in even more security devices? Ugg. I hate them. I always warp the plastic on my DVDs by trying to take them off.

Okay, officially pissed off at Wendy's nows. I asked for no tomatoes and they spoiled my sandwich by sticking them on them. It's not like I hate tomoatoes, I'm just not in a tomato mood, hence, ordering no tomatoes. Grr. I want to send Chellie to Okto Smash them.

Grr.

k9

Afternoon Stuff

It's 1:36 PM and I'm sitting in my computer room waiting for the mailman to get here. My mom is out of town and if her check comes in I have to go over to the bank and deposit it for her. Not looking forward to the drive, and I can get out of it if he doesn't get here by 2:15 or so. I'm so not looking forward to dirving but if I have to, I will.

I have both of my blinds open in this room, a very rare sight, so I can see out. I don't hate the sun, I just don't like it in my computer room all that often. The cats are amazed that my room seems to be glowing with all the sunlight.

The clock is ticking on the mailman. I'm so hoping he doesn't get here in time. I showered and shaved and got ready to go and even warmed up the car already. But it hurts to walk in shoes and I don't want to go out. I cursed myself for not asking for crutches. Oh well, I could never figure those out anyway. Plus they would have charged my insurance company hundreds of dollars for them. I wonder what the bill is going to be like for xrays and doctor visit is going to be like. Dammit, why can't we be like Canada?

I updated my techtv links today. Also stuck some general sites in there that have been linking to us but I didn't know about it. Including the Steve from Dell fansite. Hey, they get us hits, go figure.

Still no mail, cross your fingers ...

k9

The Next Day

I think the best part of American Idol is how horrible these people are. I don't know if I'm going to watch the regular show since they're going to be better than the auditions. Though I'm sure the songs are going to be as lame as the audition list. I'm going to have nightmares of really bad renditions of "My Girl," let alone these horrible renditions of the star spangled banner. I knew the lyrics to that song when I was 3 years old. I really did. How can you go to an audition and NOT know the words to it? I'm in so much pain here. My ears are ringing. What is it that makes me watch this show?

At least 70's show was on. I love that show.

To Brit: your dream you described in my guestbook means you're Supergirl, you know? Invulnerable. Just keep that in mind. Don't let anyone get ya down.

To Evil James: Great, the stalker wrote me another letter, this time from yahoo (after I've blocked every other address), saying "I'm never writing you again, I don't want to be your friend ..." Hasn't written me back yet.

To Moopie Rachel: You're so marrying Kirby. Proud of you for your exams and history project.

To Stef: That was so mean. I don't even remember webcam. As revenge, I'm so writing Martin to tell him of your unbridled looooooooooooooooooove for him.

To everyone else: Peace. Joy. Love. I'm so not remembering this morning.

One more week of pain pills, might as well take advantage of them while I have them. :)

k9

Later that that

I'm half awake. It took me about an hour and change to finish bringing wood to the side of the house. They literally had nothing outside and only a few pieces of wood inside. I stacked it until it was well over my head and hopefully it'll be enough to get them through until Sunday.

I'm not going to waste time bitching about it. It was 10 degrees out with heavy winds and I could barely get my foot in my oversized boots. It was as bad as it sounds. Just leave it at that. I fell over afterwards and got about an hour of sleep before I got up. I hurt like hell and that's that. It's what life is right now. Just one never ending pain in the foot.

k9

A Little Later

Can you see the signs of my insanity? I watched "Funny Farm" again after the Bradys ended. Right now I'm apparently watching "American Idol 2" because I forgot that it was on instead of that 70's show. I never actually saw an episode of the first one so this is a new thing for me. I've heard that the one host is a complete bastard and that I'll turn it off in disgust after a few minutes, but hey, I'm not going to remember any of this anyway.

I'm in pain and I'm at work. In the other window I'm putting together a bio on wrestler Bill Goldberg for our live chat on Monday. See, I actually do work. I just take time out to fall over from time to time. In an hour I'm going to go haul wood so you'll hear the story of that later on today when I've forgotten I've blogged twice already today and will be blogging again. It's that simple.

Somewhere today I've figured out the next 8 strips to finish this season. I've got a predictable plot twist coming up. If you haven't figured it out now, then you're probably among most of the readers out there. All 26 of you. You won't see this coming. Why? Because we're breaking new ground. Well, no. Not really. If you've been watching the Screen Savers ...

I think I'm about to turn off American Idol 2. Not because of Simon, because I can't stand the singing. I know my own faults. I know I can't sing. But I'm also so confident in my lack of abilities that I wouldn't go on a show like that. It's that simple. I suck. I admit it. That's all. No amount of weird clothes, weird hair, or implants will change that.

I'll be back after I try to die out on the wood pile.

k9

A Very Brady ...

I'm not awake. It's 8 degrees F out, as usual both doors were frozen shut. I staggered into the computer room, turned on the TV and ... it's the Bradys. Damn my Brady obsession. No, not the originals, the demented 90's remake movies. They're so demented that they're ... damn. It's going to be a great day!

Yes, I've gone crazy again. I really have. I hate my Tuesday night phone meetings. Since I work online the only time we really get together is in these dumb weekly phone conferences. Nothing ever gets done and I tell ya, these people are driving me crazy. Just blah blah blah blah on and on about the stupidest things. I usually just shut up and throw out zingers now and then. Last night I was too drugged to do anything but growl, it didn't matter. We still went 5 minutes overtime and the same person's yapping kept us over.

