Were in "now" now...

Its three days after christmas, and I am just enjoying myself.

First off christmas was great. I got to spend the whole day with my entire family. There were a LOT of presents under the tree. We spent a lot of time opening all of those. At about 3 we left for dinner at a family friends house, the Reichles. Though the unseasonably warm weather didn't make the day quite feel like christmas.

Monday Amanda and I left St. Louis and headed back home. The drive wasn't too bad and we ordered our usual chinese food when we got home.

Tuesday I slept in because we didn't have to be in at any specific time. I had an easy day at work where I left early to pick up my brothers from the airport. We went to dinner (brothers in tow) with Amanda's dad and step mom. We had a very good time. Also, we got our "christmas" gift. Amanda and I got an "open bar" at our wedding for christmas.

Later we stayed up late to watch tv and play video games. I crawled into bed a little after 2 in the morning. I am surprizingly awake this morning after doing so.

Today will be long because I have to go to work at Best Buy tonight. Hopefully everything will go easliy enough tonight.

Merry Almost Christmas

Well, technically its christmas, but what does it matter? Amanda and I got up at 6:30 and were on the road by 7. We made good time and Lucky didn't get sick in the car.

We have just been hanging out at my mom's place. It's quite nice, however everyone thinks (including mom) that this place feels like my grandmothers place. Kinda funny. We ordered some pizza and took the dogs for a walk. Though the day seemed to drag on forever. There was no sun all day and its just been slow going. Though its been an enjoyable day. So even though it wasn't 5 we felt like it was time for bed.

Dinner was great. We talked about a lot of things and enjoyed each others company. After which we opened a couple of presents. Amanda and I got a knife from my aunt Kathy and she is REALLY excited about it. I got a new phone, a moto razr v3. It's amazing. I finally have the Mario Brothers theme as my ring tone.


Now everyone is asleep and we are watching the Jackass movie. Don't ask me why...

I love my family.

Busy Busy Busy...

I know its been awhile, but I have been busy. First off I started to feel sick again last thursday night and then threw up. upon which I felt immediatley better and have stayed that way.

As I said, we have been busy. We finished our christmas shopping last week, and have been preparing this weekend.

Saturday we spent pretty much the entire day at Apartment 9 (now G3) and had a great time with everyone. Dinner was good, though salty by Geoff's own confession. We watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and played "Mad" (a card game) a couple of times. Both Amanda and Michelle learned how to play that night. We also exchanged gifts and enjoyed each others company. Eventually I got around to talking to Andrerw, Geoff, Tim, and J about the wedding. It was snowing most of the day and Amanda and I took care on the way home because the streets were a little hazardous. We could have stayed at G3 since they were so kind to offer, but I had to work in the morining so we left. We never went above 50 mph... even on the highway.

Then sunday I went to work, came home, spent some time with Amanda, took a nap, and then got up to go to Brunch with her Dad and stepmother. After which we went home grabbed some laundry and went to her mothers house. We did some laundry, after which we went to her Uncles house to have a little "christmas" with them.

Basically we have just been running around with familiy stuff as of late and we aren't done yet. Friday we have dinner with other members of Amanda's family, then we drive to St. Louis for mine...

It should be fun.

Also, everyone at my office is mad about Tom Hanks playing Robert Langdon, and its worse now that they have seen his hair...


Three different people in 15 minutes told me that seeing this picture ruined their day...

Feeling Better

Yesterday was my first day back at work. It was nice as usual. We got to leave at 4 so that we could get to the HOLIDAY dinner in time.

We all went to the "Peppercorn Duck Club" last night. Its a very nice restaurant that specializes in duck (obviously). Though, it was very difficult to find a place to park initially. Once inside we fared much better. We had to do a little arranging to get everyone at the same table, but once we did it was all good. We talked and drank most of the time. Once we got the food we still managed to trade embarrassing stories. While the food was good, the kicker was the chocolate bar. The women loved it. Not that the guys didn't, but it was much more popular among the girls. Basically they offer you several types of cake, fruits, and other chocolate dishes. At the end they gave everyone a strawberry with chocolate and all the women roses. And then they put our leftovers in tinfoil ducks.


It was a really good night. We were there from 5:40 to about 10, drinking all the while. Some people here are still recovering.

I'm Sick

Well, after taking care of Amanda I got sick, and had to miss work both today and yesterday. I am not particularly happy about it, but dem's da breaks. I guess I will just have to suffer through it with the help of bedrest and tv.

Could be worse...

And then there was one...

Friday we went to see the Chronicles of Narnia. Amanda liked the movie, I thought it was "ok". I couldn't help but see all the christian referencs, and it just really put me off. I might have liked it more if I didn't know about all that. But what is done is done.

Saturday we had lunch with Amanda's side of the family for her birthday. We ate at Brio's in the plaza and she got to open a lot of her gifts.

Saturday night we went to Mel and Doug's for a little Party. You can see their cat Dante loving all the fabric on the table with the white elephant gifts to the right. We had a good time except for the fact that while Amanda got the stomach flu for the first time in her life. She threw up a couple of times. I ended up with a disposable camera, a couple of Shrek super balls, and a heart shaped pillow from the white elephant gift exchange. Amanda got some candle holders as well.

