die Hauskatze

Yay vacation!

2007-10-26T18:35:24Z

Yesterday, I rode my motorcycle all the way to San Antonio and back. Fun!

Today, I'm driving my car up to Denton for my 10yr class reunion. Will be back on Sunday.

New Bike!

2007-10-07T17:12:22Z

I got a motorcycle!
I got a motorcycle!
I got a motorcycle!
I got a motorcycle!
I got a motorcycle!

WHEEEEEEEEEE!!

Life News

2007-09-13T00:54:00Z

Finished moving (including my gf's stuff) - started unpacking.

Taking ASL 2 this semester @ ACC (Continuing Education class). Fun stuff.

Work's going well, as usual. No complaints.

New season started in my pool league - first week, we won 4 out of 5 matches (good start!) ... thinking about joining a league on Thursday nights too at a different pool hall.

Got an iPhone (same phone# as before, naturally). It's quite nifty.

Went to Corpus Christi on Labor Day weekend, met the gf's family ... they like me, naturally.

My mom's coming in to town this Saturday for lunch - it's her birthday, and I'm a good excuse to avoid surprise birthday parties from her friends, apparently. And she wants to see me, of course. =)

Overall ... I'm happy. Things are good.

Moving's Nearly Done

2007-08-30T17:48:59Z

Almost done - got all of my stuff out of one apt, cleaning up the other soon, hopefully everything should be done today. Which is good - I'm headed out of town this afternoon, won't be back until Monday or Tuesday. It's a vacation!

Changing

2007-08-03T01:12:22Z

Life's moving faster and faster... soon it'll explode or settle down, and I'm still waiting to see which. I'm moving to a new place - a nice little house up in North Austin area. I've got a girlfriend (for about the last month now). I've been working overtime at work to try and clear some of our backlog. Not playing any online games right now, but involved in what may be a few too many tabletop RPG's. Whee!

Hierarchy of Creation

2007-07-23T05:59:37Z

What I think, has life.
What I say, has form.
What I write, has substance.
What I do, has reality.

Wheeee

2007-07-19T01:53:04Z

Life is so much more entertaining when it's complicated. Relieves the boredom.

Sick

2007-06-27T03:20:15Z

Throat infection ... not strep, but still annoying as hell. I've got antibiotics for it, at least. Should be good to go back to work by Thursday. *sigh*

Changing themes

2007-06-25T00:59:30Z

Life's in a bit of flux at the moment, causing me to revisit those age-old questions... What am I doing, and why? What do I want, what needs to change, what needs to stay the same? Who am I, really - and why the hell haven't I figured that out yet? What do I see coming in the future, and is it good? For that matter, what is good?

I feel like an amnesiac waking from a dream of someone else's life, trying to determine what is real and what is imaginary. Who knows, this may be a good thing - waking from the stupor of continuing existence, questioning the bounds of accepted truths...

...

2007-06-10T19:33:26Z

My youngest sister is being deployed to Iraq.

Pool League - Tournament

2007-06-03T05:58:34Z

Since my team came in first place in our pool league last season, we got to attend the TriCities Tournament today. It was pretty fun, for the most part - we had a bye for the first round, so we didn't have to show up until 1-2PM or so to start warming up (first match at 3:30PM). Single elimination, first team to take 3 matches advanced. Our first round went to 5 matches - win, loss, win, loss, then I came in for the last match and won. It was rather hectic - we were running long on time, when my match started, we had 2 minutes to lag, rack, and break ... or else it would have gone to a sudden death match, one game to decide win or loss. Luckily, we made it in time, and I won the match (2 games to his one game) very easily. Second round started at 8PM ... started out badly, we lost the first two matches, then won the third, then I played and won (easily, against a player lower-ranked than I was), then the last match was our best player versus their best player ... and we lost. Disappointing, especially 'cause it was midnight by that point. But we won some money, and we don't have to go back for more rounds tomorrow, so that's a bonus. There was a lot of drama at the pool hall today, too ... one of the guys on my team got really trashed, and his girlfriend (our team captain) got supremely pissed at him for it... He also got into an argument with one of the guys we played against, almost ended up in a fistfight... *sigh* So much tension in the air.

The end of the night was actually pretty good - one of my teammates, Emma, invited a friend of hers up to hang out with us for a bit ... and she was rather attractive and talkative and a lot of fun to hang out with. And apparently knows a lot of the same people I do, and hangs out at some of the same places. Very fun. I'd also had a good bit to drink by that point ... but I think I kept it to 5 pints of Guinness over the course of 10 hours, so I paced myself nicely. Unfortunately, I found out that my Saturday night gaming group decided my character was integral to the game, so when I didn't show, they cancelled the game (rather than playing without me, which I'd told them to do). Ah well, that's a bit disappointing ... if only my team had lost earlier!