Ah, the drug sequence. Alice finds mushrooms in the bad guy's bag and puts some in his meal. Of course they're poisonous and he has a trip of the Brady Kids as cartoons like something out of the 70's Brady Kids cartoon. Oh, those were the days. Everyone had a poorly produced cartoon in the 70's. Everyone had a band too. The Archies and the Bradys were the same. The Partridge Family in Space ... oh, joy. Remember, this was before cable -- we took any entertainment we could get.

As a very small child I used to get up at 5 am on Saturdays in order to watch children's programming. I'd watch Abbot & Costello reruns (yes, half my readers are going "who?"), and then they'd put on "the Kroft Supershow," which always scared the hell out of me. Especially when the Bay City Rollers were on. They were dreamy. Err. Umm. Yah. Sometimes they'd put the ultra cool "Land of the Lost" on and I'd be in dinosaur heaven before cartoons started. In those days you could go from 5 am until 11 am with solid cartoons and mindless entertainment. No educational crap, cartoons, baby, cartoons. It was awesome.

Of course ratings went down and it was too expensive to produce all those cartoons. The 90's ushered in the cheaply produced kids shows like "Saved by the Bell" and more cut backs until, well, Saturdays suck for kids shows. I mean this generation will never see the glory of "the Munchichis" or "Mr. T and the T Team." I mean good stuff there, sheesh. "Rubik's Cube" was another, let alone "the Snorks." God, those were the days.

I have to be to work in 13 minutes. I'm grumpy, cold and in pain. This is going to be a great day.

k9

Tuesday Midafternoon

Kinda down on myself because I didn't make it through until noon. With the cold and just the fact that my toes are broken and these things hurt like hell I didn't make it until noon without taking a pain killer. It was to the point where I couldn't think and wouldn't be in any shape to drive had I not taken one, yet once I took one I can't drive anyway. My mom hadn't left yet for whatever adventure she's going on today so I ended up going back to bed.

Tomorrow I have to bring wood in. She just announced that she's going to my god mother's house over night thursday night for some event going on down that way. She wasted all her free time this week playing video games so they don't have more than a day's worth of wood down there. I was going to do it today when she took my dad my dad to the dentist but I ended up falling asleep way early. I swear I'm turning into Stef with these early naps. Awake 3 hours then out like a light for 2, then up and atom for the rest of the day (she does this, but at night so she's up all night).

My mom gets frazzled a lot when it comes to fast food. Today's latest escapade saw her pick me up Burger King but decide that since I was going to nap I didn't want a soda. Since Burger King (to me anyway), is just as good reheated, and sodas always need to be cold anyway -- I don't know what she was thinking. Had I been asleep when she got home she could have just put everything in the fridge. But it's just part of a weird pattern when she gets fast food.

A couple of weeks back she decided to buy us Subway. She asked me what I wanted. I said half of one sandwich and half of another. She brought back two entirely different things than what I had asked for because she figured I didn't want two hot sandwiches. Before that it was taco bell. I wanted a gordita and an order of 7 layer nachoes. I asked her to get a chicken gordita. She brought back chicken everything. 2 orders of chicken nachoes, chicken gorditas, even chicken soft tacos (It took 2 days to finish all that food with everyone eating!). She confuses me. It's all good and at least she's through the phase where she was ordering honey mustard on everything. Just don't ask.

I think I'm going to try to wake up and play some MAME games before I figure out the next couple of strips today. Remember, if you like the strips, tell people about them and link us please. I can afford the bandwidth now that I'm not being charged $5-$10 extra a month because someone was linking a picture of Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds, for example, in the messages on Fark.com and hosing me with the bandwidth fees. So let us be a little secret no more.

My eternal thanks,

k9

Tuesday Early

This is one of those days that I don't want to be awake. I'm at work, working 8-11 today and immediately after work today I have to drive my dad to the dentist. I really don't want to do this as I can't take my pain meds today until after I'm done driving. It's also about 4 degrees outside so I have the usual aches and pains associated with severe cold. My foot hurts like hell, thanks for asking.

I had a strange dream last night, which is normal when I'm trying to wake myself up at a specific time. Last night's dream was that I was back in high school and it was finals week. I was cleaning out my gym locker when I discovered someone had stuffed my locker with half cooked sausage as a joke. After cleaning that out somehow I missed my accounting exam and spent the rest of the dream wandering around the hallways looking for the room to take the makeup exam. The only other thing I remember is that I saw Moopie and Stef going into the guidance counselor's office together and there were long long lines of kids trying to sell their books back to the school. So maybe it was college and not high school. I'm not sure, all I'm sure of is that it woke me up on time.

So I wake up and sign on to work and find new e-mail from my latest stalker. I'm going public with this since the guy is acting more and more weird and should I ever vanish, I want it on record that I'm being stalked. He was a nutcase on our message boards so after a year and a half of warnings we banned him. He came back with a new account and got banned again. Since then he's been sending me death threats. Each time he gets kicked off of one service, he just moves to the another and it's all the same. Today I've had to block all msn.com users from sending my work name mail since MSN is refusing to do anything about him. Thankfully, no one I know actually uses MSN and the only mail I get from that domain comes from spammers so it's not a big loss.