Afterward we played a very LONG game of trival pursuit, as Michelle would say. Pictures of this are at my flickr site. We might have stayed longer, but during the game Amanda started to get sick. Anyway, because of this we didn't see "Little Shop of Horrors" tonight (sunday). It was a birthday gift from her parents.

Now, I have been taking care of Amanda all day and managing to keep in good health. I hope it stays that way.

Snow Day

I woke up today and Amanda told me that it was 7 degrees outside. While it was cold, it was also easier to get going this morning because of the fact that there was not any frost on my windshield, just a thin layer of snow which was easily brushed off. Getting to work was not hard, though it was very cold. I was able to submit a card I had been working on today which I am happy with. You can see it on my flickr site if you are one of my contacts.

Anyway, it has been snowing so bad that we had a pool at work to see how much we thought it would snow. No money involved, though I am sure I will lose because my guess was quite low. And since the snow kept up and conditions were worsening we left early. No now I am at home just relaxing.

Though I still have to go to Best Buy to work tonight. Oh well...

Almost there

Last night was a very productive night. I am almost done with my christmas shopping. I got Amanda's birthday present and found something Tim should (hopefully) love.

It was so nice to stay at home and not have to work at Best Buy. I got to finish "Shadow of the Colossus" and all I have to say is "wow." It was AMAZING. It really was just a interesting and different game which did so much with so little. It was surprisingly satisflying to climb over these HUGE colossi. The ending was truly great, though now I have to play Ico to understand more. Which is apparently another great game from the same team as SOTC.


Though, now I am going to turn my attention to a rather ambitious drawing I want to do. I will tell you more about that as I work on it.

Christmas tree

Didn't do to much this weekend. Amanda and I saw Aeon Flux and were pleasently surprized. I went in thinking it probably was going to suck. But it turned out pretty good. It had a deeper story than I thought it would.

Other than that we did a lot of errands, namley christmas shopping. We are almost all done, and we will be closer after today. Speaking of which, I don't have to work at Best Buy tonight, which brings me great joy. I can do some more shopping and finish Shadow of the Collossus which continues to be awesome.

We put up our christmas tree last night, the picture of it can be seen below.

Christmas tree
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

I am not going to get into it, but if I ever see and little blue mag flashlight rip-offs it will be too soon....

Holy Flirking Shnit!

Wednesday I went to commerce and filled out one of those "reclamation E" forms so that I can get my 500 dollars back. I should have it by monday or so, which would be nice. Later that day I got an email about my grandfather having to go to the hospital because of some gastro intestinal bleeding. He was going to be there for a few days, but was discharged on thursday. I tried to call him but I didn't get a responce. I have called him a few times but each time no one picks up. Its been awhile since I have seen, let alone talked to my other grandparents. I don't want it to stay that way.

On a happier note, the title for this post is for the game "Shadow of the Colossus," which I rented yesterday. That game is AMAZING! I really don't know how to describe it. It's just plain cool, and stunning in so many ways. I played it for a few hours while Amanda scrapbooked. Though she probably was scrapbooking because I was playing...

Basically the game boils down to find colossi, kill colossi, revive girlfriend. All I know is that if I had to do this for Amanda, I better be getting a sizeable "reward." You know what I am talking about... that's right... a quasi heartfelt "thank you."


I have had a lot of things "go wrong" as of late, but I digress. Things are going well here, just been busy with a number of "tasks" to complete. I am just happy with where I am in life right now... And who doesn't want that?

One last visit

Well, its over now. I will never set foot in my old house again. Kinda sad, but there is nothing I can do about it. If you want to see pictures that I took, go to my flickr site. There is a link for it on the right.

Thanksgiving was good. I talked to my parents, and then we made our way to Amanda's mothers house to decorate her xmas tree. After which we went back to our apartment and got ready to go to Amanda's fathers house for dinner.

When we got to the house I got to actually talk to Heather (Amanda's sister) because we had said all of 2 sentences to each other before. Dinner was excellent. Everyone ate until they were about to burst, and then we went to the living room and watched some TV before we ate some pie and played 31. It was a card game, so of course I sucked at it, but oh well. It was fun.

The next day we went to the plaza to shop. It was surprisingly devoid of after thanksgiving shoppers. Also, that night Amanda's entire immediate family got together for dinner. That hasn't happened in many years.

Saturday morning I went to the bank first thing in the morning and closed my old bank account and opened a new one. Then we proceeded to make the long drive to St. Louis. Lucky threw up of course. Faster than he usually does. Anyway, we made good time and got in about 1. We had a nice dinner with Julia, and old neighbor of ours, and caught up on what's been going on. Of course, that night we stayed up drinking and watching movies. We watched "Shaun of the Dead," and by the time I crawled into bed it was about 5 in the morning.

The next day we moved some of the junk out of the 3rd floor, the basement, and some bedrooms. Saving some of our old possessions along the way. Gave Cate and old rug of ours for her new apartment, then went to Best Buy and got her a microwave. After which we went to back to my house, ordered pizza from Imo's and sat around and talked liked we did when we were in high school. Eventually Virginia and Glenn joined our midst and we got a drink at the "Chocolate Bar" which is a few doors down the street from Ricardo's. The rest of the night we spent at our house talking, eating, and drinking while watching the WORST MOVIE I have seen in a while. "The Devils Rejects" is terrible in so many ways its hard to describe. Things don't make sense, the cinematography is terrible, as is the writing, acting, and dialog. Don't see it- EVER! Anyway, by the time all was said and done, it was 2 am.

