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Subject:Go to Mars with me!
Time:10:43 am
Ok everyone knows how often I update my LJ, so this has to make me pretty excited to post! As some of you know I have a crazy obsession with Marvin the Martian and things Mars. So do you want to go to Mars? If I was single this would of made a great pickup line!.....or perhaps gotten my face slapped a lot! Anyways, NASA is doing this program where you can for FREE enter your name to be sent on a microchip on the next Mars Rover in 2011. All they ask is your name and zip code so they can see where people registering are from.

http://mars9.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate/sendyourname/index.cfm

I also have good/bad news on me personally. As they say, my loss is your gain! (And it's sort of literal here!)

I was robbed a few weeks ago, while I was home. Luckily they only took a few things like wallet, cell phone, and keys and didn't slit my throat while I was asleep at the time. I got back my keys and luckily I had insurance with my cell phone company and I got a free upgrade as they stopped making my phone. HTC with Touch Flo very nice! In my opinion better than an Iphone as it has all the advantages plus a keyboard. Not quite as easy, but so many more full programs I can use on it. But I'm digressing, back to the news. As I can't sleep or feel comfortable at the place, I'm in the process of moving out and have to by the end of the month. I'm paying movers so to all of my WONDERFUL WONDERFUL friends that have helped me in the past, no worries about me asking for help moving. I won't turn down help packing, but I'm about half done already. Mainly, I will be staying part time at Syd's, my parents, and spend nights at friends here and there while I look for a place to move to in the burbs. I don't think I'll be spending any nights in the car, but I guess that depends on how much I keep Syd happy.

Anyways, this brings up the fact that I own a LOT of stuff! A lot of stuff that I'm willing to give to other homes! Therefore ask away if you need something or even want as I'd rather it go to someone who uses it rather than sit in storage for up to a year in my parents basement. Jynell is taking my nice Dresser Armour, Beth asked for my blender, Johnny took my George Foreman grill, and Syd asked for a bunch of stuff like cutting board, etc. Therefore just ask and if I have and not using it's yours. Things I can think of off hand that I want new homes for is a bunch of bookshelves, a very nice 2 shelve light wood color TV stand with glass doors, plenty of extra computer parts, small printer cart with slide out keyboard drawer, stereo rack, a nice 3 piece flour rack. Anyways, please ask away. Less things I have to store the better.

Quick thoughts: Harry Potter exhibit -ok, but definitely pay extra for the audio tour and bring your own headphones as you can plug them in and it will be more easy to listen to. Nowhere near the quality of the Lord of the Rings exhibit and nowhere near the interactive level of the Star Wars exhibit, but still was fun.

Transformers 2 - Was dragged by my friend Pat to the Imax showing and was expecting to hate it. I actually liked it a lot. Maybe it's me, but I thought they did a good job with the story and added a whole new backstory that I liked. Seeing perennial toy favorites like the Constructocons (which I own), and Jetfire was cool. And anyone who knows me well, at some point has heard me rant about how much I hate Shila Labouf, but he was actually ok in this movie. He was not the annoying Spike character from the cartoons as I expected him to be.

I'm totally on this Ultrastar kick right now. Free Sourceforge program that creates the Singstar game for the PC, which you can then use the Singstar microphones from PS2 or PS3 as they are both USB and have up to 8 of them! Not only have people converted all the Singstar games to run on Ultrastar, but people are creating their own for songs that you know will NEVER be released on any karoake set! Anyways, I'm close to creating the ultimate portable party PC now. I have pretty much every Karoake disc ever released and almost all the Singstars on my new PC. I own the Pump it Up (Korean version of DDR) for the PC with the pads of course, and I'm still waiting for the PC version of Guitar Hero to go down to a reasonable price.

That's it for now. Please let me know if you need or want something of mine! Can't wait to go to Mars!
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Subject:Picollo
Time:01:53 pm


Well it says I haven't posted in 133 weeks! I had planned on posting soon to let people know about all the wonderful changes in my life. I realize I've become mostly a hermit and most people have seen hide nor hair of me, but it has been a really rough 3 years and that will be changing soon! I will quickly mention that I do have a full time job now with stable hours and I'm very close to being out of debt. However I'd like to take this moment to talk about a really good friend of mine that passed just this morning. He was my cat Picollo.

Picollo and Pandora (few months later) were gifts from Beth now almost 10 years ago when I was in Milwaukee without a single friend there. They were both newborn kittens then and they made my time there bearable. I remember not really wanting Pic at first as I was more of a dog person at that time, but she told me he was very special and cats like him didn't come around often. She was so right. He's one of the smartest cats I know and I've gotten to know many cats over the years. You might say I'm biased, but anyone who's met him knows I'm not just being a proud father. I used to say he was a monkey because he must have a prehensile tail as he could get anywhere and into anything he wanted. First he learned how to open cabinets with his paws. Then he moved on to drawers by leaning over them. Then he figured out how to open up the closets. The real kicker was he figured out how to open up doors. It took me a while to figure out how he'd always end up in my room when I got back home and then I had the pleasure of watching him one day. He actually would sit there and jump up and try to grab the handle with this paws and turn it. He also learned how to push on the screen doors until they popped out, so I've never been able to open my windows anymore without having a fan in it to block the entrance.