Also, thankfully, I'm a nut about my privacy so I'm not listed anywhere under my real name. In the state I live there's 7 men listed by my real name in the AT&T directories and none of them are me. You can hunt down every guy by that name and beat them up, I guess, but it would take quite a while for them to get to me. If you do that, it's pretty much proof that you're a certified nutjob and you'll be spending a lot of time in jail. Anywho, just want it out there in case I ever vanish. I'm going to be establishing a page online that collects all his threats and someone near and dear to me will have that URL in case anything happens.

All I know is people are crazy online. Sports fans are crazier yet and I've known my share of nuts over the years. I won't change my life for this guy and I won't live in fear but I will take steps to protect myself and those I care about.

Speaking of crazy, yes, I did 4 strips yesterday. I might do more today if I'm inspired. They're a bit edgier than normal, I admit, but let's face it, this is the direction TechTV is going so the satire based on TechTV should follow. I still have lines that I won't cross and it won't get more extreme than this. Promise.

On that note, I'm off to try to wake up.

k9

Ugg

We've got about an hour of daylight left and it's about 23 degrees F out. It's going to dip back down to about 7 or 8 degrees tonight. Yesterday morning we started the day at 1 degree F. So my parents have been going through a lot of wood.

Right now I'm limping around. In order to do wood I'll have to get my feet into my oversized boots and go out there and pull and push a heavy cart around. I'm not looking forward to this, but I'm under the impression that I'm going to spend tomorrow afternoon doing this because it's now 3 PM and my mom has wasted the daylight playing video games on the computer downstairs.

Sundays are important because these are the days where no one is around, no emergancies are cropping up and I get the wood for the week. If you blow Sunday I don't usually get a chance to do wood again without majorly overhauling my schedule until mid-week. They know this. They also know I'm in pain and it's going to be a major thing to do. So they've said "oh don't worry, we'll get the wood."

Tomorrow they'll be freezing to death and I'll be out there getting wood. Bank on it. My folks are idiots at times. You can't rely on them. You can't count on them. You have to do everything yourself or else it doesn't get done. Including getting them wood so they won't freeze to death, I guess.

Arrrrg.

k9

Sunday Morning

I can't think. I did two strips last night. I'm probably going to do more later when I'm feeling better. I've been at work since 8 am and I'm just not having a good day. I want to go out and do wood today. Seriously, I do. The last thing I want to do is sit here on my butt as my folks try to haul it in. Mainly I'm particular. I have a way of stacking wood. I have a way of bringing it in. I know exactly how to stack it safely and I know where to take it from. It's bugging me that someone else is going to be out there on my pile doing god knows what to my wood. I'm insane, I know.

I'm watching "Power Rangers Time Force" because the alternative is watching "Ernest Goes to Jail." I'm not kidding. Those were the highlights of what's on tv today. Thanks to Brit for the power rangers guide. Today is some sort of ultra power rangers crossover special and I'm still trying to figure it all out. I mean it's mindless entertainment, but I'm such a continuity freak that I need to know why this character did this or that character did that and how their actions tie into other things from other series. It's not just power rangers, it's everything. I'm nuts.

I do that in strips as well. We do have a tight continuity. I set things up that I'll come back to in future seasons. I do it on purpose because it's fun to go back and go "Oh wow, that was set up back in season 1!" Or it is to me. But I'm nuts. Did I mention that?

I've got a killer start to season 15 ready to go up. I'm going to do 2 more today once I get some ideas and then go back to putting 4 up a week. So please tell your friends. Please link us. Now that we're not getting absolutely killed by picture links, I have spare bandwidth so PLEASE tell everyone about it once they go up. You'll have my eternal thanks.

Lastly big thanks to Moopie aka Rachel who has been in charge of coming up with season names for a few seasons now. Her Kirby obsession came in handy with this season's title. She's gonna marry him, no doubt.

k9

Friday Night

Driving was a mistake this morning. I bitch that the pills aren't dulling the pain, but I was wrong. I just didn't know how much pain I actually was in without the pain meds. Trying to drive, while just the littlest pressure on my toes makes me want to yell things that only a sailor or Rosanne Barr would appreciate, wasn't the brightest move I've made. Then I came home and then forgot to take a pill before trying to get a nap in. Again, not the brightest move I've made in a while.

I'm not making bright moves lately. It's one of those times in my life were I'm facing a lot of things alone again and it's a fact that alone I am not ready to face the world. As much as I hate it, I need people. I need good friends close by to get me through things, but now, especially now that I'm drugged out of my mind and trying to heal, I'm faced with emptiness. My fault, I guess, I don't know. But I'm sitting here in a daze and I can't concentrate enough to finish the strips I've started. I have a few laid out now but i haven't written them yet as, well, what's funny in a drugged state might not translate well.

I'm not big into drugs. I'm not big into alcohol. I have the tolerance level of stereotypical blonde air headed preppy coed. One drink is all it takes. To get me to pass out or barf or act inappropriately and embarrass myself that is. My natural clutziness is enhanced by anything out of the ordinary and frankly, I avoid any mood altering or reality changing things like the plague. Frankly, I'm dreading hearing stories of what I'd do when I'd be drunk since I'm naturally strange and I've never been out of control. I'm actually quite reliable, though. When things are bad, I'll get you home, regardless of how messed up I may be.