The next morning we got up and gathered our things from the house. After which we went to lunch with my dad at the St. Louis Bread Company. After which we went to Union Station to get some Cardinals memorabilia with my brother. After which we said our goodbye and left for "home." It was very windy, and snowed part of the way, but we didn't have any problems.

When we got home we did what we always do; order Bo Ling's, and watch Mythbusters.

All in all it was a great weekend. I got so see some people I don't get to see very often, and I got to spend time in the house I grew up in for the last time.

500 dollars

That is how much money that has been stolen from my bank account. I will get it all back, but I am pretty mad that I had to close my old account, create a new one, and worry about all sorts of other stuff. Dana Sunkimat is "supposedly" the one who is the bane of my existance. Anyway, other than that it has been a good week which I will elaborate further on later. But for now, I am in St. Louis with my family and I am GOING to enjoy myself.

Peace out, bitches...

E Tu Paypal?

Rmemeber all those problems I was having with my credit card? Well now paypal has turned on me as well. Someone got into my account, changed my primary e-mail and password, etc. When I called them I had nothing but problems, and I was TOLD that they would call me back in 24 hours. Its been 26. So when they do call I am probably just going to cancel my account there. I am sick all of these problems, and I guess paypal isn't as sucure as I thought it was. If you remember, they are the reason this happend. A least they froze my account so no one can buy anything on it.

Anyway, otherwise I am fine, just a little angry about my current situation, but I will get over it. Anyway, that about all for now...

F the 360

Usually I don't post after a monday or a wednesday because I work all day, but this was noteworthy. As you might have heard Xbox 360 came out today. Well last night I watched the line outside the Best Buy swell from 10 or so at six pm to about 100 at 10pm. Of course every other person in the door asked why the people were lining up and most had the same reaction, "thats crazy."

I felt bad for them because it was so cold, and that we didn't have nearly enough Xbox 360 to go around. Microsoft didn't make as many as they said they would. Also, about once an hour someone from the line would come in and tell us how bad the attitude of people in line was. There was almost a fight. However, at the Wal-mart across the way there was a fist-fight. This is because people were holding places for people in line. We were asked many different times by many different people to give out tickets, but that wouldn't help because once everyone is gone at about 11 or so, they are on their own until about 5 am when employee's show back up.

Anyway, this whole thing is a mess. I applaude all the people who are waiting out in that weather for so long to get their Xbox (to each his own), but its not worth it.

Awesome

That is how my weekend was. Friday night we say Harry Potter on the IMAX and it was visually stunning. We all agreed that it was the best of the series. However, we had to wait an hour and a half to watch it because there was a problem with the projector. So we were given tickets for a free movie, popcorn and soda because we had to wait so long. At one point Tim, in full Dumbledore costume, stood up faced the projector (we were in the 3rd row) and said "technico repario." Of course everyone laughed, but in a good way. It was most unexpected.

The movie was long, and because of the delay we got out that much later. We got home about 2ish, and I didn't get to sleep until about 3. Then I had to wake up at 6:30 for a meeting at Best Buy. But it was ok because we were having our "early thanksgiving." Of course I slept through much of the cooking, but I wouldn't have been doing much anyway. Though, when I did wake up I did a lot of cleaning and helped as much as I could with the cooking.

The dinner was great and so was the company. It was nice to have everyone together again. There was much wine and other various alcoholic beverages so even the food channel was mildly fun. We talked a lot and of quoted many movies that no one else cares about but us. We played some "Scene It" and Trival Pursuit. The underdogs (Andrew, J, and I) beat the all knowing Geoff. All I have to say is "Mel Gibson." Then of course, the girls kicked our ass in Trival Pursuit until we were able to pull even with them. However they did win in the end. Speaking of which:

Q: How many chickens would you need to trade to get a AK-47 on the black market of Uganda in 2000?
A: One

Everyone was gone about 12:30 because the turkey tired most people out. Then I had to work from 6am to 11 the next morning. The early morning were the only thing that sucked about this weekend. Needless to say I slept for a while on sunday afternoon.

Amanda is not coming back to meat, but she is going to eat some now and again. Tuesday I will properly introduce her to some again.

That's my girl!

As you can see, this is Amanda... and this is the cover for a card that is going up. So in a few months don't be surprized if you see this on the shelves of Target. She at least has a good sense of humor about it.

As for tonight, Amanda and I are meeting the rest of apartment 9 to see Harry Potter at the IMAX tonight. I am looking forward to it. Even though I have not, and probably never will read the books I have been excited to see this for a long time.

Then on saturday friends are going to come over to our apartment and have a "little" thanksgiving. We will have the normal spread and all, so it should be great. Two thanksgivings in one year could be the greatest invention man has ever concieved...

Anyway, not much more going on that that. Hope you enjoy your weekend. I will.

Paris

Yesterday was busy as most wednesdays are. However, there was one surprize in the sense that I tried to use my credit card, and it didn't work. I didn't think it was a big deal at the time, but about 10 minutes later I got a call from Commerce Bank, and they told me someone in Paris tried to use my credit card at an ATM. They blocked this and put my card on a temporary freeze.

They think that paypal e-mails could be the culprit. I filled one out, saying that my membership would expire if I didn't. It took me to the official site and such. It probably was real, but apparently some people have been getting "dummy" e-mails. Anyway, just be careful if you get such an e-mail.