He liked getting into the garbage, so I had to buy a new can with a lid. He then learned to stand between the can and the wall and push until the can was knocked over. I finally ended up having to buy those stupid cans you have to press down with your feet and made of heavy metal so he couldn't get in. I was always afraid he'd learn to get Pan(dora) to stand on the foot while he jumped in, but thank goodness she wasn't as bright as he was!

Anyways, we've been through a lot as he's survived 3 career changes and 4 homes, but apparently he had a heart condition that he couldn't. There was no warning and he was all fine and active even up to 1:30 last night when we went to bed, but around 4:30 I woke up for some reason and found a mess on the floor and my cat on the floor breathing very fast and foaming at the mouth. I took him to the emergency vet, who gave me the bad news that he had a very bad heart condition and a blood clot to his rear legs. I won't go into details, but he was euthanized this morning at 5:30.

Anyways, he was a young cat and healthy with no warnings. I was broke these last years and neglected taking him to the vet because he looked healthy. I hope anyone who has a pet won't make the same mistake I did.
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Subject:Yikes, how quickly time flies!
Time:08:53 am
Well I just got an e-mail this morning from [info]urban_firefly saying she was having problems adding me to her LJ, so I logged on and it doesn't look like there's a problem on my end, but it did make me look at my journal and I realized I haven't posted in quite a while! I'll keep it brief, but there has been a lot of good and bad things going on as of late.

The Bad: My unemployment ran out!
The Good: I got a 3 month assignment at the Chicago Tribune starting in a few weeks! Stability so I can find a full time job, enough pay so I can pay bills and some people back, and enough to have a little spending money!

The Bad: I've been so broke for over the last month, I've had literally not one dime available for entertainment. Of course you'd think being an only child I could get some help from my well off parents, but they really put the dis in disfunction!
The Good: I've discovered I'm surrounded by the best of friends and people. I neither asked, nor expected any assistance, but my friends have provided it for me in more than abundance! I know Sydney and I are dating and I'd do the same in her shoes, but I guess it means a lot. We still go out to eat, the bars, movies, fun events, etc. and she doesn't make me feel bad about it. Of course I still feel like I'm being a deadbeat boyfriend! (Yeah I know the whole stereotypical male being the provider is very old fashioned concept, but it does still eat at me and I'm so glad to be working!). Of course the two friends that's really done so much for me, more than anyone else (besides Sydney of course) is Beth and Lara. On more than one occasion when I was resorting to feeding my cats cans of tuna and whatever food was left in the house, she's bought me cat food. And not just some cheap off brand, but real expensive all-natural stuff so my kids can not only eat but be healthy. (I'm pretty good at scrounging and I can make do on PB & J, but it's not so easy for the cats and she knew that and helped when I was between unemployment checks!) She's given me rides to practically almost all my errands and even to fun stuff like gaming at [info]dragonbane's house and dinner parties at our various other friends, etc. And then there's my good friend Lara from the Chicago Browncoats! Every time we get together, she's taking me to some fancy posh restaurant. We're talking $50 - $100 per person type restaurants. I've had the opportunity to see things like the new sold out Broadway play, The Pirate Queen. She's found and given me things that I didn't even think could be found anymore (Can we say all natural unpastuerized Apple Cider! That's my kryptonite right there! Oh man, my mouth is drooling again!) Now they're not the only ones who've helped out as my other friends have done stuff ranging from taking me out to sending me job opportunities etc., but I've really wanted to point out how great these three have been to me. I've had some close relationships with friends in the past, but none have really made me feel like I'm worth it like they have and they will be getting many, many thanks during the holidays! I'm not afraid to admit that a few times I've almost broken down and cried because I was so distraught and frustrated, but thanks to my friends they've always kept my spirit in high and helped me get by these last few months. Falling behind on rent and bills is never fun and worrying about taking the job at McD's or telemarketing (Thanks anyways Jynell! Just kidding!) to get by is never fun!

The Bad: I wasn't able to do too much for our six month anniversary! All I could do is send her a card and make her another homemade meal...again! :(
The Good: Sydney.

The Bad: My parents! They refuse to even meet Sydney and so will not go to my birthday dinner I had planned in a few weeks! My grandmother is at least willing to come, but needless to say very disappointed. Well two less tickets to the Korean movie at the film festival I have to buy!
The Good: Sydney's parents. I'm going to a family wedding back in Michigan with her at the end of the month and I will be meeting them. As foreign as it sounds, apparently they actually treat Sydney like a human being and as an adult! They must put something in the water or something!