So I have the fastest video card on the planet. Regardless of the TSS-Nvidea bias. So what did I spend the night playing? 15 year old games on MAME. LOL. Yes, games I was playing the year Moops was born. I'm still quite bad at them. Especially ANYTHING with the word "Mario" in it. I don't know what the secret of Mario games are other than they all are conspiring against me. I used to be okay at Super Mario Kart's death match mode, but then again Evil James and I would only play that when the Toys R Us had the Super Nintendo display hooked up. I don't think I've actually bought anything with Mario in it because I'm SEGA biased and always will be.

I saw the Super Mario Movie. I had a crush on Samantha Mathis in the 90's, so sue me. She was the only reason to watch the movie. Seriously. Even Dennis Hopper couldn't save that movie from being nominated as one of the worst movies I've ever seen. God fear Mario.

"Hey Pretty" by Poe is the sexiest song ever and it's taking me off to bed.

k9

Quickly

No pain meds this morning so I can drive. If anyone wants to be weirded out, I have a picture of my broken toes up on the webcam. You can see my tiny hooved feet on webcam. Whoo hoo.

k9

Half Awake

It's Thursday night, I'm half awake. Watching the end of TSS and waiting for the oven to heat up to cook a frozen pizza. Also waiting for a few minutes to take another painkiller. I'm going to have to go without it tomorrow morning because I have to drive. I'm not supposed to do anything with the pain killers they have me on and you know what? I know why. I was totally zonked today. I was walking around like Ozzy Osbourne. By 3 or so I got dizzy so I ended up sleeping the rest of the afternoon away. It was nice ... but lol, so zonked.

About to watch "Reign of Fire" with Matthew McConaughey. I know, I have to be drugged to want to see the movie (from the reviews anyway), but I wanted to see it. Oh wow. LOL. I couldn't work the roll of aluminum foil. Seroiusly. I couldn't figure it out. Yah, I should be driving. LOL. God help me. I'm so out of it I even turned on "Friends." Ugg. I don't know who any of these characters are. It's the regular idiots along with a bunch of people I don't recognize. This is why I gave up on the series in the first place.

Dear god. Help me.

k9

Later than Normal

I spent the last hour or so just blankly starring at the computer screen. I'm totally drugged. I have no resistance. The pain is still pretty bad in my foot but the drugs they put me on have pretty much have me less concerned about everything than I should be. I feel like driving and going out right now. I just don't care. Nothing holding me back, except reality, which I have a firm grasp on. I'm a dreamer, yet a realist. I'm high on painkillers, yet I know I can't drive. Feet firmly on the ground because I can't move them high enough to fly. Not reaching for the stars, not doing anything unusual, just sitting here blankly wondering why.

I know why. I'm a dumbass. I do dumb things. There's no avoiding it and no preparing for it because I'm going to do them and there's nothing that can change it.

Sophie B. Hawkins and "the one you have not seen" taking me out as I end the night.

k9

For those playing along at home ...

I'm so drugged. Hairline fractures in my 2nd and 3rd toes of my right foot. No need for a cast. Just tape them up and try not to walk on them.

Pain is good.

k9

Quick Update

I went to the doctor, the doctor's aid had me take my foot out of my shoe and without really seeing it she say "well I know one thing ..." "what's that?" "You're going for xrays!"

So I went for xrays.

It's a possible break. They'll know later on today and they'll call me to come in if I need a cast.

I took the day off from work. They gave me major pain pills and I'm flying higher than a kite.

Oh boy. Gooooooooooooooooood drugs.

k9

Mother of ...

(Written via AOL pager at 3AM)

Writing to you from bed. I can't do much else at the moment. If you saw my last blog you'll know that i really did it this time.

I have my foot up on some pillows and it is hard to do anything with it, especially sleep. It is one black and blue mess and since i normally sleep on my tummy, lying on my back is not at all comfortable especially with it in the air.

My friend brandi yelled at me to put it in the air. Since i am in so much pain, i listened. But it hasn't helped dull the pain, it just made it difficult to sleep.

I tried sleeping earlier. Ended up having this dream that i was with two friends and we were walkig down a long tunnel. We kept getting freaked out because the flashlight i had would cast weird reflections and rainbow patterns in the light.

We kept running out of the tunnel because we thought it was haunted. So finally i drug both of them back in the tunnel because i was tired of stopping and starting over. I said to hell with the ghosts, this is silly, let's see where it takes us.

That is where it got scary to me in real life and i woke up. I have been up since. I hate this. I can't concentrate.

Gonna try to sleep,

K9
(Hours later, I have a doctor's appointment in an hour. Cross your fingers. I'm an idiot.)

Pain

Last month I thought I broke a toe. Turns out it was a painful spider bite and it went away. Call me Michael Jackson.

Last year I really did break a toe. Smashed it good in a door frame.

This year ... I think I broke 2. For real giant bruises and swelling as I sit here downing aleve.

After my weekly phone meeting was over I went downstairs. My mom was bitching because she couldn't split a piece of wood. She bitches at me until I try it. Mind you I'm half awake and I'm in my socks. I give it a couple of whacks and the ax, which had been stuck in the wood, is now really stuck in the wood. So I lift the axe up and swing and ... the rigging wood goes flying off right on my right foot.

Pain like you wouldn't believe. Right now the 2nd toe on my right foot is almost as big as my big toe. lol. Pain. Joy. I just wanted to go to bed. Now I'm contemplating the hospital as we end the day.

k9

Moopie

For those who are asking, Rachel is Moopie. You can visit her at her page.

She scares me most.

k9

Avoiding ...

