The Wannabe Author

I don't say things like this a lot, which might explain why I'm no good at it, plus I'm doing this a day late (and maybe a dollar short?) but I wanted to take the time to let everyone here on my tiny flist that you are all great and I consider myself fortunate to have you all in my life. I know I don't see you all very often, and I could probably try harder to stay in contact, but thanks to you all I've slowly started cracking out of a really difficult shell that built up over many many years. I know I have my bouts of depression and idiotic self-loathing, but you all haven't given up on me.

I'm still a very confused person very far behind where he should be in life, but at least now I'm taking steps forward. Muchas gracias to everyone for that!

Happy Thanksgiving, ya little jerks!

Today I dine upon turkey, mashed potatoes, and other wonderful concoctions, with French Silk pie for dessert. Then tomorrow I will feast upon the torturous pain of everyone working in retail, a curse from which I am now freed.

Then when everyone really gets into the Christmas spirit, I will undertake my yearly holiday ritual of becoming pissed off at everything and groaning about what phony bastards Christmas turns people into. Hooray!

Monday was my 27th birthday. How the hell am I 27? Everyone knows I don't act it, I act like I'm 10 or 84 depending on the situation.

Sunday my dear parents treated me to dinner at Longhorn's. Firecracker chicken wraps are delicious, just a little FYI for you all. I tried a portabella pepper steak and it was very tasty, as was the monstrous Chocolate Stampede dessert I got. Plus I added a half rack of ribs for later.

Then Monday was my turn to have dinner with TEH MAL~! Naturally I chose the dining experience of Buca di Beppo were I had penne arrabiata. Penne pasta, Italian sausage, and crushed red pepper marinara? Yes please. Unfortunately the leftovers (along with the giant WEDGE of Celebration Cake I got) wreaked havoc on my stomach the past few days.

My thanks to xlixia, zoroko, and firelilycosplay for the birthday wishes.

Left 4 Dead 2 is quite an experience. A good experience.

I bought Modern Warfare 2 today. Yes, I played the controversial airpot mission rather than use the option of skipping it since it might be offensive to some people. And yes, I enjoyed the hell out of that mission because I understand that - and here's the fun part! - IT'S JUST A GAME.

In all seriousness this game is pretty awesome.

The Left 4 Dead 2 demo will be available on XBox Live for Gold members tomorrow. Those who got the early demo code are already enjoying it. I am really excited for the game, the controls are much better and the daytime levels are a nice touch. Here's a little info for you all to consider about what's in the demo:

( Info to Salivate To! )

Can you tell I'm stoked?!

I had a weird dream a few nights ago and told Mal about it. It was a confusing dream with a sad and VERY odd ending. But then again, pretty much everything about me is odd.

I've been feeling kind of weird lately. Not upset, not depressed, just... off-center I suppose. My dieting has gone OK so far, I feel a bit more energetic thanks to the exercise, and creatine, and protein. Complacency at work is starting to set in along with other gripes, including their decision to try out this stupid seniority-based annual leave system which means I guess it's back to kissing DragonCon goodbye barring a sudden droppage of this idea.

I went out with Mal on Saturday, of course, and had a delightful dinner at Chili's. Their ribs are pretty good, and the new Shiner Bock sauce was really tasty. The dessert was... eh, could take it or leave it. But we were watching "Kung Pow" while eating so more attention was on Wimp Lo and Betty. And Mal, I tried calling you yesterday to see if you wanted to hang out again, but your phone was off. One day a week just isn't enough.

Nothing else to report really.

Jesus H. Christ I went a whole week without updating my LJ? My god, what's happening to me? That's just inexcusable.

I'm happy to say that my latest weight loss attempt is going decently so far. In the past week I went from 205 to my mysterious realm of "weight limbo." You may recall I posted months ago about the scale skyrocketing when I put it to 200 but dropping like a cinderblock no matter how much I put it past 199. Closer are looser, and I'm happy about it. Plus working in baggage has made my arm muscles tighten up at least. No big growth but maybe in time.

So I, like many others, purchased "Brutal Legend" for the XBox 360. I love it. All the jokes, references, and over-the-top metal tributes make me happy. The soundtrack is, surprisingly, that very impressive with the exception of the Judas Priest tracks. Then again it's hard for me to dislike most of their work except during the "Ripper" Owens years.

One thing I've noticed since switching positions at work is I sleep a LOT more, and get tired more easily. For the past week it wasn't uncommon for me to come home at 9, conk out at about 3:30, and not wake up until 1AM. It's wonderful not being tired going in to work, but darn it, it threw my sleep cycle off and I missed Raw on Monday night! Phooey!

So even though NOBODY knows about "Cyber City Oedo 808" I decided that, time permitting, I'll make Sen-Goku for Ohayocon. Volgin comes first though, I promised knuxiechan she'd have a Volgin to go with her Raikov, and all the crotch grabbing that comes with it.

It's 4:15 as I type this sentence. I'm amazed I'm still awake.

Today needed to be a certain kind of day, and all expectations were exceeded. Another full day at work ended with my training book being completed and me passing my baggage certification test, so no being sent back to checkpoint for me. Hurray!

