Father, Husband, Geek. One Cool Monkey.
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Handfuls of poo
May 13th
Wha?
Oh yeah, the blog. Heh. I knew that was around here somewhere.
Forgive me, my friends, for slacking off once again. But, if you look at it positively, I’ve been completely 100% effective, and quite aggressively accurate in being…a slacker. Yup. Who can we get that we are SURE will slack off on their blogging duties? Hrrrrrmmm….that WiredMonkey fellow seems to be pretty out of it. Look at the droopy eyelids and inanimate limbs in that slackjawed primate. Pshaw….he’s practically asleep. We’ll take ‘im!
Er sumthin.
What’s new? Look for pictures on the Flickr site soon…I need to try and get some photos of the house out on the site, and my goal is this weekend. The LampLover and I have a very busy weekend ahead of us. Some friends are having a crawfish boil tomorrow..and if you haven’t been to one, my dear, considerate readers…you are truly missing out. I mean…YUM. Those little mudbugs are a great time…and you add in corn, potatoes and sausage…what? Are you KIDDING me? No, I am truly not. Those food items are all present to tickle your palate. W00t. LL and I are really looking forward to it. Then, right after that (actually overlapping it), we have a friend’s birthday party to get to…some fun folks who know how to have a good time, and we’re really looking forward to seeing them. Yay!!
We’ll let you know how it goes. Pop in again in a few days and I’ll see what I can do in the way of an update. *grin*
MONKEY.
I’m here!
Apr 8th
Things are good. I’m alive. I felt a post was needed as it’s been nearly a month since I’ve posted. This past month has been particularly active though. LampLover and I are looking at co-habitation. We have our eye on a nice place in a neighborhood I’m very familiar with, having rented a house in that area once before. It’s a great neighborhood – nice neighbors (mostly older and retired or young couples in starter houses), an area that’s active with people walking and riding bikes, and a library, nearby parks and that sort of thing for recreation. LL is a bit nervous about things, as am I to a lesser degree, but I think that will abate once we’re in and comfortable. The biggest nerve-wracking thing is telling her parents and grandmother, who is in town visiting. They are from a different school of belief, and don’t believe a couple should live together before being married. I respect that view, as does LL, but neither of us abide by it. Besides, after a year together, it’s not as though we are viewing this as just a convenience. We’re looking long-term, and I’d like to make that a bit more formal, but have to come up with certain jewelry first…and I’d like it to be a bit of a surprise. Which is hard to do, no matter if you’re living with someone or not. So, at least we’ll be together.
The other significant occurance, as you may have picked up from the last paragraph, is that LL and I celebrated our anniversary. No monthiversary there – we’ve been together for more than a year now. It hardly seems it sometimes, time has flown so fast. But, other times, it feels like so much more…like we’ve known one another forever. I think that’s how it is when you find your soul’s match…you can’t remember a time when they weren’t part of your life, because you’re at your happiest when they’re a part of it. Blah, blah, sappy monkey. I know. So sue me.
*munches a banana*
Oh yeah – another story I did for McKinneySports.net. W00t!
okaybye.
Writing About Sports in DFW
Mar 11th
I have a new job – freelance sports writer in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. This is a big step in my dream to be a full-time staff sports writer in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I’m extremely excited about the opportunity, and although I’m not completely happy with my work on my first story, I keep in mind I’m working out the rust of nearly two years of writing inactivity. And hey – it’s soccer…not a forte in my sports repertoire. Let me know in the comments if the story can’t be posted and I’ll cut and paste it in here.
I’ve Been Tagged…So That Explains the Dart In My Ass and the Sharp Pain in my Ear…
Mar 2nd
These are making the rounds I guess…I got this in my email, but I’ve also seen them in blogs. Besides, I need a break from work, so this will suffice.
FOUR JOBS YOU HAVE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:
1. McWorker
2. Best Buy Employee
3. Mac Technician
3. Mac Technician
4. Sports Writer
Four Movies you would watch over and over.
1. Wayne’s World
2 . Evil Dead II
3. The Holy Grail
3. The Holy Grail
4. Miracle
Four places you have lived
1. Bangor, ME
2. Syracuse, NY
3. Key West, FL
4. Dallas, TX Four TV shows you love to watch
1. Medium
3. Key West, FL
4. Dallas, TX Four TV shows you love to watch
1. Medium
2. My Name is Earl
3. The Office
4. Trading Spaces Four places you have been on vacation
1. Florida
4. Trading Spaces Four places you have been on vacation
1. Florida
2. Maine
3. Shiner, TX
4. San Antonio (man, do I need better vacations – though the Shiner was was the best…)
Four of my favorite foods
1. Pizza
2. Cheese Steak Subs
3. Bacon
4. Chicken Parmesan
Four places I would rather be right now
1. Home, preferrably asleep in bed.
2. Visiting with friends I haven’t seen in FAR too long (J-Star, A & E, etc…miss y’all!)
3. In bed with twins (hey, the question ASKED…)
4. Margaritaville.
Four People I’m Tagging (of the people who read my site and haven’t already put one of these on their sites. Just post them in your own blog if you have one – not many others do – or reply in the comments):
1. J-Star
2. LampLover
3. A & E
4. FU-D
Post-Op Prattle
Feb 22nd
Under the knife and out the other side.