I have to go to work in 24 minutes. I really don't want to, but I'm scheduled to work and I haven't signed in over there all day. Hate to see this goof off day go by the wayside, but I sort of needed it.

For those who are following my comic collection, looks like I just lost another book. Paradise X is coming to an end soon. I was always "eh" about the series. It was based on a great series called "Earth X" from a couple of years back. It became "Universe X" as soon as that run ended and now is "Paradise X." The story involves an alternate Marvel Universe's future. The art is okay, but the story is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too complex to get into here. It looks like the run is ending just as ...

... Marvel Comics is raising prices from $2.25 to $3.00 on two of the books I read. In April or May they're going to raise prices on Exiles and Captain Marvel. Since I'm going to drop Fantastic Four, that sort of makes up for the price increase on these books, but dang, Thor is getting the price increase as well and I was going to pick that up. Now I'm having second thoughts. I know half of my titles are getting canceled lately and I have money to spend, but I don't like paying $3 a comic.

When I started buying comics they were $.25. Then they were $.35. Up to $.50 the $.60 then $.75 and $1 and on and on and on. Now they range from $2.25 to $3 (with some specials going up to $4). Why? Mainly because not a lot of people are buying comics any more and the cost of paper has gone up. So to make a profit they have to charge the consumers even more to buy them. The catch 22 here is that as they increase the price of the books, folks like me go "Yeoch, I can't afford this any more ..." and buy less and less books. Lets face it, the days of guys buying 2 copies of each book they read a month (one for bagging, one for reading), went by the wayside years ago. People are having hard times buying ONE copy of a book and if things keep up, well, the industry is doomed.

Sales are down, even with the spider-man movie. Daredevil is going to boost more than one book for Marvel. The Hulk? 1 book, maybe. I bet Hulk beats Daredevil in sales even with Ben Affleck on board the DD movie. DD looks god awful to me and I have no real desire to see it. The Hulk? Probably. Just for the smashing ... :)

Oh well, getting my mind back together before I try to head into work.

3 blogs in a day. Wow. :)

k9

Dumb.

I don't have to be to work until 7 PM tonight. The only thing I had to day was an early morning doctor's appointment and I've pretty much had the day to myself since then. So far I've done nothing. Blogged a bit earlier, played some games, watched "not another teen movie" on DVD and took a nap. Right now I turned on the scariest show on earth, CNN's "Talkback Live."

Right now the subject is if tiles painted by the parents of the Columbine high school massacre can contain religious symbols. It's a public school. Well, it's been dumbed down to a religious symbol issue. The parents were told that the tiles can't contain such things as religious symbols, anything that would remind kids of a massacre, anything controversial at all. They agreed to it and the controversy is about some father who decided to put thirteen crosses and a bible verse on his title. Uh DUH, total violation of the rules he agreed to. So he sued when they said "hey, no way." He's making the press junket now to back the court case.

I don't care what religion you are. If it's a public school and you agree not to put religious symbols in your tile, you don't put up a tile that's screaming Christianity. Crosses scream that. A bible verse on top of it screams that. It would be the same as putting Stars of David up. If you're suing to include (or to exclude) religious imagery you must include (or exclude) all religion. I don't buy that this is a religious persecution issue. I think It's a "you agreed to the rules, now follow them and stop being a baby about it on national TV" issue.

But that's the ease of getting on TV and having an issue in this day and age. I watched "the Larry Sanders Show" on Bravo last night and it was an episode from the first or second season. Larry (a talkshow host), wanted to spice up his guest lineup since it seemed like he was seeing the same faces over and over. His booker booked a controversial performance artist on the show without seeing his act first. The guy went on to do a segment that talked about inappropriate things. He was booed off stage and the audience interrupted the interview afterwards with taunts.

Larry wants to put on a rerun since the audience responded so badly. His producer agrees. They go to the network and the network says "oh, umm, your call we don't see anything inappropriate here." They pull the show, blaming the network for it (hey, Larry & his producer weren't heroic at all, that's one of the joys of the show), and air a rerun. Suddenly it's a censorship issue. The press is going after the show for pulling the segment. Censorship is thrown around by people like Tom & Rosanne Arnold (okay it was an OLD show). They finally apologize to the guy for pulling the segment and ask him back on the show. He refuses, and ends up doing his segment ... on the Jay Leno show. The interview afterwards is how lame the Larry Sanders show was for pulling him. Instant celebrity.

Anyone can get on TV. Controversy + People Acting Stupid = Your 15 minutes of Fame. Just remember that.

k9

Tuesday Morning

I'm still half awake. Just got back from the doctor and I stopped to get a McDonald's breakfast that screams "bad for you." The cat is circling because she thinks my bag has french fries in it. Yes, Thrashie is obsessed with french fries. If you're not careful, she'll stick her head in your bag of food and eat all of your fries. She wants them. She loves them. She needs them. Sadly, for her sake, I've stopped eating a lot of fries. I've changed my patterns. I still get fast food, but my portions have changed. Like I'll get the tacos and the $.99 burger from BK instead of a Whopper and fries. It gives ya the feeling that you've had a huge meal, but you haven't. So there.

I might call the Screen Savers one of these days. If you're reading and you're from TSS, please tell me how to actually get on the air. My computer fans have been making more noise than normal lately. I think they need cleaning and I really want to know how to clean them without blowing up my system. Seriously. I want to be on the air. Tell me how to do it. E-mail me. Please.