Since my card info has been compromised I am going to get a new one in about a week or so. I hope it gets here before I go to St. Louis next weekend. Yes, the weekend-- Amanda and I are leaving KS on saturday the 26th and coming back on monday the 28th.

As you can see, I have been updating my blog so that it looks a little nicer. I really didn't like the way it was before. But now I have a nice banner (until I make a new one) and some links to thinks that I like.

ARG!

I don't know whats wrong with me, but I was short tempered yesterday. I din't explode or yell at anything or anyone, but I was just "mad" and I didn't know why. One reason may be that I accidentally washed my cell phone last night. I am not going to tell you the story of how it ended up in the washing machine because you DON'T want to know. But at least I had my old one which still works fine.

At least Amanda was around and made me feel better by proxy.

Crazy Weather

Sunday afternoon I spent the day in a tshirt and was was just fine. IT wasn't really cold outside and I was comfortable. That night Amanda and I took Lucky for a walk. We wore pants and a hooded sweatshirt and were quite comfortable. Near the end of the walk we were talking about how it was still pretty warm and that it was weird that all the leaves were just now falling off the trees. Now today, 2 days later, we were awoken by loud continuous thunder early in the morning. It even shook the apartment a little bit. It rained for a little bit, then little snow flakes accompanied the rain. Now its just coming down, but its not sticking.

Everyone says they have crazy weather, but I do think the midwest is a little wackier than other places...

Lost

No, not the TV show, a dog. On saturday afternoon after running some errands Amanda and I found a dog just wandering around outside with a collar but no tags. He would always come when we called, and was very well behaved so we took him in and fed him. This dog drank about 6 full bowls of water in less than 20 minutes... then he would get about half that water on the carpet because his tounge fell out so much.

Amanda didn't want to take him to Animal Haven because she thought that they euthanized. So she called around and eventually we called Animal Control. The dogs played with each other for almost the entire time until they just sat and rested. Now when Animal Control got there, guess where they took them? Animal Haven. Turns out thats ok becuase they don't put animal down, so everyones happy.

The night before (friday) we met Michelle and ran some errands here in OP before we met Mel and Doug for dinner. We ate at the China Star buffet because Amanda was craving crab rangoon. After dinner Mel and Doug went home and the rest of us watched movies/tv and such at our place until Michelle went home.

Now last night we cleaned up our 2nd bedroom alot and did other little things around the appartment. The place is cleaner and looks more specaious in the bedroom.

Not much more goin' on than that...

on the bus

on the bus
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

The picture I was talking about earlier.

The picture I based it off of is here: http://www.penny-arcade.com/docs/subwall_800.jpg

lots of stuff... n'stuff

I have been busy, so forgive my late post. Anyway, this weekend we didn't do all that much, but we did go to a really nice party at one of Amanda's co-workers houses. We drank and ate a nice well rounded dinner. Carlene drank her first Martini and LOVED them. Though, I heard that she won't drink another because she woke up with an upset stomach. We got home about 12ish, and then I had to work at 6am at Best Buy. I was tired until this morning when I woke up.

Just been working on some cards here, though we finally finshed our "Smart Mom" calendar last week. That should be out in about 6 months or so. I did over half of the pictures on that thing.

Oh, surprizingly Amanda and I watched the "Boondocks" on adult swim. It was actually funny. Though Amanda is trying to come to grips with it because she was a little offended at times, but laughed and enjoyed it none the less.

I am currently working on a picture that I hope to post later today. It is based on a Penny Arcade picture that I enjoy. I will probably put it on a t-shirt because I have all of these transfers and I would just like to make a custom shirt for myself. Maybe I will do other ones.

Thats all I can think of right now though...

D to the S

D to the P
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

Amanda with a mustache. Also, its now possible to leave comments on my blog without being a member.

mustache

mustache
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

Lee brought in some Mustaches this morning.

Halloween Party

This has been a great weekend. On firday I got to spend time with Mel and Doug, and then on saturday Amanda and I went to Denton for Alison's annual halloween party. We left lawrence in a caravan of about 6 car at about 6, and before everyone could even get on the road we had broken up. It was that kind of drive down. However, once we got there it was a blast. Every year Alison runs a little late, and may get a bit stressed, but everyone always have a good time. Though it may not live up to her expectations, Alison does a fantastic job. Though, she does have a lot of help from friends.

Anyway, we carved some pumpkin they had prepared before we left for the camp because things were going a little slow. Anyway, Tim would carpool about 5 people up to the trail and tell them they had a "short walk" to the campsite. Well, it wasn't that short. Though, it was a "haunted trail." They had been putting bodies and decoration all over the place. Not to mention one of the people in our group fell behind and "disappeared." Well, she tried too anyway. I kept going back for her, until I figured she didn't want to come with us, only to find her "strung up" near the end of the trail. Other scares included:
*Geoff yelling at people as they walked up to him in the dark, and then following them
*Mary (Tim's mom) setting off fireworks and warning passers by that they "shouldn't be here"
*David with a chainsaw (no blades of course)

It was a lot of fun. The rest of the night we ate, drank, played some games, and talked around the camp fire(s). There was a keg of Woodchick, which pleased me to no end. It rained off and on, which scared some people off, but most of it sat until it stopped. At around one or two in the morning Amanda and I went to sleep. That is to say, she went to sleep and I lay there until I things got quiet and eventually slept myself. It did rain much steadier that night, and I woke up in the morning very cold. Though, when I did get up the fire kept me nice and warm. As people said there goodbye's, the remainder of us took down the decorations and picked up our campsite.

