Has anything of interest happened to you recently?

Dental should REALLY be covered. Not only can dental problems have major non-dental repercussions, but regular dental check ups are a super way to catch oral cancer early. My hygienist started groping around my cheeks and gums a couple years ago and when I asked why, she explained about the oral cancer thing. It's a bigger deal for tobacco users, but worth checking on everyone since it's literally 10 seconds or less and requires no equipment or drugs.

Actually optometric care is also an excellent way to catch non-eye related conditions, such as diabetes.

My Optometrist has this nifty machine that takes a picture of the inside of your eyeball and then the Dr. shows it to you, comparing it to pictures of people with diabetes, cataracts, etc. They used to print them out and let you take them home, but I think they may have stopped doing that.

That's probably retinal photography. It's not near as annoying as the Glaucoma test.

Hrm. Checking into it, looks like it is just some fancy pants retinal imaging system. It's annoying in its own right, as you've got to smush your face upto this giant machine and look through a pin hole so the doc can blind you with a flash of light to light up the retina to take the picture. They do some glaucoma tests as part of the regular check-up, like the air puff to the eye.

Got up at 5:30am and drove my MIL to the airport. She's off to Seattle. Time to break out the hookers and blow! Woo!

Seriously, though, lack of sleep + too much caffeine + other family drama = AAAAAAAAHHHHHH

Time for Chinese food. Then, a nap.

That settles it. I'm going to stop going to the eye doctor, because I want to avoid catching any diabetes. It's bad enough when I catch colds from friends' kids.

Woo! I am both excited and a little intimidated. I have some (more) training to do!

Root canal FTW. I don't know what I like more the needles in the mouth, the smell of my teeth being bored out or the sound of my credit card being swiped at the end.

I get to do that this coming week. JOY.

SOE announced that they were shutting down the game I'm currently working on this evening. We were having a company party playing drunken Rock Band at the time (we knew the announcement was going to be made). I just got home and read the forums and now I am sad.

And drunk. But I am full of ROCK.

Ick. Sorry.

Posted something on Facebook and right on schedule my mom swoops in and tells me what she is suffering from and how she "wins". My sister may also do the same.

It really wasn't that bad. I did not get the laughing gas so I got a bit anxious by the end.

We're good mostly. It's a shame because there are no other games companies within 300km so we are all going to be moving away again.

Sorry to hear that dude. :(

I'll have a beer with my Lortab in your and your co-workers' honor.

Signs of possibly feeling better mentally: went through some boxes and actually picked out stuff to go to Goodwill, cleaned out the fridge, and did a major grocery trip all by myself (and bought myself healthy snacks -- no ice cream, even). May not sound like much, but it means a lot in terms of a sanity check. On one hand, that's pathetic because I'm so crazy that grocery shopping is hard, but on the other hand I'm quite proud of myself for doing productive things. So I'm calling this a win.

Grocery shopping is totally one of my Signs Sjofn is Feeling Crazy. If I don't want to go because waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, I am depressed and need to fix that. If I don't want to go because of lazy, I am perfectly normal. :P

Goddamnit! Two parking tickets adding up to $30 in the last 3 days.

What jackhole decided that parking tickets aren't valid business deducations? I WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN BEEN THERE IF IT WASN'T FOR BUSINESS, MR. TAX MAN.

Fuck.

I get parking tickets a lot. I'm going to say this once. If you wander around town leaving bills on strangers cars telling them to go fuck themselves, I don't care who told you it was ok, it's not ok and you're a fool for signing them with your real name. Of all the types of night-walking drains on society, I don't know why so many serial killers keep abducting prostitutes when meter maids are right there. And for crying out loud, at least prostitutes stimulate the economy and provide an actual service.

Here's my impression of a meter maid.

Maid: Got change for a dollar?
Me: No...
Maid: GOOD, NOW YOU OWE ME TWENTY!

Not to belabor the point, but has anyone stopped to realize the utter lack of terror the reign of, "The Parking Enforcement Agent Overkiller," would generate? It's like in those movies where some normal person has a chance to scream for help and alert the police to the presence of Batman, but the person is all like, "Nah, you're alright Batman, because while those at the top levels of society unflinchingly and mercilessly apply the state's laws to us, they forget that the faith of the people is not blind, and without it, the government is." But he says it all with a really quick look, after Batman snaps the fibias of like, four or five circus themed rapists.

In my life, I have seen more people admit to sexually assaulting children than I have seen admitting to being meter maids.

And yet, all these fucking tickets.

I agree sort of but a large part of me wants to say in response: Yeah fuck public servants who get paid jack shit to go around and do a job that is probably so boring it's mentally draining. Why can't I park wherever I want whenever I want? Fuck streetsweepers, snowplows, garbage collection, and mail delivery vehicles, they can go around my car.

TMI incoming!


I've had this sort of blood blister on my chin for a month or two that my wife has been haranguing me to see a dermatologist about because it bleeds extremely profusely if it's slightly scratched or bumped. So I saw one today, she told me some fancy name for it, but basically a blood vessel decided to reroute itself outside of my face rather than inside where it belongs. It just wanted to be freeeeeeeeee. She asked me if I wanted her to remove it like I might decide that I didn't. The removal seriously took less than a minute and now it'll get biopsied, along with some bumps that turn into sores on my forearms that I've had since time immemorial. Also, I have eczema on my thumbs, which is why the skin around the cuticles is always really fucked up. Hooray! Oddly, removing the escaped blood vessel in a couple minutes cost more than a guy rooting around in my ball sack with a knife for 15 minutes...