Resetting the sleep schedule

2007-05-28T13:39:50Z

Friday night: 13 hours sleep.
Saturday night: 14 hours sleep.
Sunday night: 0 hours sleep.

Averages to 9hrs a night, right? So I'm good? Sweet.

Fortunate Cookie

2007-05-28T06:51:27Z

A few days ago, eating at a Chinese restaurant, I got a fortune cookie which said:
"You will always be surrounded by those who love you."

I am constantly thankful for the friends that I have made, for the close relationships I have formed. In the ways that count, they are more "family" to me than the family to which I was born. To those of you reading this, thank you.

Yet I find that despite the friends surrounding me, I often find myself feeling alone, isolated... It's not enough, and I feel guilty and selfish for even thinking that.

*sigh* Depression finds me at such odd times. Partly my fault, I guess, for hiding it away and ignoring it so thoroughly. But that's a habit - almost instinctual now.

Wahooo - Victory!

2007-05-16T06:13:55Z

Last night of pool league for the season ... Last week of playoffs. My team has been in first place for the last 3 weeks in a row, managed to win in playoffs last week, and tonight was the night to decide if we won first place or second place.

First match: Loss for us. Quite a blow, it was our best player in that match.

Second match: Loss for us. Ouch ... one more loss and we lost first place.

Third match: Win! Somewhat disappointing, still - our second best player against one of the other team's relatively low-ranked players.

Fourth match: Win! This was my match - playing a rather cute chick who was ranked higher than me. It was a challenge, and a lot of pressure.

Fifth match: Win! Our team captain (and the lowest-ranked member on our team) versus their team captain (the highest-ranked member of their team and in the league as a whole). The pressure was intense, but she managed to pull a win out and confirm us in first place for the season!

This means we get to go to the Tri-Cities Tournament at the beginning of June, and we got big trophies! Wahooooo!

Yay, learning!

2007-05-09T06:11:50Z

Today during my lunch break, I dropped by ACC and inquired about a class in Sign Language ... and the helpful (cute) chick mentioned the Continuing Education courses that ACC has available. I checked it out and discovered I can take Sign Language 1 this summer (Monday & Wednesday evenings, 6pm-7:30pm) for 2 months for a very reasonable (low) cost. The place it's held is very close to work, so I only have to leave 15 mins early on those days - easy enough, talked to my coworkers about it and they're fine with it. So I signed up! Whee!

May, new month, new update (long, whoops!)

2007-05-02T08:42:55Z

Busy busy day today. This last week. Month? Sure. Recent happenings in my life:

I was "officially" promoted at work today, confirming the position I've been working for the past two weeks or so. It's a raise, and more responsibility, and harder problems to solve, and I like it. Wahoo!

My team in pool league took 3 matches out of 5 tonight, leaving us in first place going into final playoffs. If we win the next two weeks of playoffs, we'll be going to a Tri-Cities tournament! On the slightly down side, I was one of our two matches lost tonight in pool league. Still, i had a lot of fun.

On the slightly up side, this girl I've been interested in and talking to at pool league was very happy to see me tonight, gave me a hug and talked to me for a while and everything. But, back on the slightly down side, she then introduced me to her new boyfriend. Feh ... feh I say! Ah well, life goes on. Next goal: less dreaming and more doing. It's harder than it sounds sometimes.

I've been sick-ish with a head cold (stuffed up nose, cough, etc) for about a week now, and today it finally felt like I'm really truly getting better. If things continue at this rate, I should be completely back to normal by Thursday-Friday. I'm due to donate blood again, still considering whether I'll try that this weekend or wait another week to be sure.

I'm feeling rather creative and talky (with nobody to talk to, everyone's asleep!) and still slightly buzzed from the drinking during pool... Mind's fluttering through different topics, considering, inverting, spawning new ideas and consolidating old ones, redirecting, going a million miles an hour at a nice leisurely pace... Every few minutes, I glance up and the thought wanders through my mind of "Damn, look at the time, I should've been in bed hours ago, I've got work in the morning!" ... But then I promptly forget and go back to thinking about other stuff. Maybe I'll drink some water and take a shower and see if I'm sleepy after that. Sure hope so, or tomorrow at work will suck.