After a quick nap I drove with knuxiechan to Canfield to see the awesomest twins in the world, zoroko and jingchan. Together we partook in viewing the cinematic wonder known as Zombieland. That movie was just too much fun. Zombie afficionados and fans of comedy mixed with the slightly grotesque will especially love it. Afterwards we went to IHOP for my only real meal of the day.

It was absolutely wonderful seeing the twins, they are such sweethearts. In general it was a fantastic day.

I put in for more new jobs. With some luck I'll land one of them and start making decent money.

Yesterday was another wonderful time with my girl. I was feeling a little more lovey-dovey than usual, and even though I still tortured her with some voices (including some new ones) I still enjoyed lotsa snuggle time. Mmmm, Mal snuggles. That's right, I snuggle because I'm a REAL man. None of this cuddling crap, snuggles all the way.

We did a little Rock Band where I showed off my abilities to mimic some of the vocal stylings of Rob Halford and Billy Idol. Then it was off to Buca di Beppo because I felt like taking Mal to a nicer place with goooooood food. OK, so we didn't particularly enjoy the mozzarella caprese. I had to try it though. My chicken marsala was wonderful, and we shared this giant Chocolate Vesuvio dessert. A double-decker brownie, vanilla gellato, and caramel and fudge sauces.

Our romantic evening ended with playing MySims Party on the Wii (a ridiculously cute and fun game) and watching "Hell's Kitchen" where good ol' Gordon Ramsay continued to amuse me even after all these years.

( While we were are Buca, I looked over to the side and got scared to death when I saw this looking at me )

First off, my thanks to everyone who offered suggestions on my cosplay question. #2 was the unanimous favorite and I just purchased them, so that gives me something to work with while figuring out a good coat length and how to make the striped part (which is actually the leg of Volgin's bodysuit).

The past two weeks I have been doing my baggage training, and so far I love it. It's a lot more tedious and repetitive than working on checkpoint, and throughout the day I get tired and leave kind of exhausted, BUT... my stress has diminished greatly. I feel a lot happier now that I don't have to interact with people so much.

I'm hoping that next Saturday (Oct. 10th) I'll be heading to Canfield with knuxiechan to hang out with zoroko and jingchan to see "Zombieland." I figure that our mutual love for Left 4 Dead would make that an ideal movie for the four of us. This, of course, is how things would go in a perfect world. Anyway I'm keeping my fingers crossed, trying to make this whole "see my con friends outsite of a con" thing work.

Speaking of which, I got OhayoCon weekend off. This is very nice news. Those of you who have never gone to Schmidt's in Columbus will have to join Mallory and me for some delicious German good including the spicy Bahama Mama sausage and GIANT creme puffs. I kid you not, these things are about the size of a softball, and they're not a bunch of pastry with a little filling. They are PACKED with creme. Also, anyone who wants to joing me for my second attempt at the Dagwood Challenge at the Ohio Deli should come along. If you've ever seen the show "Man vs. Food" on the Travel Channel, you may have seen the episode where he conquered this ridiculous two-and-a-half pound sandwich with a full pound of fries on the side. Turkey, ham, roast beef, lettuce, tomato, onions (I nixed the onions but had to get extra lettuce for it to count), Swiss and American cheeses, and a delicious dill mayo on a big sourdough roll. Man that sandwich was good. I'll be wearing my "The Dagwood Kicked My @$$" t-shirt as I try (and fail) it again.

Still on the topic of cons, I think they're going to be even more limited for me now. The word through the grapevine is that work is going to switch over to a seniority-based system for approving annual leave. I've been there for just under two years, I'm at the bottom of the totem pole. If that ends up going through, I can sure as hell forget about ColossalCon and DragonCon, no way I'll be able to get a weekend in summer off, and especially not Labor Day weekend.

So I get on LJ today and find about 10 people gone from my Friends List. Wow. Gotta love it! You've all been re-added, hooray!

So for OhayoCon I'm planning on making Colonel Volgin from "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater" to go with knuxiechan's Major Raikov. The problem is, men's red boots aren't easy to come across. So I'm asking for some input!

( Volgin. Best I could find )

Boots 1
I admit these look horrid but the top would be covered by my coat.

Boots 2
They look short but have the "worn" coloring

Boots 3
A more brownish-red look. Quite pricy, but they say all sizes available.

Thanks in advance.

The OAV DVDs said this would be forthcoming. Still, I have that sliver of doubt which thinks this could be a very elaborate joke. If it's not... mmmm.

I know you're super interested in reading about my DragonCon trip. So here. I SAID READ IT!

( Wheelchairs, wizards, and steampunk out the ass )

( And now for pictures! )

I was disappointed that I never got my Mandy hump when I was the Fury, but it's all good. There's always next year! And I WILL be going. I expect zoroko, xlixia, and hopefully xel_ko to come next year and make the con even better!