I'm actually kind of afraid of calling in. I mean Moops says that you get either Kevin or Morgan when you call in. I haven't really picked on Kevin, but Morgan? God, I'm terrified. I seriously am. I mean it's better than calling Cat but wow. Uh. "Yah, uh, hi." "Hello." "So uh, yah. I need help." "With what?" "My computer." "James Knine?" "Yah." "DIE YOU HORRIBLE LITTLE MAN!" ::click:: Scared. Really scared. Totally scared. Just nuts about it.

I'm not going to netcam because, while I've been putting my likeness on this site, my contract prevents me from being on the air. Something about getting written notice 30 days in advance. Therefore, I'll be James from Somewhere, PA or something. We'll see. I wonder if I can actually get on the air like this lol.

I'm off until 7 PM tonight so I am going to play some Morrowind on my new card. Oh, yes, I gave up yesterday. I checked tracking once, saw it was listed as "on the truck FOR DELIVERY" (as compared to Friday's "on the truck") on the fedex web site then promptly gave up on seeing it. It came around noon yesterday, actually went in without a hitch, and the level of detail on both Morrowind and GTA 3 is incredible. In fact, GTA 3 is so incredible that it shows how soulless the game is. Before you do all the missions you have to do all the secrets. Since only a tiny bit of the city is open, you end up going up and down the same streets over and over and over until ... well it looks really pretty on my card now. I just don't know if there's anything more too it.

Morrowind, on the other hand, is open ended. I made Summah the mage fighter thief (I forget what they call it in the game). All I know is that she can pick locks and blow people up. I named her after my platonic lifemate Summer. One of two in my life. The real Summer spent a weekend forging some sort of weapon out of molten metal. She's a dwarf chick from Lord of the Rings. Except she doesn't have the Dwarven beard. I don't want to see her with a beard and holding a forged axe. She's scary enough when she wants to be. Anywho, I made her years ago on Daggerfall and it wouldn't be an Elder Scrolls game without making Summer.

I made my friend Stef on Neverwinter Nights the other month. She's a paladin, much like the real Stef. I paired her with another paladin and they pretty much rolled through the extended undead segment in the module that comes with the game. I'm going to put that back on the system later and see how much it rocks with the new card. Now if only they'd put in the characters can punch as hard as the real Stef ...

If Jedi Knight 2 let you make characters, I'd make Moops as a character. I make her on every wrestling game I have because the girl scares me. She'd be perfect with one of those darth maul 2 handed light sabers and some force powered skates. Dressed in the black robes and displaying force powers like "knock over the idiot" and "take invisible fist and hit them until they switch to a MAC". She's the scariest person I know. That's a good thing in my book. I tend to have the best friendships with women who scare the holy hell out of me and that girl scares me most. I mean she's surpassed a Laura level scary level already. That's something that should keep you all up all night. She's out there lurking. She knows. She knows. Fear the Moops.

On that note, I'm off to hide out and play some Morrowind.

k9

Monday Morning

So I didn't die on the wood pile. I overdid it out there, of course. But I'm not going to bore you with that. I'm awake. I have to be to work in 30 minutes and it is 15 degrees F out (that's -9C, you Canadian sexxay thangs). The front door is frozen shut. So if fedex comes I'll have to run around the house to get through the door. I'm not kidding. There's 1/4 inch of ice on it (1cm for those North of the border), and I'm not sure if we'll get it open today, meaning I'm trapped in the house with my folks. Dear god, help me.

The cat wants milk. She's watching me now. She's already had food. Now she wants to drive me insane by starring at me. I've not far to go, mind you, but I want to go totally bonkers on my own terms, not hers. Dammit, here I go. I hate being a slave to the animal world. What am I? Aquaman? King of the seas except slave to every Goldfish in trouble? Aquaman got no respect. The whole "dies if he goes out of water for an hour" thing ... I don't know. I can't think ... must ... give ... cat ... food.

Dammit.

I'm SO not waiting all day for fedex. Those bastards. I'm going to send Moopie after them.

k9

Sunday.

It's Sunday morning and as usual I'm going to bitch about going outside and getting wood for the downstairs fireplace. This week won't be so bad, even though it's something like 20 degrees F out (that's -7 degrees C to you Canadians, and "@#$# it's @#$#ing cold!" to the rest of the planet), it did warm up this week and actually melted a lot of the snow that I had to contend with last week so I won't be pushing the cart uphill through the snow screaming "You @#$#ing @$@$ @$@# snow, you're @#$@ing not going to beat me!" then clutch my chest and fall over as the load of logs stops briefly to roll over my body as it speeds back down the insanely steep hill.

Okay only the swearing happened but you get the idea.

I have to work in a few minutes. I so want a break from work. I want a day off. I haven't had one in a while. Even with my PTO time I was working. I think I have 24 hours of PTO time now and I want to go away. Sure, I'll work daytime hours during it, but you know what? I don't care. I just want to be away from the world for a week again. I know, I'll probably camp out in a hotel room or something, but gosh dang it, I like that. I really do.

I cleaned my keyboard last night. I'm terrified. When I had a crew cut I'd have these tiny hairs in the keyboard. No mess, no fuss, turn it over, wipe it off. Now that I have hair it's in there and it's yucky and I hate it because EVERY FRIGGING STRAND OF HAIR IS GRAY. When you look at me now there's enough hair to get a hint of brown, but it's gray. It's just fooling the eye. It wants to trick you into believing that it's brown and youthful and so full of life. It wants you to come near it and touch it then it shall leap on your head and you'll be cursed with premature grayness as well.