My new alarm clock (Clocky!) has been working out rather well. Upcoming project: clean up my bedroom so it has room to run away from me when I'm trying to stop its beeping in the morning! It's way past time for me to get rid of some of the boxes that I never unpacked since moving into this apartment, and to finally unpack / sort my small library of books into my bookshelves. It's kinda sad how little time I've taken to sit back and read recently. I may try to work that into actually taking lunch breaks at work.

Oooh - I think someone mentioned today that some of my friends are going to see "MC Frontalot" at Stubb's on Weds evening - apparently one of my friends knows one of the guys in the band, or something. Details are a bit lacking, I know, but I just caught it in passing. Maybe I'll go to that, it sounds fun. Something to get me out of the house at least, that can't be a bad thing.

What was I talking about? Yeah! Er... okay, that's enough writing for now. The deluge of thoughts pouring from my mind through my fingertips to the keyboard is slowing to a soft drizzle of disconnected ideas, lacking even the vague semblance of cohesive form that they had previously exhibited. I *may* be getting sleepy. Or sober. Either way, it's time to stop writing. Wait, wait ... yes, now.

(Two paragraphs of changes and additions later, I may actually stop writing... There we go. Post and be done with it, hahah!)

Epiphany

2007-04-25T05:56:57Z

It occurred to me today, that if I were only better at lying to myself, I could live in a blissful state of self-delusion. I should work on that.

bleh ... it's a Monday

2007-04-23T15:04:12Z

Was feeling kinda sick yesterday ... common cold symptoms of stuffy nose, etc.

Woke up this morning feeling worse, decided to call in sick to work.

That's when I found out that a water main broke in my apt complex, so I have no water at home ... which sucked, cause the only other thing I have to drink at home is Guinness. I usually drink water or go across the street for coffee.

After a bit of debate, I decided to call in sick to work anyway ... went to the convenience store and got a gallon of drinking water and some orange juice so I'd have plenty of liquids available today.

And now ... there's a jackhammer breaking concrete 2 doors down from my apartment in an effort to fix the water main problem.

This is not a good way to start off the week. *sigh*

We can do it ... we have the technology ...

2007-04-19T04:49:22Z

In an effort to thwart my growing problem of sleeping through my alarm clocks, I have purchased ... Clocky. It should arrive within a week ... and then we'll just have to hope it works. It's a stretch, I know - but there has to be something out there that can get me out of bed every morning. This may do the trick.... Or possibly give me a concussion as I stumble around my bedroom trying to find it in the morning. Who knows? It's worth a shot.

Wedding Update

2007-04-01T05:25:49Z

Wedding went well ... no major foul-ups, except for one - my granddad walked my sister up to the front, then apparently forgot he was supposed to give her away, cause he turned around and went to sit down immediately. *sigh* Not a big deal, because according to plan both my mom and my granddad were giving away the bride - and you'd only know it was a foul-up if you'd been in the wedding rehearsal the day before.

Beautiful ceremony, reception, dinner afterwards, etc. I'm very happy for my sister ... I got a chance to sit down with her new husband and "talk shop" for a bit (discussing jobs and workplaces and such) - I didn't know much about him before (having only met him what, once?) but he seemed like a nice guy, and after talking to him for a while, I definitely approve. Plus that whole thing of making Kathy happy - that's a big mark in his favor.

Yet again, I have rediscovered that my family likes drinking - a lot. This has been a weekend of potential hangovers all around. Quite a bit of fun. Odd note for the weekend: my youngest sister (Shannon, the one not getting married) has turned into a real person over the past few years, with vices and everything - she has a few tattoos, recently got her tongue pierced, smokes, and can carry on intelligent conversation without sounding like a ditz (which she did quite a bit all through her younger years). I'm impressed.

Craziness Abounds!

2007-03-30T05:53:49Z

This coming Saturday, my younger sister Kathy is getting married ... up in the DFW area. Most of my mom's side of the family is flying in (Thurs & Fri) from California.

Tonight (about 4 hours ago) I got a panic phone call from one of my cousins, letting me know that many flights in to the DFW airport were being cancelled due to weather ... so my Granddad hopped on a plane to Austin instead. So I got to pick my Granddad up from the airport, making sure I didn't miss him (because he's really old and probably would have tried to rent a car and drive up to DFW on his own, and old people driving is scary), call family in California and my mom up in DFW to reassure them that Granddad was safe, and give him a place to sleep for the night.

