Tuesday, December 26, 2006
CHRISTMASTIME!
(Blah da da blah, da blah)
I’m currently sitting in a computer chair in my parent’s house up in Alaska, enjoying a nice, relaxing time home for the holidays with family. Most of my friends have moved on out of AK, though there are a few here and there that I like to catch up with when I can, but I’m mostly here for family. Every year we say that this is likely to be the last year that we can get everyone in the family together for Christmas, but every year so far we have been wrong. So here I am, enjoying family time and eating delicious Christmas food. (I’m making Krub tonight).
A brief catalog of Christmas presents. I got a bunch of Terry Pratchett books, some Alton Brown DVDs, plenty of awesome cooking gear, and a neat game that involves freakin’ laser breams! It looks crazy neat and is a lot of fun to play.
My favorite presents to other people: J(5) got my mother a Snapfish photobook with a bunch of pictures of us together. It’s really neat. We have one too, and it’s a great thing to fawn over when I’m missing her. (She’s in Florida for Christmas with her family.) Most awesome prize award, though, goes to Dad, for buying Mom a freakin’ car. I got to help him drive it home, and it’s a pretty fun ride. Grats to both of them. Dad got some ridiculously cool tool-things from mom, too, including the worlds most involved tool belt. It looks awesome, though.
Miss my girl tons and bunches (Love you!) but I get to see her pretty darn soon and then we have a few days free before we have to go to work. There will be a great deal of cuddling, let me tell you. This is the longest we’ve been apart since she left for a month to trek through South America. A week and a half! How tragic! Well what do you want from us? We’re cuddlebugs.
We have a very briefly white Christmas here, but it’s been just barely over freezing for a couple of days now and all the snow is slowly deteriorating from pretty, fluffy white mounds to ugly, wet, gray lumps. My least favorite weather for winter, but pretty much the most common one for December. It’s Juneau, though, so it’s hardly a surprise.
Here, so I remember it, is a list of things I want to do when I get back to CA.
1) Spundae
2) Restaurant Supply Store
3) Wii shopping (good luck, us!)
4) Bake Bread
5) CUDDLE!
6) Make some more Japan plans
7) So shopping for…neat stuff
Well, that’s about everything I can think of to write, I’m not feeling particularly creative at the moment. I’ll come back and wow y’all later. This one was pretty boring.
-N
(Blah da da blah, da blah)
I’m currently sitting in a computer chair in my parent’s house up in Alaska, enjoying a nice, relaxing time home for the holidays with family. Most of my friends have moved on out of AK, though there are a few here and there that I like to catch up with when I can, but I’m mostly here for family. Every year we say that this is likely to be the last year that we can get everyone in the family together for Christmas, but every year so far we have been wrong. So here I am, enjoying family time and eating delicious Christmas food. (I’m making Krub tonight).
A brief catalog of Christmas presents. I got a bunch of Terry Pratchett books, some Alton Brown DVDs, plenty of awesome cooking gear, and a neat game that involves freakin’ laser breams! It looks crazy neat and is a lot of fun to play.
My favorite presents to other people: J(5) got my mother a Snapfish photobook with a bunch of pictures of us together. It’s really neat. We have one too, and it’s a great thing to fawn over when I’m missing her. (She’s in Florida for Christmas with her family.) Most awesome prize award, though, goes to Dad, for buying Mom a freakin’ car. I got to help him drive it home, and it’s a pretty fun ride. Grats to both of them. Dad got some ridiculously cool tool-things from mom, too, including the worlds most involved tool belt. It looks awesome, though.
Miss my girl tons and bunches (Love you!) but I get to see her pretty darn soon and then we have a few days free before we have to go to work. There will be a great deal of cuddling, let me tell you. This is the longest we’ve been apart since she left for a month to trek through South America. A week and a half! How tragic! Well what do you want from us? We’re cuddlebugs.
We have a very briefly white Christmas here, but it’s been just barely over freezing for a couple of days now and all the snow is slowly deteriorating from pretty, fluffy white mounds to ugly, wet, gray lumps. My least favorite weather for winter, but pretty much the most common one for December. It’s Juneau, though, so it’s hardly a surprise.
Here, so I remember it, is a list of things I want to do when I get back to CA.
1) Spundae
2) Restaurant Supply Store
3) Wii shopping (good luck, us!)
4) Bake Bread
5) CUDDLE!
6) Make some more Japan plans
7) So shopping for…neat stuff
Well, that’s about everything I can think of to write, I’m not feeling particularly creative at the moment. I’ll come back and wow y’all later. This one was pretty boring.