Honest. It's a curse.

My beard is salt and pepper now too. Anyone want salt and pepper facial hair? Someone get me the Grecian formula, fast.

I'm going to stagger to work in a few. Stay sane. Yes, I'm talking to myself.

k9
(Oh if you ever want to talk to our Canadian or European friends without confusing them with the strange way we Americans do weather, use this handy temperature converter. That way you can do C to F and F to C without blowing their minds. I mean come on, talking 78 degrees to someone who thinks "whoa that's hot" with anything above 25 can be a spectacle in itself.)

Insanity.

I think I've done it. Honestly. It's 9:15 PM ET. I'm sitting at home in front of the computer. I'm watching a Chevy Chase movie. "Funny Farm."

I've always loved Chevy Chase movies. I don't understand why. When I was briefly engaged in the mid-90's that ex and I had this weird fantasy of being like the Griswald family from the "Vacation" movies. Honestly, I'm glad that relationship didn't end in marriage. Though I'd probably be divorced by now and in a different place than I am now ...

Anyway, I've seen this movie about a hundred times. At the end, when the whole town is attempting to be something out of a Norman Rockwell painting at Xmastime, it's beautiful and I love it. The rest of the movie?

I always thought that Bruce Springsteen's ex-wife plays the wife in this movie. Looking now on IMDB.com, it seems that I'm wrong. Wow. It was Madolyn Smith. That's a trip. I always assumed she was Julianne Phillips. I remember seeing this movie on TV in the early 90's (it came out in 1988) and thinking how lucky Springsteen was before he divorced her. I'm not normally wrong about these things. I have a great memory, but lol, I DO know that Madolyn Smith was Roy Schieder's young bride in "2010." There, that's it, the insanity didn't take hold. Yet.

Spoiler warning ... not that anyone cares.

What's weird is that I'm looking at this movie and I can see how much the world has changed since 1988. Everyone has cel phones now. You can download directions on the Internet now to just about any address in the world. Most people who are writing books do it by computer and are in constant touch with their editors. Even way out in the country like I am. So there goes 2/3rds of this movie.

Oh well. I'm back to going insane. If I'm already nuts, please tell me.

k9
@#$@#$ watching Chevy Case movies ...

Fedex Must Die

Seriously.

The package is on the truck, so says their tracking. I waited all day, I waited all night ... no package. They do not deliver on Saturday and I wasted a whole day here waiting to sign for the damn thing. I e-mailed customer service but they haven't responded yet. At this point I hate fedex. I saved $60+ on this card by doing it through pricewatch.com, but dammit, free shipping on Fedex supersaver ain't worth it.

That's it. Watch me go insane now.

k9

Waiting ...

I hate waiting. I'm sitting here watching the road for the fedex guy. My video card is in town and it left on a truck 2 hours ago. So I know it's coming, I just don't know when. I have to work at 4 PM and it better be here by the time I have to go to work. I'm already downloading the updated drivers for it and I think that my old ATI drivers will work but lol I don't know. I know it comes with the Elder Scrolls: Morrowind (drool) and my mom's out today looking for the Elder Scrolls expansion pack. I want to install it before I start playing the regular so it's on and all the expansions are installed.

But the damn card has to get here first.

I'm so not napping today. I'm too excited. I'm too wonderfully nuts as well. I have the horrible "The Beverly Hillbillies" movie on. I'm sitting through it because ... well I'm insane. Seriously. This stinks. Even if Lea Thompson (drool) is in it. Hey, so I had a crush on her in "Space Camp." Let alone "Caroline in the City" ... but digressing, she was also in "Howard the Duck." So I guess she'll do any movie for money. I think she was in the "Dennis the Menace" remake as well ... and "Little Rascals" ... oh god. Maybe that's why I passed through my Lea Thompson crush phase.

Right now I'm not really in a crush phase. I'm over everyone except d-movie star Kira Reed. But that's an eternal crush that will never go away as long as there's late night cinemax, showtime, oh heck, she's in so many d-grade movies that I think they could have the Kira channel and have enough movies to keep you in Kiraness for at least a week. Oh, Kira ...

Still waiting ...

k9

Thursday Night

Spent tonight watching "Real World" reruns on MTV. I'm rocked that MTV is now planning to air a total of 10 videos a week in their rotation. Yup. That's it, 10 videos total. Even smaller blocks of those videos and more programming. Whatever happened to music?

Right now I'm waiting and watching fedex.com for the status of my shipment. You know, that All in Wonder Radeon 9700 Pro. It was in Indianapolis for most of the day and it just left and now I'm bouncing and I hope it's here tomorrow. I'm horrible at waiting. I really am. I'm going to be up all night. Then I won't be able to nap tomorrow. I'm waiting and waiting and waiting for this package to get here and I can't wait to be able to unwrap and install it.

I know the Screen Savers say that ATI is horrible. Even the Gnome disses them. But you know what? I don't care. They're biased because Nvidea is a major sponsor. They *have* to diss ATI. I'm sure it's in the contract and I'm very disappointed in their biased coverage of video cards. Everyone else in the world loves the Radeon and gives it a great review, so it makes no sense for them to take the stance they do on it.