So, I have undergone the surgery, and now I’m recovering slowly, bed-ridden and drug-filled. That may sound fun, but it’s really more necessary than anything else. This morning I found out what can happen if I let the drugs in my system lapse, even due to something as necessary as sleep. Owwwww, dammit. I will be doing my best to make sure THAT doesn’t happen again. I’ve been blessed with having a great nurse through this – LampLover is taking fantastic care of me (though she won’t put on a little skimpy nurse’s outfit while she is doing it…was worth a shot). She is staying with me and brought lots of movies to help entertain me while I’m stuck horizontal. The Cheat was really nice and bought me a movie to help entertain me while I’m out of commission as well – Wedding Crashers is part of my movie collection now.
I was going to attempt a return to work on Thursday, but that idea has been nixed. The return may happen Friday, but I’m going to wait and see how I feel tomorrow afternoon. I can’t imagine sitting at work for 8 hours right now, even on pain meds…I just don’t think it will happen. Friday is looking a tad doubtful too, but it’s at least worth pondering. Any hours I can save would be nice, since I’d like to have SOME sort of personal time left in my cache by this summer.
Monkey Love and Painful Procedures
Feb 16th
Let me start by saying this – Valentine’s Day is not one of my favorite days. A lot of people seem to think that “romantics” (or whatever comparable labels we’re given) would be a natural match with a day devoted to love. Not true, in my book. I’m more of a belief that every day should be devoted to love. Why just one day? And why the expectations of flowers, dinner, candy and other gifts? I’d much rather give small tokens of my love and express myself throughout the year than have one day devoted to it. Actually, and it’s a cliched joke, Hallmark, FTD and the other big profiteers of the day are the one who perpetuate it, I think.
Anyway, I still feel an obligation to make sure my beloved LampLover knows I love her, and to take the time to express it in a way that *I* like. Dinner out a nice restaurant would have been nice…and a bit better of a present would have been good too. However, I don’t really have the money right now – one reason why will follow this recap – and so I’m left to devise more creative activities. Luckily, LL is good with the imagination as well, and she suggested a little frozen chinese food buffet (from the cold depths of my freezer – prepackaged and pretty much ready to go) and I threw in the idea of a movie, and we were off. It was a quiet little romantic meal…we exchanged gifts just before – LL gave me a great framed picture of the two of us from New Years Eve and I gave her a little basket of bath items to pamper her with – and then enjoyed the food and the company (though not the movie really….FYI, The Corpse Bride is a bit sub-par). Other activities of the evening will remain on a need to know basis. It was a very enjoyable day, despite it’s over commercialism on the whole.
Now, some of you don’t know, so I will share. My out of shape gut managed to let down it’s defenses a bit last fall when I was moving into my current digs, and lo and behold – out protruded a small hernia. I’ve put it off for some time, because it’s really just a bit of a nuisance, and not particularly painful. But, during my last visit to my doctor, I decided to have him check it out. Yep, he said. Hernia it is, and you need to get it worked on – call this fella, he’s good…handed me a reference. Being the speedy guy I am, I followed up on said reference about 3-4 weeks later. The Referred Doctor took a look at it. Yep, he said. Hernia it is, and you need to get it worked on. Not today or tomorrow or anything…but pretty soon. No more than a month or so from now. Ugh. So, I scheduled the surgery, and that was about two weeks ago. My surgery is upcoming this next Tuesday. So, wish me luck…good thoughts, etc., etc. It’s not a particularly difficult surgery, I’ve been told, and it’s an outpatient procedure, and I’ll be back in the very bed I get out of the morning of my surgery later that afternoon, but I’m still a bit nervous. Guess I’m chicken. Oh well. Good mojo is requested, none the nevermind.
Oh – and the Olympics are on. Good hockey. Actually, VERY good hockey. Catch some if you can – the best in the game are on display.
Monkey – out.
Unmarked Cars are Watching My Neighbors Dog…
Feb 3rd
Finally, a respite in the work. It’s been crazy at work, and because of that I haven’t wanted to be in front of a computer unless I’m at work. Therefore – very little blogging. Which was probably for the best anyway, as most stories about work are pretty boring.