-N
Friday, December 15, 2006
Oh good grief. Did I not write this down? Did I forget this one tiny, small, little piece of information? Yeah. It looks like I neglected to mention a tiny little development over the past few months. Nothing too major, I’m just moving in with J(5).
Yes, yes, this should have been more ‘headline news’, but I’m bad at blogging. I think we can all just accept that and move on.
So yes, I’ve moved in with J(5). It’s been a slow, gentle process. Far superior to the ‘massive move-in weekend’ parties I’ve had to throw before. I’ve known for a while I want to move in with her because…well…we’re not really apart anymore. Like, ever. Ever since she got back from South America, we’ve been essentially inseparable. I don’t like sleeping in beds that do not contain her, too, and neither does she. I moved over my stuff bit by bit mostly because going back to get my stuff was becoming a hassle.
Well, December 11th came around, and thus ended my lease. At that point I’d been slowly moving in with J(5) for about a month and a half, and with just a couple last-minute transfers it was all over. I now, officially, live with my girlfriend.
I’ll take a moment to address the obvious moral issues. I have been spending all my time with J(5) ever since we realized that being around each other, even just in the same room doing different things, made us both happier. The fact that I no longer ‘keep my stuff’ in a separate location doesn’t seem germane to me. We are together all the time and quite happy about that arrangement. I understand that there are what may be called ‘social implications’, but that’s not enough to keep me away. I love her too much.
Now as is true with most move-ins, there is detritus that must be shuffled off. I got rid of some books, some bric-a-brac and a few pieces of furniture (so did J(5), fairly). Some of that went to charitable donation centers. Some went to friends. The rest went to the alley way.
It started out as an experiment. We were getting rid of a couple of J(5)’s old dressers to make room for…well…my old dressers, and we couldn’t figure out how to get the bloody things donated anywhere. The websites of your Goodwills and your Salvation Armies just weren’t cutting it, information-dispersal wise. Eventually, we decided we were putting too much effort into this, and we would just toss the dressers into the alleyway behind the apartment to see if anyone wanted them.
The first one was gone the next day, the second the day afterwards.
From then on, pretty much any piece of furniture we didn’t want (and couldn’t easily donate) just went into the alleyway. For myself, I wasn’t as much concerned about the charitable uses of the items (though that would have been a bonus) as much as I was concerned about good furniture going to waste. So I felt satisfied in that regard, at least, and it became a powerfully efficient way to get rid of stuff. Of course, we did *eventually* figure out how to donate furniture, but by then we had already donated most of our stuff to the alleyway.
Pittsburgh was great fun, (thanks, S!), and in just a few more days, I get to take off from work and go to Alaska! I’ve even finished most of my Christmas shopping. Go me!
Erm…that’s most everything. See most of you very soon!
-N
Yes, yes, this should have been more ‘headline news’, but I’m bad at blogging. I think we can all just accept that and move on.
So yes, I’ve moved in with J(5). It’s been a slow, gentle process. Far superior to the ‘massive move-in weekend’ parties I’ve had to throw before. I’ve known for a while I want to move in with her because…well…we’re not really apart anymore. Like, ever. Ever since she got back from South America, we’ve been essentially inseparable. I don’t like sleeping in beds that do not contain her, too, and neither does she. I moved over my stuff bit by bit mostly because going back to get my stuff was becoming a hassle.
Well, December 11th came around, and thus ended my lease. At that point I’d been slowly moving in with J(5) for about a month and a half, and with just a couple last-minute transfers it was all over. I now, officially, live with my girlfriend.
I’ll take a moment to address the obvious moral issues. I have been spending all my time with J(5) ever since we realized that being around each other, even just in the same room doing different things, made us both happier. The fact that I no longer ‘keep my stuff’ in a separate location doesn’t seem germane to me. We are together all the time and quite happy about that arrangement. I understand that there are what may be called ‘social implications’, but that’s not enough to keep me away. I love her too much.
Now as is true with most move-ins, there is detritus that must be shuffled off. I got rid of some books, some bric-a-brac and a few pieces of furniture (so did J(5), fairly). Some of that went to charitable donation centers. Some went to friends. The rest went to the alley way.
It started out as an experiment. We were getting rid of a couple of J(5)’s old dressers to make room for…well…my old dressers, and we couldn’t figure out how to get the bloody things donated anywhere. The websites of your Goodwills and your Salvation Armies just weren’t cutting it, information-dispersal wise. Eventually, we decided we were putting too much effort into this, and we would just toss the dressers into the alleyway behind the apartment to see if anyone wanted them.
The first one was gone the next day, the second the day afterwards.