I could go on, but it seems I've rambled enough. As much as I've had a lot of crap happen to me, a lot of GOOD has also happened to me! Never have I gone through so much high's and low's as I have in the past few months, but I wouldn't change a damn thing! Well, I better start getting ready for my weekend trip. I'm going with Sydney and some of her friends to a private little cabin off the lake to do some major partying and camping. There will be plenty of booze, food, and games! Unexploded Cow anyone?
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Subject:My thoughts on a great friend!
Time:10:03 am
Current Mood:[mood icon] blah
It's hard to believe it's already Friday. This last two weeks has been one of the craziest as of late. My car broke down downtown, my cell phone broke (at exactly that same time when I was trying to call AAA!), I found out my parent's birthday is both this week on Thursday and Saturday (It changes every year as everyone but me in my family uses the Lunar calendar, which in itself is a pain), and I'm broke and realized this is my last month of unemployment. I in general don't like to whine and I usually don't bring up this stuff, but then I got the worst news that I could of recieved and none of my problems even mattered in comparison. On Tuesday night around 5:30pm my good friend Sterno passed away. His fight with Throat Cancer had ended. This is a man that's influenced me in the way I act, do things, and even think sometimes.



As hard as this was for me, it's been 100 times harder for my friend Beth. Her only real family member, her mom was terrible to her and died very early in her life. Luckily she met Sterno and Karen in high school and they've been best freinds since. Sterno was like a brother and WAS family for her. She of course did not take this news too well. Sterno was the one person who she could always rely on. There wasn't a thing he wouldn't do for her within reason. Be it money, rides, help, etc., he was there when the chips were down. His generousity didn't end there, but I'll mention more later. Except for a few hours on Tuesday night I've now been with Beth non-stop since Monday afternoon and I can't say it's all been great as her moods changed by the minute, but I think it's in some ways it's helped me a little as much as I hope I've helped Beth. I won't get into all the details as I really want to tell everyone who's known or has not known him how Sterno's been such a great friend to me.

I'm one of the few priveliged people who know his real name, but everyone knew him as Sterno. I met him around 12 years ago through Beth and from the get go he was quite a character. He was Jewish, a male nurse, grew up in Evanston; many reasons to be snobbish or stuck up but he wasn't. He had friends in the good circles, but he also chose to have friends in all sorts of circles. He was sort of like Ferris Beuller in that everyone really did genuinly like him and he got along with everyone. This was one of the things that really struck me and something I've tried to do a little myself (with not as much success. He has a certain charisma and character that not all people are gifted with). As I mentioned earlier he was very, very generous and always thinking of others. He's a male surgical nurse so he made really good money, but he never made it an issue or let it get in the way of a good time. He would treat his friends all the time, but do it in a way that doesn't embarass or make you feel bad.(As I said he had that kind of character that's really rare in a person.) If he thought there was something you enjoyed, he would get it for you. His most notable habit as it was one of his great loves was music. He would buy (especially for Beth), concert tickets all the time without even asking and just mail it to you. You'd get a envelope in the mail from him and you open it up and WHAM there's some concert tickets for someplace. It didn't matter if you couldn't go or not, he just did them if he thought you'd like them. I can't tell you how many great bands I've seen because of him, nor the many friends he did that for. Beth, Karen, Bondo, Ben, are only a few that I know of, but there are probably many of his friends I don't even know that he did that for. For my last birthday, he sent me a pair of Morrisey tickets (when he couldn't even go himself). He'd also make these homemade cassette compliations of stuff he thought I'd enjoy every once in a while and mail those off to me too . This is also something I know I've been influenced by. I've become more generous myself due to him and loaned and given away many good books and DVD's. I don't even know how many times I've had to replace certain DVD's in my collection especially the LOTR movies, but it doesn't matter to me so much. If a friend of mine enjoys a loaner that much, I want them to keep it and I NEVER ask for anything back. If it's something I know someone will like I'll just buy a new copy for them and give it to them.

The one thing I think I'll miss more than anything was Sterno's annual New Years Day Lunch Party! One of Sterno's greatest ideas in my opinion and one I will make sure happens at least one more time for him! I may even try to start my own in a few years! As you know New Year's Eve is always crazy and impossible to be with all your friends as everyone has their own parties to go to, etc. But almost noone has plans for New Years Day Afternoon (besides being passed out or something!). So what better time than that to invite all your friends to meet for lunch. You usually party late and sleep late and by lunchtime your hungry for a late breakfast or whatnot. This has become a tradition and we'd all meet at the Viceroy of India restaurant on Devon in the Indian neighborhood. (One of the reasons is of course that most Indians don't celebrate the same holidays as us and are open on our holidays. If you ever need anything on Christmas Day, you can usually find most shops open on Devon!) It was great because you'd have people from everywhere from the far suburbs and whatnot stop in. It went on all afternoon, the place was a buffet (both vegetarian and meat friendly - not to mention they have this ice cream like mango dessert that I absolutely love) and you stop in when you want. There's no set time like noon or two. It's anytime from noon to five! Depending on when you got there and how long you hung out, you got to talk and meet with different people. It was not just lunch, but it WAS an event!