It's like I wrote the other day: the age of impartiality is over. With the future of TechTV on the line right now they can't be impartial right now. They have to suck up to sponsors and that's that. I mean look at the desperation ... a sex show is making the air. It's not even a GOOD sex show. It's another lame cheap import from the looks at it. It's very sad that 90% of the programming on TechTV are lame shows that no one else has. Know why no one else has them? BECAUSE THEY AREN'T ANY GOOD.

I'm sorry to rant like this, but it's true. It's getting worse all the time and it's very troubling that they just trimmed the screen savers by another half hour just so they could put on even more of the lame programming. I realize that live TV is very expensive, but come on. Let's remember WHY people watch ... it sure ain't for a technology sex show.

Rant over.

k9

War & Random Stuff

Every morning I start the day by doing the ritual of feeding the cats. During this time I have CNN on and I catch up on the headlines. It seems like every day there's more and more people from the states heading over to Iraq.

I thought about going in the reserves a couple of years back. The money is okay and they were advertising no boot camp (at that time any way), so it wouldn't have been as bad as my parents had it (both were in the Navy). I decided against it because I had this sneaking feeling that GW Bush would lead us back to Iraq and I so don't want to go to war.

I'm not a pacifist, I just don't like confrontation. I also don't believe in this whole Iraq war movement right now. Bush has yet to make a clear case as to why we're back there. Why it's SO important for us to go over there and kick Iraq's butt other than his father didn't get the job done 10 years ago and he wants to do everything daddy did.

I love my country. We proudly have the flag waving from our front porch and you CAN be a good American without supporting this war. I don't believe we should be picking fights right now when we have the war in Afghanistan going on (which they've forgotten about). I wish we'd get Bin Ladin before we went after Iraq. I mean 911? Hello. Did we forget that we were going after the bastards who did that? Anyone? Anyone? Oh well.

In other randoms: I had some money saved up due to selling back my unused PTO time last year. I was going to buy my mom a cheap snow blower. However, the ones I saw were crappy. So we decided we're going to split the cost of a good one next winter. So ... I spent the money on an ATI Radeon All in Wonder 9700 pro. It'll be here tomorrow or Monday.

Random thought: An SUV spokesperson is on CNN stating that Jesus and the Apostles would fit in a large SUV, which would save money as compared to having them riding around in hybrid cars. Uh ... umm ... yah. So let's all go buy a SUV!

SUVs are another thing that scare the hell out of me. But that's another rant for another time ...

k9

A Little Later

I switched my work shift to a morning shift so I could have the afternoon off today. I really need a nap and I'm getting a headache. Probably going to bag some of my comics before I go to sleep. I'm so lazy. Since the comics are in the other room I hardly ever have time to go in there and bag them.

For those that care, this is a sampling of what I'm reading lately:
Supergirl (just canceled)
Young Justice (just canceled -- relaunching as Teen Titans)
The Titans (just canceled -- relaunching as The Outsiders)
Exiles (alternate Marvel Universe, but closer than the "real" one than any marvel book lately)
Fables (fairy tale fables in a modern world)
Green Arrow (great relaunch)
The Spectre (just canceled)
New X-Men (more movie than traditional; hate what they did to the Beast)
Legion (10,000th relaunch of the Legion of Super-Heroes)
Hawkman (GREAT relaunch)
JSA (the original super-team)
Oh My Goddess (haven't really been reading it lately, but it's so good I don't want to stop buying it)
GI JOE (80's revival baby)
Alias (From Marvel's "adult" line; good super-hero stories set in a more realistic universe, though I REALLY didn't need to see Ant-Man having sex.)
Fantastic Four (just relaunched again; probably dumping it because I liked it better BEFORE it was relaunched)
Doom Patrol (yet another relaunch; probably going to be canceled this year)
Captain Marvel (relaunched; sorta. But great. What happens if a super-hero goes insane and decides he's a god? It's scary here.)
The Flash (I NEVER was a Flash fan as a kid; but I looked in my boxes and I have more issues of Flash than any other series!)
Wonder Woman (I'm always dumping this series; only to pick it up and love it later.)

For those in the know, I mainly read DC comics. I read a handful of Marvels and others, but I'm deeply rooted in DC. I guess I grew up on them (though really, for a while I was Marvel Zombie), and they're what I know, but I do love the characters and they make sense to me. The Justice Society (JSA), for example, are characters I've loved since I was a kid. They were the 40's super-heroes; the guys who inspired Superman and Batman and the like. Great deal of history there and this modern version features the sons and daughters along with the originals. I know so much of the history that I just mark out for this stuff plus Power Girl... oh man, Power Girl.

Some guys have that whole "Slave Girl Leia" thing going. I have Power Girl. The Earth-2 version of Supergirl. But I'm sure that's more than you needed to know about me. :) I don't care if her continuity is so screwed up that no one can figure it out now: one look at that outfit when I was 7 years old and BLAMO. Hooked for life. Again, probably things you didn't need to know. :)

Other than the one X-men title, I don't really read "best selling" comics. I went through that phase when I was younger. I spent a lot of money on books that everyone said I should be getting. I mean I have more crappy old X-men issues than the law allows. They're just taking up space in my closet; I'll never reread them and I keep them because I'm a packrat. They're never going to be worth anything because everyone has these issues. They were a waste of money; but what did I know? I was a kid.

Now I focus on things I read and things I enjoy. Most of the books I'm into get canceled after the second year. I think I have just about every DC revival over the past 5 years. Full series runs because I stick with them until they're canceled. Often I'm the only person at my comic shop who buys