The drive back was long. I drove from Denton to Lawrence, then Lawrence to Olathe, Olathe to the dog hotel (Sam and Max), to home. After that, we ordered dinner and didn't move. I watched tv about the plague and the exorcist until heading to bed. It was great to see everyone and I am looking forward to next year.

More Weddings

As you can decern from the title, this is basically about weddings. But before I get to that, everything seems to be "ok" with our pond. The rain seemed to have cleaned it out.

As for this weekend, it was fun. We went to a cider mill with Mel and Doug. I had never had hot cider before, and since I am not used to hot drinks it took me a while to finish. Good though. We went to a pumpkin patch and picked out a pumpkin.

After which we went home to get ready for Matt and Dana's wedding at the uptown theater. Matt is an old friend of Amanda's from college. They were both in the atmosphereic science program. A very close group. We sat through a very short ceremony, though anytime somone had to go up the stairs it seemed to take a lifetime.

The reception was nice. There was an open bar and they did not hold back on the liqour. We only danced at the end, mostly to make fun of the couples that had too much and were about 2 steps from making "sweet, sweet, love..."

Saturday we ran nothing but errands; or so it seemed. Amanda bought my weddingband which you can kind of see above. I put it on several times to compare with other rings, but only after I put it on after we had bought it that she got all "supersticious" on me. Saying it would "ruin" our marriage. At least she was half kidding.

We picked up most of the stuff we need for our costumes, and are looking forward to saturday when we camp out for Halloween with friends.

Lately Amanda and I have been exersizing. So far we are keeping too it, only time will tell if we can follow through.

Tuesday Oct. 18.... point 2

I love tuesday's, mainly because I don't have to work at Best Buy the latter half of the day. But this one was especially good. At work there was a complex wide lunch, which was very good. Also, I just really enjoy working here. Tim, Lee and I talked a lot about the things we did as children... mainly the things we shouldn't have done.

Which reminds me, on monday some people came and cleaned up all the dead fish and put more chemicals in the water which made it even more green. I doubt there is anything still alive in that water.

Also, Amanda and I had our weekly dinner with her dad and step-mom. We usually have mexican of some sort, but we ate at Johnny's Tavern by my office. It's always nice to see them.

Then, afterwardsd Amanda and I walked to the little gym at our appartment complex and worked out for about 30 minutes. Then proceeded to walk home, take care of a few things and take a shower.

I had a little trouble sleeping, so I played video games for a bit. All in all a productive day.

V Day's

I was trying to make a joke in the subject line and I failed. On friday my friend Virginia called me and told me that her plans had changed and asked if we could hang out. We did, and it was a lot of fun. Virginia got in about 7ish and we went to dinner at Chilli's. Then we went home and drank a little and watched Vanilla Sky. A Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz movie Amanda actually likes (she hates them both). The next morning we went to the Nelson and walked around, looked at everything we could. It was a beautiful day, and we ate outside at a mediteranian restuarant called "Sumi's." After that we went to a retro/second hand store and looked around.

On the way home I got a water sample from the pond outside my office, because all of the water turned a milky green and the fish were dying.

We were all pretty tired, so we sat around and watched tv. Though, we played with a toy my brother Ryan sent me. It was a "Mega Buster." If you don't know what it is, don't worry. Basically its a gun from a video game. Amanda shot me a lot and I squirted her with a water bottle. We spent the rest of the night sitting and talking, watching some South Park, and making dinner. We finished by making some drinks and watching Labrynth. Lets just say most of the conversation revolved around David Bowie. Anyway, Virginia left about 10 o'clock in the morning, and Amanda and I went to her mom's friend kathy's house to watch the Chiefs game.

Though we didn't do some of the things we planned to this weekend, I know we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Sinking in

Yesterday Amanda and I had our engagement pictures taken. We took them at the Kauffman Botanical Gardens or something. We got lost, and in the process burned precious daylight. But we found it and our phorographer was very professional and creative, so we were able to get a lot of pictures taken before it got dark. Though she had to keep adjusting her light meter.

We talked to Ben for almost 2 hours on tuesday. It was good to catch up with him. Also, Virginia called me and she got a job with an architeture company, she was very excited. We might actually get to see her on sunday (she is in lawrence now).

My mom got an offer on the house. The asing price no less, and it looks like it is going to be sold. They want to move in very soon, so I don't think I will have another christmas in that house. I have mixed emotions about the house being sold. Its both a good and a bad thing to me. I love that house, I grew up there, but I understand that its a big finacnial strain. In the end, a house is just a bunch of wood, bricks, etc. At least I will always have those memories.

Well... not much else to report. Oh, apparently my brother was ordained online...

Worlds of Fun

This past fiday night, Amanda and I went to Worlds of FUn with Andrew, Alison, Geoff, Tim, and Michelle. It was AWESOME! It was a nice cool night, not many people were there (short lines), and the "haunted houses" were actually good. For those of you who don't know, Worlds of Fun is an amusement park. It's just like six flag, its also owned by the same people.