Anyways I'm sure there are many more people that Sterno had much more important profound affects on and was closer to that can say more about Sterno than I can. Karen I know is trying to put all the different LJ links talking about Sterno together so I would suggest checking out her LJ. I myself will try to put together a photo album of a few really good memories of Sterno. I've posted my favorite photo of us together here above.
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Current Music:Frankenstein
Time:04:04 am
Current Mood:[mood icon] but wide awake!
Poll #768413 My new LJ
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5

Is the new LJ features worth the ads on the side?

View Answers

Yes, the features are cool!
1 (20.0%)

I can't tell yet!
2 (40.0%)

It's acceptable!
1 (20.0%)

The ads suck
1 (20.0%)



OK, as you can tell I can't sleep and this seems to be about the only time I have as of late to even do anything like post or look at LJ and since it's been a while it'll probably be long! I decided to try this free upgrade, but I want my friends to let me know what they think. Is the new features like this handy poll worth the ad's down the side of my entries. Is everyone used to it now or do you all find it annoying. Let me know!

I finally put up photos from a bunch of my events and made public the ones that I think would be of interest to some or all of my friends. I have to admit as some of my new friends are a lot more photo and tech saavy than in the past, it's harder for me to snap away without feeling invasive. I've always kept the photos to a minimum, but some of the groups I hang out with especially the sci-fi group, there's like 5 people who all take a lot of photos so I have a hard time even snapping a few without feeling like I'm contributing to the annoyance level. As a film buff this is tough, but I suppose it's a good thing though as there's less photos for me to have to post (at least to the public). I think Sydney definitely thinks I take too many photos! Speaking of which, I finally got a lot of my film photos developed and I had some great photos from the Fangoria and Pasadena conventions that I've not posted yet. If you haven't had a chance to see my Pasadena photos there's some good shots of me with Jimmy Kimmel (my 5 seconds of fame!) Much better than the 1/25th second on the actual show itself! I'll get the film stuff up in a separate album later as the main things I would think anyone would be interested there is the close ups of the actors. No need to bore everyone with more photos of me and my friends.

One last thing on the photos before I give the link out is the fact that if anyone wants a good hi-def version of any of my shots, you can download it for free! This is why I use the less user friendly Imagestation site over some of free sites. I thought I had made that very clear, but I just got a bunch of questions from Nina who now thanks to me also uses Imagestation. You need to click on the photo and another popup window will open up allowing you to download the full unedited version. Anyways click and or bookmark this link and it will have all my public photo albums up now and going forward.

http://www.imagestation.com/members/marvin19?name=marvin19&order=date_created

As for the rest of my life, it's still crazy as ever. Still unemployed, but trying hard to change that. Anyone knows any good job openings, be sure to let me know! I was violently sick all Sunday night and most of Monday and I wasn't a 100% yesterday either. I'm not sure if anyone at the Sci-Fi Meetup noticed, but I was not my usual chipper self! I had my first solid meal in days just hours before the meetup! Sydney was a good nurse though and made sure I had anything I needed.

Speaking of needing, I needed help from my alderman to get a parking sticker for my area and I went to his office today and he wouldn't help me, the bastard! I don't care if his next opponent is Republican, if that's my only choice that's who I'm voting for because I want that bastard out of my ward because now he's costing me money!....DEEP BREATH! Ok, done with my mini-rant.

I got to the semi-finals of the Pirates Volvo contest, but the server crashed and booted me off! I doubted I would be one of the 3 finalists anyways! It was a crazy hard contest though! Speaking of Pirates saw it and it rocked bigtime! Only disappointment was not seeing Keith Richards, but there are some surprises that I'd only talk to you about if you saw it!

Now there's not many movies I'm excitedly waiting for that's coming up soon. I suppose I haven't seen Superman yet and Clerks 2 looks ok, but nothing was exciting me like Pirates! Gosh when's the next Harry Potter coming out? Well I'm actually getting a little tired now, so I guess I'll sign off!
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Subject:We were robbed!
Time:04:24 pm
I don't have a lot of time and I was hoping this would be a start to a glorious weekend, but sadly now my weekend is now tarnished! I'm so mad right now I don't even know what to say! I've seen better officiating in professional wrestling matches! Those damn Swiss, I knew they were EVIL, but who knew they'd stoop so low as to bribe officials! Anyone who watched the game knows what a controversial call the official made allowing a clearly illegal goal to stand. But in case noone else was watching, I'll summarize real quickly! The Swiss had a 1-0 lead and there was over 10 minutes to play and Korea had great momentum and almost scored many times. Then this crappy call, where a side official calls offsides and stops play, but a Swiss player keeps playing and scores since all the other players stopped moving as the play was over. There was nobody chasing him except the goalie. The main official comes over and talks with the side official who says he did indeed have his flag up, but overrules him anyways and removes him from the game. Talk about a clearly fixed game! I think I saw Don King standing next to the Swiss coach! Anyways, thus ends another would be championship run by the REDS! Yep, I'm so disgusted right now I don't even think I can watch another World Cup game this series! I've now been cured of my 'Fever'.