Tomorrow we'll be driving up to DFW to meet my cousin (whose plane hopefully will not have been cancelled) to get my Granddad's luggage ... he didn't even bring a carry-on bag!

*sigh* Craziness. Time to get some sleep on my nice comfy couch - good thing I packed my stuff for the trip tomorrow already!

Life continues

2007-03-24T19:47:28Z

Today: Laundry.
Tomorrow: The World.
Muahahahaha!

*cough**cough*

As a side note, I rather dislike quitting smoking. It's good for me to quit, but... annoying.

Pain Forecast For Tomorrow

2007-03-20T04:56:37Z

I managed to make it to Capoeira Da Rua today ... participated this time, and man, is that a workout! I had thought I was in decent shape, but it's been years since I've actually done anything like that. I managed to make it through the 1hr class (with only taking a 5 minute breather in the middle when I could barely stand anymore)... but I can tell I'm going to be sore in the morning. The good kind of sore, though. And tonight I should be tired enough to pass out at my actual bedtime instead of 3-4 hours later.

Overall result: success!

Life 'n such

2007-03-16T06:27:42Z

Job's going well - I'm quickly getting up to speed to the point where I'm over halfway to being a "Level 3" tech, including being assigned cases that normally get bumped up to the L3's, getting invited to some of the meetings that only L3's normally go to from support, impressing the current L3's with my troubleshooting skills, etc. Part of the fun of the job for me is that I get so busy with work, I forget about "normal life" - don't check personal email, answer my cell phone, browse non-work websites, things like that ... and I don't miss it. I'm too busy working, and too engrossed in what I'm doing to remember that there's life outside work. It's nice.

I managed to make it to a class of Capoeira Da Rua yesterday, sat and watched 'em for an hour, and it looks like fun. I think I'm going to go back on Monday (probably) and try joining in. I've been wanting to get back into Martial Arts of some sort, and I like the music/beat aspect of Capoeira quite a bit.

Past two-three weeks, I've been having bad insomnia problems ... Staying up until 1AM, 2AM, some nights as late as 4-5AM... Followed by difficulty waking up the next morning before 8AM (naturally) to get around and get to work. It's a good thing I like my job, and even better that my boss doesn't seem to mind (or often notice) that I've been getting in late. *sigh* I feel bad tho whenever I do get in late - that's just a personal thing.

End of this month, I'll be heading up to the DFW area for a few days for my younger sister Kathy's wedding. I'm happy for her - she's in love, very happy with her fiancee, he seems like a good guy, etc. Only part of this whole thing that I'm not looking forward to: seeing lots of family who will ask if I brought anyone or if I'm seeing anyone or what not. I've been the oldest unattached person in my extended family (including cousins and such) for a few years now, and Kathy getting married sort of emphasizes that a bit. Ah well, such things must be endured - and for Kathy's sake, I have no problems enduring them.

Imma Champion!

2007-02-25T04:44:22Z

Tournament results: I came in 6th place and won $40. Woot!
Timetable:
9:00AM: Arrive and start practicing like a fiend. Discover the coffee machine at this pool hall is broken.
10:00AM: First match - against even-ranked opponent (guy in a wheelchair). I won.
10:45AM: Second match - against an even-ranked opponent (chick on crutches). I won.
11:45AM: Third match - against an even-ranked opponent (cute chick). I won.
12:30AM: Boredom - my next match isn't ready yet. I order a mini-pizza at the bar.
1:45PM: Fourth match - against an even-ranked opponent (preppy guy). I lost - but I don't feel too bad, the guy who beat me made it into the finals, he should've been at least one or two ranks higher from the way he was playing. Double elimination tournament, so I moved into the losers bracket (feh).
2:30PM: I finished all my matches really quickly, so I realize that my next match won't be for a while. As in, a few hours. I looked at the schedule and told the lady in charge, "I'm going to go, uh, get lunch, I'll be right back."
2:55PM: Went to the movie theatre and watched Ghost Rider. Amusing movie.
5:00PM: Back at the pool hall. My next match isn't ready yet. Boredom returns.
6:30PM: Fifth match - against an opponent 2 ranks higher than me (nice guy but takes the game far too seriously - he was getting very annoyed at himself). I won.
7:30PM: Sixth match - against an opponent 1 rank higher than me (blond kicker chick, nice but kinda scary in that stereotypical way). I lost (barely - she scratched on the 8-ball once, and I scratched on the 8-ball once, gyeh).
8:25PM: Out of the tournament, get my plaque and cash loot, and run for it.

Lesson learned: It's true, Eagle Eye. We're all champions.