Which reminds me that I need to go make sure that procedure worked.

It's a good bit of humor, but I don't hate the player, I hate the game.

Don't even get me started on the parking fee crap. Our city just went to multi-space meters, because nothing says "AWESOME" like standing in line in the rain, sleet, or snow waiting for your turn to put money into a machine.

It's a good bit of humor by Flowers, but I don't hate the player, I hate the game.

Don't even get me started on the parking fee crap. Our city just went to multi-space meters, because nothing says "AWESOME" like standing in line in the rain, sleet, or snow waiting for your turn to put money into a machine.

This is why I take a limo everywhere.

If you're angry at the meter maid, you're really just angry at yourself.

Last Thursday night, I went to this jazz club in Detroit...



...to see this band...



...play music from this album, among others.



The bar was amazing:







And the stage space was very intimate, which really suited this show.



I had four or five incredibly good, strong cocktails (try The Commodore!) and an excellent charcuterie platter. The dinner offerings looked amazing as well. The band came out at around 9pm to an incredibly enthusiastic reception from the audience, and opened with "Pound for Pound" (see above) for the start of the first set. The crowd was respectfully quiet while the band played - the MC at Cliff's was very clear about it being a "listening room only" show, meaning that you are here for this band, not here to chat over some forgettable background music. (I love this place.)

We'd dressed up for the occasion, so I was looking good and feeling great on account of the music and the Commodores. I mingled a bit at setbreak - in a situation like I feel like everyone here is my BFF because this is not a band with a huge vocal following, and I'm in Detroit at this incredible venue so these must be my peeps - and everyone was having a great time. The second set was even better than the first, and TBP encored with their Aphex Twin cover that my SIL was waiting for, so it was a great time for everyone. We hung around after and had a drink with the guys in the band, and both Dave and Reid mentioned how much they liked the venue. I'm really hoping we can convince them to play there again on the next tour.

I've been wanting to go to Cliff Bell's since they opened. I never get around to it, but one of these days I will.

Got nominated to the board of a local 501(c)(3)!

That could be fun!

Did you shoot those club photos? They're quite good . . .

HA, no, not at all. They're just random Internet shots to illustrate the affair. My brother took a few pictures when we first got there, but he hasn't sent them to me yet.

Someone just called my cell phone and instead of the normal ringtone, a goddamn Huey Lewis and the News song from my MP3s came on.


DUNGSROMAAAAAAAN!

Nope. I live in a city where there isn't enough downtown parking and my 8:30 conferences that are only supposed to take 15 minutes sometimes take only 15 minutes, a full two hours later. Also, every Friday and Thursday, the day that the majority of the conferences are, from 9am-1pm, half of the spaces are blocked off for the streetsweeper. And, my office building won't rent me a space behind it, because technically all the spaces are rented, even though my building is full of hippies who almost always take their bikes. So I have to walk past a small, empty parking lot every day on my way to work, and move my car repeatedly to avoid getting a parking ticket when I am working on things at my office.

But yes, if you like meter maids so much, I must insist you keep them company during The Reckoning.

It sounds like your problem is with City Hall, Flowers.

ceili ceili ceili ceili ceili

After a ridiculously roller-coaster-like week, four hours of dancing and fiddling and dancing with an awesome crowd is a balm for the soul. All of you who are in the Bay Area, I heartily encourage you to make your way to Berkeley and to the Starry Plough some Monday night. You'll thank me. <3

So I moved to Vancouver a little over a year ago to do standup, and I've been slowly worming my way into the scene, to the point where I'm now doing at least two shows a week, getting a few guest spots at the clubs and next week I will host an amateur show for the first time (in Vancouver). But still, almost always 5 or 6 minute spots and never more than 10. And the only money I've earned is from winning contests.

This weekend I'm back in Victoria. On Saturday I was supposed to do a guest spot at the comedy club, but the MC cancelled so I ended up hosting a pro show. Then tonight I headlined an amateur show, did over 20 minutes of new (to Victoria) material, destroyed for virtually the entire time, and after the show all the Victoria comics are blowing smoke up my ass and acting like I'm the zen guru of comedy. And on top of that I made $100. So I guess it's true what they say, you should totally go home again.

Intending on trying to crash a class today! Child Development 2 (CD1 is not a prerequisite, for whatever ungodly reason). It starts at 3:30 PM and ends at 6:10, which is cool. Going to also crash CD1 on Saturday, but that's at 8AM, blech.
Unfortunately, my mind and body are not responding to this important information and are choosing, instead, to have me be wide the fuck awake.

I hate when this happens.
Assuming I get added to the classes, I'm able to apply to be a TA!* And then I can earn money to pay for the classes! WHOO PLANS.

*once i register to take the other ta test which i can't do because the website has been down for weeks now i am so done with this school district

Teddy's Whiney Rants, Edition 1.1 Minirant

There's a tread for that.

And today the not-very-surprising coda to this dropped. The studio is closing and we're all unemployed.