Now the "Be the Reds" slogan will have to be switched to "Be the Browns" as I'm getting ready to head to the Can't Stop the Serenity screening tonight for Josh's Charity! Don't forget today's the day to go buy more copies of Firefly and Serenity to show support for the series and Joss. I hope to see some or all of you tonight and tommorow at the Safehouse! It is one of my favorite bars and not to be missed. A great time will be had by all!


Rob
There's no power in the 'Verse that can stop us now...except those damn Swiss (And to all my friends who are Swiss or part Swiss - I'm kidding and I believe I'm repeating a joke from Austin Powers. In no way do I really feel Swiss are evil....at least not completely!)!
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Subject:World Cup Fever!
Time:12:34 pm
Current Mood:geeky
My how different a weekend can make! As of Friday when I picked up the paper and found out that South Korea won the first game, I had World Cup Fever! Korea was in First Place and all was right with the world! Then come Sunday, they play France and tie! Still first place. Then this morning I find out those damn Swiss (They're so EVIL) beat Togo and now have taken first place! Now I have to wait until Friday when Korea will kick the Swiss Cheese out of those....Swiss....uh.....Cheeseheads! Anyways, you'll either see a very, very happy Browncoat at the Serenity showing Friday or just a happy Browncoat who got over his fever!

Went to Kevin's birthday picnic this Saturday! It rocked! A keg of Blue Moon, burgers, dogs, and salads. I brought my one of a kind Dark Chocolate M&M's Brownies! Only available for a limited time from your's truly as my supply is running short! At least until M&M's get's wise and brings it back. Who the hell wants those stupid white chocolate pirates ones! The Darth Mix is the way to go! Then went from there to a nice traditional Irish wedding, with open bar ALL NIGHT! What a crazy day that was! Photos to be posted soon.

Speaking of photos I finally dropped off about 8 rolls of film. I always wait until Walgreens has their sale, where you get one set of photos and one cd with all the prints on them! It makes it so easy to post stuff! So expect a lot of links soon for some older photos. I got some photos from Pasadena with some really nice shots of Adam Baldwin and Morena, and some from Fangoria with some nice shots of Nathan Fillion. I even had a roll of film of my family from over 10 years ago. It was in my old home with photos of my grandmother and my dog, Jonathon.

Crazy, crazy, crazy! So much to do, so little time! I've picked up a few E-bay clients and will be very busy tommorow listing probably a few dozen items! Saw the latest Doctor Who with the actress who played Moaning Mrytle from Harry Potter. I'm getting very, very disappointed with the New Doctor Who. I swear the episodes get worse and worse and I've been a fan of Doctor Who since 1978! And then I hear they're doing a crappy spinoff of Captain Jack! Geez, I'd rather see more episodes of K-9 and Friends before I watch that, but whatever! *Spoiler Alert* I wonder how many people will stop watching once Rose Tyler leaves the show. *End Spoiler Alert*

Can't wait for this weekend! Big trip to Milwaukee to visit my favorite bar, THE SAFEHOUSE! Anyone who's not gone, must attend. It is worth it! So many fun things to do and look at. Secret passageways, hidden doors, one way mirrors, a dance floor, and a blackjack table!
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Time:12:42 pm
Well, I saw my friend [info]chezsterno and Beth Monday night. We went to the Noyes Street Cafe in Evanston for dinner. He seems to be doing well, but he switched to a new med so he had problems eating.

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Well, I saw my friend <lj user="chezsterno"> and Beth Monday night. We went to the Noyes Street Cafe in Evanston for dinner. He seems to be doing well, but he switched to a new med so he had problems eating.

<Rob Rant Alert!> The restaurant itself was very nice, although I didn't care for their Monte Christo (That's how they spell it there!). I mean people who get Monte Cristo's in general are not getting it because they're health conscience. I mean c'mon it's supposed to be french toast with cheese, ham, and turkey, which is then deep fried and you put jelly and powdered sugar on top of it. Of course this place being a fancy Evanston joint had used some sort seven grain whole wheat bread (lightly buttered - instead of french toasting it) and it was not deep fried. It was a decent sandwich, but not one I would order from there again. I don't want to seem like I don't like the restaurant as that's the second time I've been there and the food is excellent. Just don't get a Monte Cristo that's all. </End Rob Rant>

I also did get another bit of disappointing news that Shirefeast was cancelled due to not enough interest. I know both me and Sydney was looking forward to this. I mean a whole day involved watching all three extended versions of LOTR Trilogy and eating six meals! Second breakfast, elevensees, the works! My friend AZ, I think just tries a little too hard and makes these events a little too big. I don't think there's enough die-hard Ringers in Chicagoland to get 40+ fans to commit to something like that. Also having missed Ringwars this year in Madison, I'm having a little bit of Tolkien withdrawal. If only my place was bigger, I'd do it myself. Granted my high def. tv's only 32" Widescreen it's still pretty decent. Of course I've only had a party as big as 6 since it's a small apartment. I suppose if four people sit or lie on the floor I could have a party of ten. Hmmm....well maybe once I'm employed again and bringing in steady income.