Anyway, the fog machines, which they used extremely effectivly made it hard to see which helped things out a lot. The clown "haunted house" kinda sicked, but evertthing else was surprizingly well done. Inbetween these haunted houses we went to on rides with impunity. We would NEVER have to wait long for a ride, so we were able to go on them as many times as we wanted. Though, we only went on the Timberwolf once. I think that was because we were all afraid for our lives. Its a wooden rollercoaster, and its a very rough ride. Its fun, but I kept hitting Michelle with my arms.

We took a picture, and as soon as I get it, I will put it up on flickr. It was a great night. We were there from 7ish to 11:30. It closes at midnight. After which we went to a Waffle House which was surprizingly good.

Oh, and if you haven't seen the Family Guy movie, I highly reccomend it.

SHHH!! TV!!

Amanda had a stomach ache yesterday, so instead of cooking, we did what we said we wouldn't... I ran to a Chipotle and bought our dinner. We are trying to eat out less, but I figure if we do it once; especially somewhere as cheap as Chipotle, we will be fine.

Anyway, the majority of out day consisted of watching Law and Order, Sex in the City, and Arrested Development. All of which are good shows. Though, by far my favorite is Arrested Development for Gob alone. Don't get me wrong, I love everything else. Its as "complete" as a show as anything else I have seen, but Gob is histerical.

I have been working on a sketch for Amanda to put in her scrapbook. Which reminds me that the whole apartment looks like it has been ravaged by a pack of angry scrap bookers. Amanda didn't feel very good, and I don't know where the stuff goes, so its all just lying about.

Periodically through the night I was able to download a divx that allows me to play avi files, and now I can catch up on the "pre gamer" series that Andrew W. turned me on to. If you don't know what I am talking about, you're a N00b.

Gone Again

Well, this weekend was slightly different from the rest. We didn't really do much of anything on Friday night, and then we spent about 6 or so odd hours at Mel and Doug's place saturday night. The girls scrapbooked and I played some Ninja Gaiden for the XBox. It was a good game, though its only on XBox, so I don't know if I will ever be able to really play it again.

Sunday we did laundry, ran some errands, resigned our lease, etc. Nothing really special happened. I started playing FF5 because Amanda is going to be gone all week. This is a final fantasy game I have had for awhile, but never really started. Now, since I am going to have this whole week, and maybe the next one to my self (not the weekends though), I wanted to get into a time consuming game to help pass the time.

Oh well. Its nice to have time to yourself every once and a while, but I do wish she wasn't gone so long.

Star Date... September 22nd... point 2

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I finished up some cards for work that were going out for Halloween. It took awhile but we were able to get it done.

I took care of Leslies cats since she is out of town and did some laundry. Then I went home and just relaxed since Amanda is still in Shanoot (spell?). She gets back on friday. So I vacuumed, did the dishes, folded laundry, then made dinner. After which I did no real work. It was nice, all I did was just lay around and occasionally play with the dog since he was a little attention starved. Though, he always seems to be when you look at him.

I watched a lot of Mythbusters, which if you haven't seen, you should. Its a very entertaining show about urban myths. Something usually blows up or at least catches on fire.

The Big C

Leslie (Amanda's mom) noticed a weird growth on Amanda's grandmother's (Nana) arm. She got a biopsy, and yesterday she got a letter from the doctor saying they wanted to see her to talk about it. Amanda told me that she (Nana) had cancer. I was able to cheer her up and make her forget about it for the most part, however, before I wrote this blog she called me and told me that it isn't cancer. So that is very good news.

As much as I love her, Amanda (who reads this) has a tendancy to see only things in a negative way and jump to conclusions, thus depressing herself.

all in all

Well, its been a good weekend. Amanda and I didn't do much, but we did go to the Renassance Festival which was nice. We Say Bob the Incredible Juggler who is always good. Most of the weekend we just sat around and took it easy.

WE did do a LOT of cleaning and purging this sunday. We gave more clothes and shoes to the hurricane clothing drives, which will work out good for all of us. Not a whole lot new with me. I photoshopped a ex family member of the Fisch family out of an old family photo. It turned out very well. Everyone was surprized; which surprized me, ironically...

I beat Super Metroid with a finish time of 3:02... which is 3 minutes too long to see the "best ending," so I am playing it again to get it. As if you care...

F YEAH!

Well, after a couple more rough patches with my new computer, I finally got everything back to the way it used to be (for the most part). Though, the "F YEAH" is not for the computer. This past tuesday was my 1 year anniversary at work. I had a good yearly review; apparently they really like me, and I got a 9% raise. So I am very happy about that.

I went out and bought Super Metroid as a reward/present for myself. Been playing that a bit, and I remember just how much I love it.

The classics ROCK!

More computer problems

Well, until just about 5 minutes ago I was ready to toss this very "nice" new computer off of my balcony. I kept freezing and I even had to reinstall OS X. That only took about an hour. But now things are pretty much the way they should be; give or take a few fonts. Fonts are the reason my computer crahsed too.... But I digress. All in all I am pretty happy. There are a few differences, but things are going alright.

Last night I got to talk to Vaupel. It was good to hear from him, but its apparent that he is worried about his situtation. He is living in NY and has more money going out then coming in. But he hasn't been there long, and I am confident that he will probably be the most successful among all of my friends. He just need to "give it time," as it were.