Outside of the work world, things have been going great (he says, knocking on wood). LampLover and I are coming up on our 11th monthiversary towards the end of the month, meaning just a little over a month before the big landmark. We’re very excited about it and speaking for myself, I’m really looking forward to the next one, and one after that, etc., etc. I’ve never been so excited about my future with a person before.
*mush mush mush*
I know. But now you’re past it, so don’t you feel better?
This weekend should be a good time. A couple of days away from work is always nice, but when you can have a gathering with friends, eat good foods and drink some Shiner…well that just makes the weekend all that more enjoyable. Of course, it’s the big Super Bowl weekend upon us, so LL and I will be taking a friend up on an invite for a small gathering to include a cookout and access to a kegerator full of Brown Liquid Goodness (a.k.a. Shiner). My dearest girl is not a fan of football, but hopefully with all the commercials and camaraderie and Shiner, it will help her get through the ordeal. To be honest, even as a football fan, this is the biggest let-down of a SuperBowl in about a decade. I mean really…Pittsburgh and Seattle?? Who cares??? Well, aside from the citizens of Pittsburgh and Seattle…and do they even? *shrug* Hopefully I’ll be wrong and it’ll be a good game.
**Here’s where the credits would be if you were watching a movie.**
Blowing off the cobwebs…
Jan 24th
Ok, in my defense….ehhh, forget it. I have no defense. I suck. But, there are other blogs out there that have gone longer, so oh well. Let’s just move past this sad little point.
So, let’s bust out the ever-effective point-by-point method to catch you all up on what’s new:
- Lamplover got into the school she applied for. BIG YAYS!!!
- Christmas passed happily with good friends and family, and we all ate too much and drank too much.
- I have a new roommate – haven’t gotten a good pseudo for him yet. What say you, oh Unfortunate One? Did you have any not-too-embarrasing monikers for him we could use on here?
- Serenity is out on DVD – go buy 5 for your friends. While you’re at it – get Firefly on DVD too. They rock.
- I finally finished Insomnia. Great book, of course.
- I started reading The Chronicles of Narnia after seeing the movie adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe because the film reminded me of how fun it was to read the story when I was a kid. I’m a bit bored with it now that I’m on the second book, but I’m determined to trudge through all 7 in the series. Perhaps it’ll pick up again.
- Found out my mom has yet another difficult health problem to struggle with…I don’t know who she pissed off in another life, but she must have been one evil little creature, cause she’s getting an undeserved heaping of shite in this life.
- It’s a new year – 2006 – onward and upwards…
Illness and the Impending Mall Trip
Dec 6th
I’ve been sick for over a week now, thanks to a particularly tenacious little flu bug that is making the rounds here in Texas. At first I thought it might be allergy related, since the weather was still warm and I didn’t seem to have any flu-like symptoms aside from the runny nose and sore throat. But, much like the warm weather, that theory is just a memory. I’ve had body aches, fevers and chills along with the continuation of the aforementioned sore throat and it’s new buddy, a deep chest cough. Ugh. The worst part of it is, I’ve been so busy with a very important video conference at work, that I can’t take time off to rest and heal properly. I have upped the amount of fluids I’ve been taking in and have tried to make sure I’m getting more rest than normal, and I think that has helped. But damn – I can’t wait to have this flu pass. Maybe I should look at the bright side: that I’ve dealt with this strain of the flu, and hopefully won’t have another for the rest of the winter. Well, I can hope not at least.
Christmas is coming quickly this year – I haven’t had the time (or money for that matter) to do all the shopping I’d like to do. I’ve picked up a couple of presents already, but still much shopping has to be done, and apparently most of it will be done with a couple of days to go before Christmas. For, as much as I’d like to get the shopping done early, the bills won’t wait due to the holidays. Grrr. Ah well – it will keep the tradition of this year’s 17th annual December 23rd Mall Blowing very much alive. Perhaps this year it will catch on even further! It’s easy to do folks. You need to get as many people together as you can, go to a mall on one of the busiest days of the year and do your last minute shopping. One key thing you must buy, however, is something for yourself. Because, the 23rd tradition is a rather selfish one. In addition to the shopping, you must go out for lunch with your group of friends, and also take in a movie. It can be done as a rental, but going to the theatre really makes the tradition much more fun. Leave comments if you plan to do it – I’d love to hear if there are others celebrating my group’s little self-determined holiday.
Lighters in the Air, Please
Nov 10th
| You Are an Emo Rocker! |
 Expressive and deep, lyrics are really your thing. That doesn’t mean you don’t rock out… You just rock out with meaning. For you, rock is more about connecting than grandstanding. |