That also reminds me I've been thinking of trying to do a game night at my house as everyone else who does one seems to live a million miles away. Of course most weekends seemed booked these next few months, but I do have enough friends who don't work that we could have an impromptu one during the week.

Well, at least I can look forward to tonight. I'm meeting Sydney downtown so we can go see the Deep Sea 3-D Imax movie. I've actually seen this already, but it is so cool and Sydney has not! It's a 45 minute movie with these 3-D glasses and you will feel like you're swimming with sharks, fish, jellyfish, whales, etc. These are not those crappy red and blue glasses of yore, they're these new sunglass type that doesn't interfere in the movie in any way and it feels comfortable even over my glasses. Can you tell I like these movies! And of course I haven't seen Sydney since this weekend and we really didn't get any alone time there. Speaking of which, I suppose I better get ready!
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Subject:Photos from Duckon
Time:06:41 pm
Ok, although imagestation supposedly will let me work with blogs, it doesn't seem to be LJ friendly just yet. Either that or I just can't figure it out. Anyways regardless, I stuck with just sending a link. I suppose if I keep having problems I can use Photobucket, but I still prefer Sony since it allows you to access the full photo. Anyways, onto the real show.

Ok although I was in and out of Duckon, I did manage to take a few shots here and there, mostly of Sydney, but also many from my friends from the various groups. Here's the link to my Duckon photos:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2105355052&code=22603426&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite
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Subject:Update
Time:05:10 pm
It's been a few months since my last posting and some people have been asking me why I haven't been posting. Well to those that have not seen me in months, I am currently unemployed and therefore do not access the internet as frequently as I have in the past. I lost my job about two months ago and I've been very busy lately. I've taken this time to re-arrange and fix my life. I've cleaned my apartment and I'm finally done unpacking. I've also taken care of a few personal issues as well.

The biggest change in my life however is my girlfriend, Sydney. Now some of you are going what happened to Wendy? So I will briefly write the details and move on. I never saw her for about two months. I didn't see her, hear from her, anything. She was busy with work and didn't have time for me. No phone calls, e-mails, nothing. It's not like I needed to see her everyday, but even one phone call a week to let me know what's been going on would of been fine. Anyways, once I got back from Pasadena, I had had enough and I pretty much wrote her and said we needed to get together and talk. I thought perhaps the fact that I was planning trips without her and doing major things would perhaps at least get her curious to talk to me. She replied she was still too busy and I would need to wait another three weeks. I pretty much told her if she couldn't make the time for me, there was no point in us dating. She said I was being impatient and started to tell me once again how in the military she didn't see her ex-husband for months at a time and that I needed to be able to do that as well. Anyways, that was the end of that.

Move to a week later and I'm depressed and bummed and Nina convinces me to go to a Browncoat St. Patty's Day party. I tried to have fun and all but I just couldn't really get in it. The group was in two different places and I eventually just started to move around and hang out with some new people. That group happened to include Sydney, which I have to admit I noticed even back at the Serenity premiere where I met her briefly. Anyways, after a little bit Sydney, VampireLaura, and her friend wanted to leave for food. I don't want to say Nina was too cheery for me, but at that time I really felt like I was under the pressure to try to have fun there. So I left with Sydney to go eat. That was probably the best thing that could of happened. We went to some small bar and just hungout and talked and drank. I didn't feel like there was any pressure anymore and I was able to relax and have fun. So we just hung out, drank, and ate and talked. Anyways I must of done something right, because she's still going on dates with me.

Besides that I've done a few things, but nothing major. Been to a few parties, few trips, etc. The normal stuff. Ok, I'm addicted to Need for Speed - Most Wanted on the Xbox. I'm #3 and I'm sort of stuck there, but I try almost every day to advance. They hired these cheesy actors to play street racers and stuff, but I must see the ending!

Just got back from Duckon! That was Sydney's first local con and I think she had fun. We made Blinkies, which are little blinking devices that you build and sotter yourself. She got Virgin Sacrificed and she met some of my more crazy friends like the Minions.

Whew! I think that's enough writing for now. I'll perhaps write some more soon on more recent events but this should do it.
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Subject:Photos from Pasadena
Time:03:33 pm
Although I had most of this done yesterday, I had to tweak it a bit before I posted it. The only thing I can say is I'm glad I did all the captions for my album yesterday or it would probably sound very somber if I did it today! Anyways for those interested here are the photos from my trip to Pasadena.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2108279463&code=21169690&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite
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Time:01:56 pm
Once again my crazy life just get's crazier! I may be out of a job as of tomorrow, as once again I'm being put under the microscope! I need to get me a NEW job soon! Even if I don't get fired, all this stress is going to give me a heart attack! Once again a nosy Dept. Head (not mine of course!) decided to stick her nose where it didn't belong! I'm not going to go into heavy details here as I've heard of cases where people get fired for writing stuff on blogs and this is close enough! But just know I'm all set to head to the Dept. of Human Rights to charge discrimination charges tomorrow depending on what they do! And PLEASE if you know anyone who's hiring in the accounting or financial field I would be most appreciative of any leads! Also if you know any good agencies or headhunters (Full-time only) please let me know! I'm willing to work in the suburbs (within reasonable distances)

Well, I suppose I should be thankful I had such a wonderful vacation last week as that might be my last one for a LONG, LONG time! I guess I probably shouldn't do anything fun, but I will be going to the Pub tommorow with the Firefly group as I'm sure I'll be needing a few drinks (regardless of whether I have a job or not!) I probably should be working instead of typing this blog, but gee, my motivation to work has just dropped next to nothing at the moment! Well, maybe I'll start online for job opps or get some of those photos from this weekend up! Either way, I guess I'll try to be productive and keep busy!

Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!
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Time:04:40 pm


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Ok, I've come back from Pasadena where I had the most crazy ass fun with Lara and Steve!  I really don't have the time to post about that right now as that will be a long post, however I couldn't wait any longer to share this!  I need to let  everyone know I'm coming out of the closet!  This is Ted, my new boyfriend!  I'm sure you've noticed I have an 'Eye' for good taste!  He's almost as cute as me!  I hope this doesn't change anyone's opinion of me! Ok, apparently there's some miscommunications, so this photo was in Chicago yesterday, not from Pasadena! 

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Subject:I'm off to Pasadena!
Time:03:50 pm
Ok I guess I better post as this is the last chance I'll have to post until I get back Monday at 5 in the morning! And I'm pretty sure I'll be too tired to post on Monday! Speaking of tired, I got home about 2am yesterday from Sterno's so I'm running on fumes! The only thing that's been keeping me going is just knowing in less than 24 hours I'll be in Sunny Pasadena next to a pool with a palm tree sipping a Mai Tai with Lara, Steve, Jayne, River, and Inara (Hey, it's my daydream, what did you expect!?) Anyways, I can't tell you how stoked I am to get to meet Adam! Some people have mentioned that I'm a little too happy to be meeting him, but hey he's my Hero! He's the Hero of Canton and well....that's something! I've got eight rolls of film and a gig of memory on my digital camera, so I hope that's enough! You guys haven't seen it, but I took about four rolls last weekend at Fangoria. I just haven't bothered to get them developed as I want to save every dime for this weekend! Expect to see a bunch of awesome close-up photos in the following weeks!

Well, that's it as I want to go home, finish packing and get to bed! I have to be up at 3:30am! Sunny (Please be sunny!) Pasadena here I come!
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Subject:Busy, busy week!
Time:03:32 pm
Ok I've been so busy, it's not even funny! So first of all, my Oscar picks were not so good! I only got 13 out of 24! It's a little over 50%! Of course these were what I thought would be picked, not what I wanted to win. I guess I better hang up my hopes of becoming a movie critic!

On to more fun things! Fangoria and Nathan. I can't tell you how much fun I had considering I'm not a huge horror fan! Of course Lara had a big part to do with that! She's just such a fun person who just seems to make things happen! Thanks to her we were able to sneak into the dessert party with the celebrities, get photos we shouldn't of, and even stood around and talked with the stars from Slithers! Nina made friends with the Troma people, so that was interesting as normally there's not much afterparty activity, but we were able to go have some fun there as well! Anyways, I finally have the photos up! Here's the link for those interested:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2108564573&code=21027597&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Google has been beta testing their free website creator, so I figured what the heck! Since this isn't my real website and this is more of a gag site I figured I'd have some fun so it's full of creative little embellishments!

http://robhan.googlepages.com/

Tonight is the Sci-Fi Meeting and tomorrow I go to Sterno for Firefly night! That leaves just Thursday to pack for this weekend's trip to Pasadena! AHHH! I'm going to need a vacation when I get back from my vacation!
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Subject:Some photos
Time:12:01 am
Ok. I'm going to try to put up a better post tommorow, but for now as it's a little past midnight on Sunday I'm just putting these up because I'm so excited and I can't wait! Anyways, seeing as I'm e-mailing a few people my photo with Nathan, I figured I'd try posting photos since I've never done that on livejournal yet. Anyways, if I do this properly there should be three photos from Fangoria. A photo of me with Nathan, then George Romero, and Jenna Fischer from The Office (American version). If not and there's nothing but words, I guess I'll try figuring out tommorow.



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Time:01:47 pm
I'm really stoked as I'm getting ready to meet Captain Tightpants this weekend! I realize I'll only see him for a minute or so, but I'm still very excited. I've never really gotten into another show as I have with Firefly. I was really into the LOTR movies as I loved the books, but I never really went gaga over it enough to go to the cons or anything like I do with these guys. I'm hoping at the free showing of his movie Slithers that night, Nathan and cast will attend(Longshot I know, but I'm still hoping to talk to him). It'll be a blast regardless. So far it's going to be Lara, Beth, maybe Nina, and I heard from a few people in the Chicago Browncoats they were going to attend. As Lara and me had such a blast watching Serenity at Capricon, possibly enebriated a little, we will make sure to get our little clan all happy before (and possibly) during this movie as well! They're bussing us to and back from the theater so no designated drivers, WOO HOO! And Lara has a room! I'm disappointed that Wendy won't be joining us, but she has her gaming group this weekend and I guess she's still not ready to spend more than a few days a week with me. But then again all my friends say they can't stand me for that long either!