New Computer

As I am sure you can decern from the title, I got a new computer at work. It's great except for that we can't get a whole lot to work correctly on this thing. We NEED to install photoshop, but are unable to because we are missing one of our cd keys. WE have our old 6.0 version cd, but the sticker is missing. The key is on the front of the kisk, but is conviently missing the last 3 digits. Kind been frustrating. Oh well. Hopefully we can work this all out soon.

This past weekend

For any of you who didn't know, Amanda and I went to Wichta for our friend Preethi's wedding. Preethi was Amanda's old roommate, and even though we were not in the wedding party, we were invited to the rehersal dinner. So we both took a half day and drove the 3 hours to Wichita. But since we arrived early I read while Amanda played Gameboy.

The rehersal went well, though the priest was very stern to the point of being rude. After the rehersal was done, we went to "Pizza Villa" and got to know everyone a little better. After which we checked into the Hyatt and got ready for tomorrow. By the way, I am not going to be staying in a Hyatt ever again...

Anyway, we woke up at 8 because we agreed to help setup the banquet hall where the reception was being help. We workd from 10 to about 1, then we took showers changed and went to the wedding (which was at 2).

The wedding was nice; and for a catholic wedding, went very fast. After the wedding the photographer took 45 minutes to take MOST of the pictures... Also, after the wedding I believe the AC was turned off because it became warm very quickly.

When we got to the banquet hall I spent a lot of time trying to find an elevator that works because one of Brian's grandfathers was physically unable to walk up stairs. Beyond that was just a good time. We got a chance to catch up with some old friends from college that we had not seen in awhile. At one point the DJ asked if anyone had a song with the word "love" in the title. Kevin (not me) raised his hand and said "Love in an Elevator" by Areosmith. Well, he had to sing a verse before we could go up to get dinner. Needless to say we got a good laugh out of his Steven Tyler impression and were the first ones in line for dinner, which was excellent.

There was an open bar, and I drank a lot, but never even got so much as a buzz. It was also hot in the banquet hall because one of the bartenders accidentally turned the AC off. So all the dancing and hot indian food really just made things worse. Though I still had a lot of fun.

blades don't need to be reloaded

blades don't need to be reloaded
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

My brother dealing with some zombies. He is a big zombie movie fan and after reading the "Zombie Survival Guide" I was inspired to put this one together.

Dave Matthews concert

Yesterday Amanda and I went to a dave Matthews concert because we won tickets when we went to see the "40 Year Old Virgin."

It was a good concert, but this being only my 4th concert I am reminded why I have not been to more. I am don't mind Dave, but I was not really excited to be there. I have to really like a band to go to a concert. Most of the time I would space out and think of other things. I would watch the crowd and be amazed at what I saw. For example; we sat at the back of the lawn, which is pretty far away. And this stoned idiot would put his arm up and yell at Dave, "Over here... DAVE!" He just kept yelling if there was any way Dave would actually be able to see let alone hear him. I doubt he could do either.

Anyway, it was nice just to spend time with Amanda. Hopefully the next time we see someone I will be a little more into it.

The "special day"

Well, our anniversary was nice... To a point.

The day started off just fine. We both worked and got off early. We ran some errands and went home and got ready for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, P.F.Changs. We had a very nice and surprisingly inexpensive dinner, and went home. We decided to take Lucky out for a walk.

We hadn't gotten more than 200 yards from apartment when Amanda fell and hurt her ankle. She couldn't stand on it, and was in a lot of pain, so I carried her while holding onto a very hyper and reluctant dog. Anyway, I put Amanda on the couch and went to the fridge to find that we didn't have any ice, though we had produce. So I put some frozen corn on her ankle and went to the store to her some ice.

When I got home I checked her ankle some more because I thought it was weird that she immediately was immobilized. She said that she heard a pop, and because it was so tender, we decided to go to the hospital.

So I carried Amanda to the car and later into the hospital. It was surprisingly busy for 8 at night. Shortly after we arrived a high school football player came in with a broken ankle. There was a kid who ran into something, and many other people just waiting around. Well, I caught up on my reading, and 3 hours later, after x-rays and a lot of waiting we found that it was indeed a sprain.

Now, she is walking around fine, but it's still a little tender. Oh well...

3 Years

Today is the 3 year anniversary of my first date with Amanda. It's a good thing she got back from "Rago" (I don't know if that is spelled correctly) yesterday. I mean, "Rago" isn't even a town, it's some feilds or something...

Anyway, I was extremely tired yesterday because I stayed up until 2 the night before doing all sorts of stuff to make everything nice for when Amanda got home. And she got home early, mind you. She was supposed to come home today, and that would have messed up a couple of things.

Tonight we have reservations for one of our favorite restaraunts, P.F. Changs. Other than that we have no real plans. It should be a calm day; which would be nice...

Early Anniversary

Amanda gave me an "amazing" present yesterday. She bought me Spiderman 300, which I have been looking for an extrememly long period of time. As stupid as it may seem, this is a BIG deal to me since I once had this comic until it was accidentally thrown away in a move.

Once Bitten

Once Bitten
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

a comic from college that I have redone.

quiet weekend

Been a while, but I have had my head wrapped around a few things as of late. Most very personal and annoying, so I won't go into it.