From then on, pretty much any piece of furniture we didn’t want (and couldn’t easily donate) just went into the alleyway. For myself, I wasn’t as much concerned about the charitable uses of the items (though that would have been a bonus) as much as I was concerned about good furniture going to waste. So I felt satisfied in that regard, at least, and it became a powerfully efficient way to get rid of stuff. Of course, we did *eventually* figure out how to donate furniture, but by then we had already donated most of our stuff to the alleyway.
Pittsburgh was great fun, (thanks, S!), and in just a few more days, I get to take off from work and go to Alaska! I’ve even finished most of my Christmas shopping. Go me!
Erm…that’s most everything. See most of you very soon!
-N
Friday, December 08, 2006
Ohmgosh, it’s been a freakin’ month since I wrote in this thing. I have shamed my family for a thousand generations. I hang my head in defeat.
Well, not really, I’ve been busy having way crazy fun. I present you with highlights.
Game Testing: When people make video games, they do what are called ‘beta tests’ where they bring in people from the general population to play their video game. Then they get feedback and make the game better. It’s cool.
In other news, one of J(5)’s favorite series of games is ‘Ratchet and Clank’. There are 4 of those games on the PS2, and we own them all. Good times.
Well a couple of weeks ago, we got an e-mail from the Enigma list (a bunch of UCLA-based nerds I met a while ago. Good fun) that one of them needed some beta testers for their (fanfare!) new Ratchet and Clank game. Well that got J(5) all excited, so we signed up, went in, and got to play an awesome-fun video game before it even hit the market. That felt good. They made us sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) which is pretty standard for beta tests, but I can say that we had a pretty great time playing it.
Thanksgiving: Once again, as is my tradition, I went out to Vegas to visit both Aunt and Uncle and Cousin and related family and friends. New this year, though, I brought J(5). It went swimmingly, we played some awesome board games and met some new friends. J(5) was, as always, gracious and entertaining.
Minor Illness: I dunno, I’m not sure if I was actually sick, but I had a sore throat and my nose was running. I stuck it out though, and I’m feeling better. Yay
Travel: I’m going to Pitsburgh to visit my sister…uh…tonight! I’m doing it because I have a bunch of time off I need to use somehow, I’ve never visited Pitsburgh, and I love my sister. A wicked combination. Wait another month, and I might even write here to tell you how it went.
Video games: I got my pre-christmas shipment of video games, which means I have games to play while everyone else buys me stuff for Christmas. I’ve been playing a lot of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, which is a lot of fun, but a *really long game*. So a good way to pass time until the 25th.
Also, once again, I am absolutely *horrible* at buying presents for people. We’ll see how I do. Wish me luck.
Um…that’s about it. Still no new writing on my book, sorry. I do it when it’s fun. And I’ll probably see most of you in just a few weeks. Cheers!
-N
Well, not really, I’ve been busy having way crazy fun. I present you with highlights.
Game Testing: When people make video games, they do what are called ‘beta tests’ where they bring in people from the general population to play their video game. Then they get feedback and make the game better. It’s cool.
In other news, one of J(5)’s favorite series of games is ‘Ratchet and Clank’. There are 4 of those games on the PS2, and we own them all. Good times.
Well a couple of weeks ago, we got an e-mail from the Enigma list (a bunch of UCLA-based nerds I met a while ago. Good fun) that one of them needed some beta testers for their (fanfare!) new Ratchet and Clank game. Well that got J(5) all excited, so we signed up, went in, and got to play an awesome-fun video game before it even hit the market. That felt good. They made us sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) which is pretty standard for beta tests, but I can say that we had a pretty great time playing it.
Thanksgiving: Once again, as is my tradition, I went out to Vegas to visit both Aunt and Uncle and Cousin and related family and friends. New this year, though, I brought J(5). It went swimmingly, we played some awesome board games and met some new friends. J(5) was, as always, gracious and entertaining.
Minor Illness: I dunno, I’m not sure if I was actually sick, but I had a sore throat and my nose was running. I stuck it out though, and I’m feeling better. Yay
Travel: I’m going to Pitsburgh to visit my sister…uh…tonight! I’m doing it because I have a bunch of time off I need to use somehow, I’ve never visited Pitsburgh, and I love my sister. A wicked combination. Wait another month, and I might even write here to tell you how it went.
Video games: I got my pre-christmas shipment of video games, which means I have games to play while everyone else buys me stuff for Christmas. I’ve been playing a lot of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, which is a lot of fun, but a *really long game*. So a good way to pass time until the 25th.
Also, once again, I am absolutely *horrible* at buying presents for people. We’ll see how I do. Wish me luck.
Um…that’s about it. Still no new writing on my book, sorry. I do it when it’s fun. And I’ll probably see most of you in just a few weeks. Cheers!
-N