As for me personally, it's been a rollercoaster. Socially, I've been having fun. I had free passes and I saw the 3-d Imax Deep Sea movie! Awesome and highly recommended. You really do feel like you're swimming with the sharks and jellyfish. It's only 45 minutes though and a little pricy. Went with Beth to one of her friend's art gallery loft! Although I felt I wasn't 'cool' or slacker looking enough to be there and some of the conversation did get a little artsy for me, it was really neat to meet a whole different social crowd. Every artist there had deeply different styles and seeing them at work was really eye-opening. It's another thing as of late that has opened my eyes, to the many possibilites in life that I was not noticing. This journal writing has really helped. I've also been carrying around this little blank book for writing the really personal stuff as well. Wendy gave it to me and it's called Moleskine. It's really cool as it has a mesh leather cover with a built in bungie to keep it closed and a little built in bookmark. The best part is the back cover has an expandable pocket for loose papers! And the pages are sewn in, which means you can actually tear individual pages out. Highly recommended!

Jobwise, there's not much out there accounting wise! I don't know if it's just the time of year or what, but I'm not getting much to send out to. I'm going to try calling some outsourcing places as I'm getting a little desperate. Anyone that knows a place that needs a really hard working person in an accounting or financial settings, please let me know!

Gripe session ).
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Subject:Horrible week! TGIF!
Time:03:31 pm
As some of you know I've had quite a new year! I met a bunch of new friends, started having a social life, and I actually was happy, which was something that had not happened in almost four years. For once in my life things looked like they were going my way and I started to look for a new job and even started dating.

Fast forward a month and my life is a complete disaster. I'm still job hunting with not much more than a few crappy nibbles. I'm going to have to sign on for another year at my really crappy apartment, because I don't have my better paying job yet! And my girlfriend doesn't just have some emotional baggage, she has a whole damn moving truck! And guess who gets to deal with it. It's not the ex that did all the damage! I'm not going to get into personal details, but let's just say this matter gets taken care of one way or another this weekend. I may be a nice guy and I really like Wendy, but I'm no longer naive or silly enough to think that I can fix the problems.

The only good news this week is I ordered my photo for the Firefly autographs and it should arrive sometime next week. I can't wait to meet Captain Malcolm Reynolds!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7590046881&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

Also they finally released my weapon of choice! If only I could get that high paying job so I could own this!

http://masterreplicas.com/customer/starwars/starwars_product_detail.php?pid=8591
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Subject:Capricon
Time:12:01 pm
Well this year's Cap, was probably my the best and worst one for me. I saw almost nothing and spent very little time there. But the little time I did spend at Cap, it was awesome! This was the first year I actually knew people at the convention and this was going to be Wendy's first convention ever. I was worried I wouldn't have time to hang out with everyone (and I guess that actually happened for a different reason!).

Well I took Thursday and Friday off and was planning on being there the whole time. Unfortunately Wendy got sick around Wednesday night and was very sick vomitting and dry heaving all night. Needless to say she wasn't 100% for the rest of the weekend and I went back and forth from the con most of the weekend.

Even though I didn't get to hang out with everyone and missed a few things, overall I had a blast and wouldn't change a thing! I got a silver medal in the sci-fi football trivia and I got second place in the Olympiad (Best event every year!). I also got to have lunch with Mark and his wife at Bennigans and I got to get drunk on champagne and plum wine with Lara and watch Serenity (Even better slightly buzzed)! I think Wendy had a good time and I think she'll do another con with me and hopefully she'll be getting drunk with me next time!

Now I have to worry about how I'm going to afford Fangoria and the Grand Slam!
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Subject:Is it time for the King to retire?
Time:11:56 am
Ok this weekend will be Capricon and it looks to be fun as I've finally started to make a lot of friends at the conventions and know so many local people there. The Firefly group I belong to is throwing a party, the Minions group is throwing a party, my Magellan group will be there, and it will also be my first official convention I attend with a date, so this leaves me with a dilemma. My girifriend Wendy has a professional job, nice place, and is a responsible person.(Yeah I know, what the heck is she doing with me!) The thing is she has never attended a con before so this could either be a real good thing or a disaster! I can't decide though if I should tone down everything and slowly work her way into the convention experience or do I just be myself and be the wild crazy guy that everyone knows and loves. Is it time for the King to retire the Beads? I guess we'll see this weekend!

On a whole different note, with much reluctance I have cut off my long hair. It was down past my shoulders and finally long enough to ponytail, but my need for a better paying job sadly outweights my want for long hair. I actually don't look bad this time, as I used a different barber and she didn't give me a kids haircut. Still not as good looking as when I had it long, but it's not bad. Wendy didn't dump my ass when she saw it so it can't be too bad!
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