Anyway, it was a pretty quiet and laid back weekend, which I have not had in a long while. I spent most of my time either drawing, playing video games, watching tv, or reading. I haven't done that in a long time. It was kinda nice. I felt like I had to get in touch with my inner child so I did play a lot of vintage nintendo. Mega Man 2, Tetris, Castlevania, etc.

Saturday night Amanda and I went over to Mel and Doug's for dinner, which was nice. That was about all I did this weekend that worth mentioning... Though, Amanda and I have been pondering buying a house. While its feasible, I am not sure if its something we should do. Only time will tell.

I didn't sleep too well either, but what can you do.

Tivo and Digital Cable don't mix (very well)

Well, everything was fine until I got my digital cable hooked up yesterday. It works and all, just not like it should. I need one tiny IR sensor that came with the Tivo to make it work with my digital cable, but of course that is the piece I cannot find. But at least after HOURS of working on the problem I know what needs to be done.

On a good note, some friends of mine came over to watch Sin City on my tv. Andrew brought his surround sound so we could "highten" the experiance. It was interesting what you miss if you don't have surround sound. There are tiny little noises and audio cues you miss if you don't...

the weekend

IMG_0883
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

Well, the weekend was as busy as I thought it was going to be, but it was enjoyable. It rained cats in dogs while we were in Lawrence, which made it interesting going from bar to bar.

Sunday was very good. I played 18 holes of golf with Vaup. He beat me by a pretty large margin on the front 9, but I edged him out on the back 9. I finished by sinking a 60 foot putt though.

That night we had a large dinner at "Dos Realies" (spelling?). The food was very cheap and in huge quantaties. Not to mention very good. After which we went to play mini golf, lazer tag, and bowling. However we were only able to do the mini golf because the place closed.

All in all it was a good time, but I know that we are all going to miss Vaupel.

32.49

I just paid 32 dollars and 49 cents for gas! I bleeping hate this bleep!

BLEEP!

prelude to the busiest weekend EVER!

Well, last night a bunch of people were going to come over and watch 'Sin City' at my place. Andrew (Willey) was going to bring his sound system so that we could watch it on my tv with his suround sound. Long story short- it didn't happen. So we are going to have to reschedule.

Anyway, as for this weekend- its going to be BUSY. Andrew (Vaup) is moving to NY, and he is going to haev a pub crawl in lawrence tonight... No problem.

As for saturday, Amanda and I have to wake up early to hlep her grandmother move a bunch of her stuff because she is getting carpet in. And since Amanda won some Cheifs tickets at work, we are going to see that game later that night. However, we are going to to have to pay 20 dollars to park...

Then comes Sunday... the day that could very well kill me. I mentioned that Vaup is leaving, so I am going to go golfing with him on sunday at 8 am in lawrence... It will be fun (but hard). Then at 1:30 Amanda and I have to go to Jacob's birthday. Jacob is the son of one of Amanda's friends from high school. After all this there is a dinner in lawrnce for vaup before he leaves.

All in all, this should be a fun weekend, but it is going to be extremely busy. I don't expect everything to go "according to plan," because it never does... So wish me well.

40 Year Old Virgin

Yesterday Amanda and I say the 40 year Old Virgin. It was hilarious. We laughed through the whole thing. It's a movie I reccommend you see. Funny how parts of it reminded me of my early relationship with Amanda...

Other than that, it was just a regular day...

J is leaving

IMG_0822
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

This weekend was pretty slow, which was nice. On firday Doug came over while Amanda and Melissa went "scrapbooking."

On saturday Amanda had to go to her old roommate Prethi's bridal shower. After which we went to Lawrence so that I could go to J's going away party and so that Amanda and Prethi could join Lindsay for Prethi's batchelorette party.

It was nice to spend time with all my old roommates and other friends. Reminds me why I enjoyed my senior year so much.

We didn't do much, just talked, ate, and played monopoly on old school nintendo. Geoff lost terribly (for once) and I did extrememly well. Whenever somone would bankrupt (which was always thanks to me) they would give all of their money and property to J. Though, I still really should have won, when J bankrupted I gave him all of my stuff...

Anyway, all in all it was a good weekend. The next few are going to be very busy.

Today (8-12-05)

I am basically just trying this out to see how this works. Though, as for my day, it has been interesting. Before lunch, Lee (co-worker) asked if I wanted to go give blood. I hadn't done it in a while, so I said "why not."

Well, I have giving blood many times, and this is the first time I almost passed out. It was BAD. I felt sick, tired, sweaty, etc. It was likehaving the flu for about 2 minutes. After that I felt just fine.

Apparently I am CMV negative. Which means my blood is "special" and going to babies. In case you are wondering I am O neg as well. So anyone can have my blood, but the babies get first dibbs. Why that is that? Basically a small amount of the population does not have some anti-body in their blood that; if present, would make babies sick and potentially kill them.

Anyway, its back to work for about 20 minutes. I get off early on fridays.

Kevin

smash couple

smash couple
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

A picture I drew of my fiancee and I playing video games.

I love her

moved

moved
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

A picture of me playing one of my favorite video games.

radioactive

radioactive
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

wolverine

wolverine
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

flame on

flame on
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

jedi comic

jedi comic
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

Maniac

Maniac
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

A picture I drew so I could enter a contest

football comic

football comic
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.

A classic apartment 9 comic

spatchula cartoon

spatchula cartoon
Originally uploaded by dark_hylian.