Friends

So I got a really snotty call today from a woman going to a hotel we had booked for an event in Virginia.. She wanted to cancel because, as she stated, we were "screwing her team and ripping them off and I was smart enough to catch you" she had booked the room online for $74.. Half of the $114 we are charging.. I apologized.. Cancelled for her, and told her I would look into the problem and find out why the rates were so far apart. She scoffed and said she knew what the problem was.. We were thieves..

So I looked into it.. The hotel website was showing $120.. Expedia.. $117.. So I googled the name of the hotel.. and found a second one with almost the same name..

In Texas..


And the rates were $74.. pre-pay, no cancellation allowed.

So I crumpled up the paper and tossed it in the trash and kept working on my stuff..

At least I found out where the problem was.

I think I tweet too much.. But its under a cut so you miss that I am talking about you

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I really am not a little white dog.. honest

The week between Christmas and New Year's is traditionally the lowest-traffic week of the year for my site, and I'm gonna be out of town anyway, so I thought I might try something a little different this year. Here's a teaser for my idea:



I've already got the basic idea for the story and will hopefully start working on it before we drive down to Maryland (one advantage of driving down is I can actually bring my big Cintiq with me) for the holiday. Of course, going over my outline and idea list, this might end up being MORE work than the usual QC strips >.<

So uh I no promises yet I guess, but hopefully I won't puss out and will actually get this done.

I think I tweet too much.. But its under a cut so you miss that I am talking about you

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I really am not a little white dog.. honest

Playing Borderlands on the 360.. Today I got a sniper rifle that sets people on fire sometimes.. I like that :P

I also had a cool moment where I wiffed on a shot and hit the guy who just happened to be walking behind my targer and set HIM on fire..

This game doesn't get old.. I love it.

I think I tweet too much.. But its under a cut so you miss that I am talking about you

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I really am not a little white dog.. honest

Dave is back in the hospital again.. of course they aren't exactly sure what is wrong.. Its an intensinal/stomach issue and I am worried about my little bro... his very pregnant wife.. and my soon to be nephew.. I'm scared for him.. and worried of course. I'm frustrated and want to just go there.. stay as long as I need to.. I think this time would just lead to them firing my ass though..

I'm all headspace and hypothetical tonight.. Good opportunity to be an asshole on the internet.. Nothing personal to anyone who gets tangled up in it.. Its all about me :P

Viewing the LJ stats.. and its like.. wow.. people still read my LJ and I don't even post anything.. What a shmuck I am :P

Pressure to produce content!

Its snowy here today.. Light snow but fairly consistent.. maybe an inch down.. Just enough to make everything look clean and i'm sure to lead to my eventual death if I go out in it.

Just going to hibernate my weekend away and enjoy that as much as humanly possible.. which shouldn't be that hard :)

Today will feature, playing some Xbox, watching movies, and perhaps a shower and shave.. I also need to do laundry.. but need cash for quarters... so maybe a trip outdoors will be forthcoming afterall.. hrm.. crap..

Anyway.. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

I think I tweet too much.. But its under a cut so you miss that I am talking about you

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I really am not a little white dog.. honest

My grandfather, my dad’s dad, was probably the more personable, between him and my mother’s father. He joked more, told stories more, loved to talk and hang out. I can’t ever remember him working, in fact, because he retired after 40 years at Ford in his mid-fifties–back when they counted his time served in the Army for WWII toward his retirement. Glory days, eh?

We always knew him, also, as being rather casually racist, in that way that the children of immigrants of that generation often can be. And it’s not that my grandfather hated black people, for instance, he was just basically dismissive about most people that weren’t white Americans. Including, absurdly and most recently, the Polish immigrants who moved in on his street.

He being the son of a Polish immigrant, and all.

Anyway, I can’t remember how it happened, but it was likely my mother pushing him into some kind of defense of his attitude and casual use of the n-word, and he told a story of a guy he worked with at the Ford plant. A black guy, he said, and the best worker he ever had. Only ever missed one day of work. One day! It was July of 1967, and Detroit had erupted in riot around West Grand Boulevard and 12th Street. He got a call from his guy, saying he wouldn’t be into work.

“What’s the matter?” my grandfather said.

“There’s a Sherman tank parked on my lawn,” this guy replied. “I don’t think I’m comin’ out today.”

“Okay,” my grandfather said, “that’s fine. You stay in today.”

I don’t know why it sticks in my head as a particular memory of him. Maybe it’s the lethal absurdity of the image of a tank parked on a working man’s lawn. Maybe it was the sense that he really didn’t hate people, or that there was a nuance and awareness to his out-dated attitudes. Maybe it’s just one of those odd stories that sticks with you for no reason. And I’m sticking it here, so I don’t forget.

