Let the Long Silence End!

So. Its been many moons since I last posted. I apologize. I was going to do one epic post to completely bring everything up to date, but it turns out I'm lazy. Here's the highlights:

1. Eric and I took an awesome mini-roadtrip to southeastern Arizona. We hit Sonoita, Bisbee, Montezuma's Pass, Parker Canyon Lake, Chricauhua National Monument, Portal, and New Mexico all in one day. Good times.

A self-portrait at the beginning of our trip

A lovely picture of Eric

a particularly large and frightening speciman of cow, one of many that were present on
our trip through Sonoita

Parker Canyon Lake

Eric almost falling into Parker Canyon Lake

Eric answering Nature's call. Note the classic superhero position.

Looking west (I think) from Montezuma's Pass. Check out the fire-retardant red stuff along the ridge to the right.
The entrance to the Chiricahuas from the east. Fucking beautiful.
The rock formations in Chricahua National Monument

We stopped to see the Thing, a cheesy roadside attraction east of Tucson. It houses a Very Special Exibit depicting ancient forms of torture. A truly one of a kind expirience.

A good trip, all in all.

2. I've started rock climbing. No pictures yet, but since I've discovered that people often do silly things worth comitting to digital memory, I've started carrying my camera around. I'm sure pictures will be forthcoming. In short, rock climbing is challenging both mentally and physically and it involves swinging from ropes. What could be more fun??

3. Kyle, one of my good friends here in Tucson, has gotten me into UFC fighting. For those of you who don't know what it is, Ultimate Fighting is a mix of wrestling, jujistu, judo, boxing, and kickboxing. I never thought I'd be the type to get into something so violent (my early obsession with Street Fighter II should have clued me in) but as soon as there's an elbow to the face, I get all giddy and excited. Last night was UFC 61, Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz. Now, usually I think Tito Ortiz is a huge douchebag. And he is a douchebag. An enormous one. But Ken Shamrock is a bigger one. So I wanted Tito to kick his ass. Hard. But I was robbed. After a minute and a half and after five, maybe six blows to the head, they yanked Tito off Ken and called the fight A MINUTE AND A HALF! Very disappointing. At least Ken Shamrock got his face bashed in five or six times. Click here for more details

4. Eric has started to teach me to drive stick. Its very jerky.

5. Monsoons have started. Pictures forthcoming. Yay for rain!

Programming

My first foray into writing (or in this case rewriting) code. My head hurts and the stupid font won't change.

Also I have completed none (0) of the things on my previous post's list.

I'm going to take a nap.

Another Lazy Day Off

I love days off. I just wish someone else had Tuesday off. Instead of joyous days of fun (despite the heat), I'm sitting here in my apartment, putting off laundry and watching swing videos. There are several things I could be doing that could even be construed as 'fun' (laundry of course being excluded) such as but not limited to:

Spending my Borders giftcard
Playing Minesweeper
Hanging out at Bookmans
Eating an Eegee
Writing to Fraser
Playing with my new mp3 player/ jump drive

However, none of these things sound very thrilling right now, so instead I'm blogging, which is a damn sight better than all the things I should be doing:

Laundry (going commando is not an option)
Mopping (only slightly less repulsive than laundry)
Returning my enormous stack of books leftover from this semester's research to the library
Visiting Grandpa
Paying rent (ok, that one I'll definitely get done today)
Cleaning out under my bed
Taking my old clothes to Goodwill
Getting my brakes checked

So here I am, alone and procrastinating, waiting for someone to get off of work so I can go play. What's especially frustrating is that last night was a very good time. Eric, MikeE, his girlfriend Chrissy and his brother Andy and I all went driving around. It was great...we took Eric's X-terra over a seriously fun (read: seriously damaging) dirt road about 8 times and then just drove around Vail, looking for hills to speed over and just talking. It reminded me of times in Flagstaff when Andy and PJ and I would just go driving, usually with beer, and usually with PJ doing something stupid and reckless. Take away reckless PJ and the beer, and that was last night. Good times.

1984

I just finished reading 1984. Wow. Talk about depressing. This isn't my first foray into the works of Mr. Orwell, so maybe I shouldn't be so surpised at his political cynicism (Animal Farm practically made me cry....ok, not practically, literally), but damn that's a sad book. I realize its supposed to frighten you, that its supposed to make you question and examine your government so that sort of thing never happens. But jesus, coulnd'nt there have been something? The answer, of course, is no. That would diminish the impact of the warning. In order for the message to really sink into the reader, there can be no way out for the hero. The result is frigtening of course, but that's the point, isn't it?

I just hate feeling frightened and disturbed after finishing a book. I know that not all books are going to be rosy endings and ride-off-into-the-sunset-for-another-adventure types of reads. I don't think that they should be either. Literature reminds us of things that we forget in the daily drudge of life. But I feel frightened and disturbed enough in my daily life already...its as though Mr. Orwell is imposing the same dominating fear on me in order to be effective that the Party imposes on all its members. And I don't like the feeling. Again, I suppose that's the point of 1984, to show what a heinous thing government can turn into and realize and cherish what we have already. So now I'm going to read something more uplifting and optimistic.

Crime and Punishment, here I come!

Hilarious Things Customers Say

As my first post, I'd like to tell a story.

Yesterday, I was helping a older gentleman in a Boy Scouts of America uniform with some cordage. For those of you who don't know, I work at a backpacking/camping/traveling institution quite well known here in Tucson. We carry bulk cordage that can be cut to the customer's desired length. So, as I was measuring out Mr. Boy Scouts' cordage, I asked where he was going. He answered that he was leading a leadership workshop to train new scout leaders and (in a completely serious manner, worthy of a catholic bishop saying mass) that he "didn't do the little boys any more." He "trained the adults how to do the little boys." Working retail has its downfalls. If I were working at a bar, I could have rejoined "I thought the catholics had a monopoly on that sort of thing" or some other off color remark, as I had wished to do. Unfortunately, all I could do was nod, cut his 4mm spectra cord and send him up to the register. The redeeming joy of retail: Sharing hilarious stories of customer comments with co-workers, and now with you.