So I'm making a bit of an attempt to go actually SEE my friends in person, even if they live kind of far away. Mal is fantastic company, but I'd like a little more. Getting to see Sam outside of a con was great. I've already got a tenative plans for October 10th to pal around with the ever-so-awesome Renee. I'm really looking forward to that, everyone knows she's a sweety. I hope it isn't a mask for a pyromaniac. Wait... of course I do! I've kind of downsized the cons I'm interested in going to, right now Ohayo and DragonCon are the only ones I HAVE to go to in 2010, perhaps with a third somewhere along the way. We shall see! That means I can use vacation time for visiting!

I really want something big to happen in my life. Something monumental that really gives me a jolt. I keep doubting the whole writing thing will work out because I keep restarting my book because new ideas pop up and I have to sift through the old and new to see which ones work. Something will come along eventually, I hope.

In more specific news Mal and I went and saw "9" yesterday. It was good, but not great. More sizzle than steak I guess you could say. Afterwards we decided to eat in eat at a restaurant right near the theater in Westlake, aka, Dude-Bro Heights. And it was a sports bar and grill place. Honestly, the food was tasty. I really liked it. But we got stuck next to a table of 40- and 50-somethings who, through the power of a little alcohol, thought they were 20 and were just being LOUD. About everything. The dessert we got was a giant wedge of ice cream cake that we had to split. Fantastic! It was exactly the kind of day I needed to raise my spirits, even just a little.

So now I'm just waiting for the L4D DLC campaign Crash Course to come out. At least I was told it's coming out for XBox 360. Anyone on my FList with the game want to play if/when it does?

Mmmmm, feeling somewhat better lately. Marc in baggage told me that the switch in positions will put an end to a lot of my headaches. Yay for that.

Sadly no pictures of Dieter or the Baseball Furies have surfaced in any D*Con galleries I've seen, but Mal gave me a few pictures she took of me being a jackass.

( Harry... Patter? )

( RETARDED Harry Patter at the airport )

( Handsome Face Paint )

And my proudest/most shameful contribution. I don't drink, but I had four beers in a relatively short time frame Friday night and decided to do karaoke. When I have a terrible singing voice. And had to scream over the loud speakers. And had wrecked my voice screaming along with everyone else's songs. Plus the video is sideways, Chris recorded it with his fancy phone. Proper version is forthcoming.

( Breakin' the Law! )

1980's anime will always and forever trump anything put out nowadays. The hand-drawn, detailed look of the old school is so much more appealing than fancy CGI, no matter how massive and impressive a scene it creates.

But above all... the music. God damn do I love 80's anime music. I recently rediscovered the joy of my MD Geist DVD, and even though it also contains 1996's MD Geist: Death Force, it's the OAV released a decade earlier that I have playing over and over in my head.



Guitar solos, absurd synthesizers, and Engrish: what more could you ask for? Folks around my age who grew up watching all these bizarre OAVs and whatnot will hopefully appreciate this ridiculous, outrageous nonsense.

And soon... DragonCon.

Yesterday Mal and I went and saw "Ponyo." Ridiculously cute movie! Enjoyed it a lot. Not one of Miyazaki's best, I wouldn't even put it in his Top 5, but still. It's a Miyazaki movie. You can't go too wrong. The ending song bore a hole into my head and will not leave. At least the first part of it. Later on I guess Miley Cyrus shows up to "break it down" and completely homogenize the song into teeny-bop crap, we left the theater as soon as it started getting too techno-ish. Cute-as-hell movie though, and I immediately wanted to cosplay Fujimoto.

We walked around the area outside the theater for a bit. It was in Westlake, which is DudeBro Heights. Pretentious shit everywhere, damn near the whole street was clothing stores with one Tuscan Grill restaurant and all kinds of fun folks wearing their long keychains out of their shorts pockets, sleeveless shirts, and A&F polos. I'm amazed I didn't fall violently ill when the Asian ricer drove by with his guido haircut and huge spoiler.

Naturally, it was time for dinner, and where did we go? Red Robin of course. With the Burnin' Love Burger and Bleu Ribbon Burger under my belt, it was time to try the A1 Peppercorn Burger, and it was fantastic.

DragonCon looms near, and I never got my camera fixed, so I owe xlixia an early apology. I just need my hair coloring and to cut and hem my coat for Bill, then I should be good to go. Lucky me, my shift bid for work is on September 4th. I'll be in Atlanta, so I not only submitted a sheet with my top 10 choices, but I'll be sending a call in at my bid time (which is about 9:45AM, lucky me) to make sure I don't get some hoser shift. My god, I'm #42 out of about 80+ on the seniority roster, I'll have a good number of options open. I'm shooting for shifts that offer weekends off, preferably in baggage so I can try something new and get away from people for a bit. We'll see!

So I was inches away from going ballistic late last week. Hoped to get a kind word or two. Nothing, nada, zip zilch zero.

But God save the world if someone else were to stub a fucking toe.

lol

Holy shit, the last movie that had me THIS hooked with one trailer was "Sin City." You've got Tim Burton producing it, so you know it'll have a nice creepy touch. It's rated PG-13 too. It looks like Little Big Planet went insane amidst the apocalypse.



Must see this film!