My grandfather passed away this morning. He was 88.

Mirrored from Bum Scoop.

I think I tweet too much.. But its under a cut so you miss that I am talking about you

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I really am not a little white dog.. honest

Tubgirl staggered and finally collapsed. "You...you have defeated me," she gasped.

"No," Fart-chan replied. "It was you who defeated yourself."

How do you know when a movie has set science fiction storytelling and all that crunchy good progressiveness back a few years?

When it’s used as an excuse to roll out a 10 Sexy Sci-Fi Babes “photo essay.”

Sigh.

Mirrored from Bum Scoop.

I think I tweet too much.. But its under a cut so you miss that I am talking about you

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I really am not a little white dog.. honest

Rifftrax live was brilliant fun.. Don't think I will go again tomorrow night though. Missed a call from Dave during the movie and had a terrible popcorn accident while there. It was a load of fun though. :)

Last night was the office Xmas party.. We all went to Lucky Strike and bowled and drank too much and then ate too much.. Awesome time with everyone from work.

and of course Monday was my Birthday.. so overall its been a really REALLY good week so far.. Now lets see if we can get to Friday without it sucking because I have 4 days of work to do in 2..


Edited to elaborate:

Walked into the theater 2 hours early.. Full bag of popcorn and a large drink.. Find a nice middle seat.. put my drink in a holder... and promptly dump the whole damn bag of popcorn all over 3 seats.. and this popcorn had a TON of flavored powder season stuff on it.. So basically I made 3 seats unusable.. cleaned up as much as I could.. but damn I felt stupid..

So, before today I hadn’t shaved in weeks, ever since I met with a tech recruiter about some possible work (and haven’t heard anything since). I also hadn’t really gotten my haircut, but I wanted to since I would be seeing some extended family today. And a high ‘n’ tight with a full beard just looks… well… you can see how it looks.

As you can see, this picture also shows of the sheer lopsidedness of my head and the effect it sometimes has on my haircut. Too awesome.

Mirrored from Bum Scoop.

Today is my 32nd birthday.

I can’t say that I’m happy about it.  But I’m coming to terms with it.

At this point in my life, birthdays for me are a reminder of my mortality.  They ceased being about gifts when I was in my teens.  For a while in my college years, I thought my birthday was bad luck due to a string of nasty events around my birthday, so I went out of my way to hide it from friends well into my late 20s.  I’m past that nonsense, but I still grow melancholy.

I wanted to do so much more with my life than I have.  It feels as if I have squandered the last ten years, even though I know this is not so.  I have some wonderful things to show for my time.  Nothing of serious consequence in the greater world, but… I am content with this.

It’s time that instead of doing things to impress other people and draw attention to myself out of some misguided sense that it would be a way of achieving a kind of immortality, I have instead determined that I will attempt to dedicate my remaining time towards living a life that I can look back on without regret.  As my old boss used to say, each day is a gift, and it is up to us how we use them. I have long squandered them on things that I will not remember when my time comes to pass.

So today, in an attempt to live each day more fully, to connect more with the passage of time and develop more of a sense of being here in the now, I am launching my 365 day photography project.   I am taking and selecting one photograph each day for the next year. There’s nothing original about it.  Many people have done these before, but I have not.   I  At times, I will experiment with new techniques. Sometimes, I will probably not be able to get out of bed, and so I will be forced to find some interesting way of capturing the ceiling of my bedroom.

If you all, the audience, serves a purpose in this project, it is to keep me honest.  I find that when you do something like this out in the open, you feel more dedicated to the task.  I let myself down often enough, but it’s a motivator to avoid letting others down. Ultimately, however,  this is a project I do for myself.  You’re welcome to take pleasure from the project, and I hope you do. But I’m doing this for so many more reasons than usual.

The 365 project can be found here. You can follow it on twitter here.

So that’s my primary goal right now, on the road to turning 33.  We’ll see how it goes.

Originally published at JeremiahTolbert.com. You can comment here or there.

I think I tweet too much.. But its under a cut so you miss that I am talking about you

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I really am not a little white dog.. honest

I made a couple of trips to Estes Park this past fall, but the photography was not great. This is probably the best elk shot I got this year. Next year, I need to pay better attention and get up there when the aspens are turning.

Originally published at JeremiahTolbert.com. You can comment here or there.

I think I tweet too much.. But its under a cut so you miss that I am talking about you

( Not interested? Don't click! )
I really am not a little white dog.. honest