Monday, June 27, 2005

Comfort Food = Stress Relief

Unfortunately, I've had a lot of stress lately.


Comfort food of the moment - Those white macadamian nut cookies from Subway. The Kwons gave me an extra one this morning, god bless the kwons.

Friday, June 24, 2005

LEEEERRRROOOYYYYY

Jeeeennnkkkkiiinnnsss!!!!

Wow, this is probably the funniest thing I have seen in a while.

Leeroy Jenkins

Click on the second mirror site.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

For Joe

OK.... so if the Jacksonville Jaguars are known as the "Jags" and theTampaBay Buccaneers are known as the "Bucs," what does that make the Tennessee Titans?

Monday, June 20, 2005

Old Habits


Chilis
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
So I walk out of the building with Scott today and I'm like "where should we go to lunch". For some reason, he doesn't want to go to Al's (who knows why not).

I'm like, well it's Monday, how about Chili's. So we head there, reminisce (ouch, that hurt) about how every Monday used to be Chili's. Like clockwork Evan would come around and ask. Each time he asked and I declined, I felt a bit guilty because he didn't go around and ask everyone in the company. He took time out to ask me though and I would just turn him down.

So we get there, the manager is all up and nice and asks us if we'd like to sit outside, we said sure and I got all misty. The very first time I had lunch at Chili's with Decipher, it was on the porch, so long ago on a day like today. It was good times then.

I had the Cajun Chicken pasta. Tom would remind me how many calories were in it and Evan would order the same thing.

My Dad

I wish I had a picture to put up here, but alas I don't.

I love my dad and my number 1 wish is that I could have had more time with him when I was a child.

My parents split up when I was 3 (i think) and then again when I was 5 or 6 (I think). My mother remarried a waste of space and then we moved to Germany. Growing up my mother's new husband wasn't a father figure to me at all. He and I never did anything together and at times when we were in Germany, there were upwards of 7 kids in the house (Heather, Me, Crystal, Misty, Kimberlee, Kevin, Cassi). Most of the time it was 5, but there was a period when it ballooned to 7. So growing up, I didn't have a father figure. The only things I knew about my dad were what my mom and my older sister told me. Most of which was "he hasn't paid child support yet this month or if he cared more he would call/write you".

As I grew up I had problems. I wish I could go into them here, but those types of problems aren't fit for a public forum. Sometimes I like to think that I wouldn't have had those problems if I would have had a father figure around to remind me what was right and what was wrong. I love my mom very much, but there were times when she over-emphasized certain wrongs and under-emphasized others.

When I became old enough, I married and we moved to Arizona. My dad lived in Arizona. Everytime I think of the times that I lived in Arizona from about 1997 on, I think of the song Cat's in the Cradle. I was only living 5 miles from him and yet I couldn't find time to go over there and spend time with him.

Since then, my dad has always been there for me. Not questioning my life/career choices, but rather supporting everything I do. We have a hard time talking on the phone, that's why it was tough to call him last night. I think one of my best memories was when my dad took me to see the Arizona Diamondbacks on the Sunday after their first game in existence. It was my birthday and the Dbacks won, their first win ever. My dad and I are happy just watching a sporting event together, enjoying a frosty beverage. No words have to be exchanged.

It's a weird relationship we have. If I ever end up moving back to Arizona, I've made promises to myself that I will make a conscience effort to spend more time with him. I only wish I could have spent that time when I needed it most.

Friday, June 17, 2005

Wonderbar?

Oh Yea


Does it get better?

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Have You Seen This SHOW!!!!


Have You Seen This SHOW!!!!
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
OMFG, this show freaking rocks. I am just watching it now. Wang Chung just played and now Sophie B. Hawkins is on. This is freaking awesome!!!

They get to play one of their chart toppers and then they play one of todays chart toppers. Wang Chung is gonna do Hot in Hurr!

Vanilla Ice won last time and Arrested Development won the time before that. I think I have died and this is heaven (if there is such a thing).

Poor Marnie


Marnie's Eye II
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
:(

My poor little Marnie has a nasty case of pink eye. Every time she goes to the VA Beach Aquarium, she always comes back with a sinus infection. This time it leaked to her eye. I feel bad for her cause she's in pain.

And it's only a matter of time before I have it.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Top 5 Things I Hate Most In This World


thumbsdown
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
These are the top 5 things I hate most in this world. Some of these things may seem trivial to you, but to me, they are a fast track to pushing me closer to the edge, etc.

Just Missed - Being Overweight
When I first moved to virginia, I was in the process of getting my weight under control. That was about a year and a half to 2 years ago. For the past 6 months I haven't had time to think about eating correctly. It's amazing that I remember to shower and get dressed in the morning.

5 - Slow Drivers
This has seemed to be slipping off the list. Rarely is there a time when I am driving by myself anymore. When I was driving by myself, I would absolutely go flying down the road and leave caution to the wind, but now that I drive with Marnie more often then not, I have to actively keep an eye on my speed, cause if I don't, she will let me know.

4 - Indecisiveness
If you know what you want, just tell me what you want. Don't make me play a guessing game and then when I get it wrong, you send me packing on a guilt trip. I would rather people just come out tell me what they want, even if I'm not happy with it, I'd rather do that then try and find out what you want in the first place. If you want to stay, then stay. If you want to go, let's go, but make a freaking decision and stick to it.

3 - Drama
I really hate drama. I hate when people do or say things that will intentionally cause a ruckus. Said people may not know that what they said would cause harm...or maybe they did and they said it anyway. Things like holding a grudge and not talking to that person so instead the person holding a grudge makes people around him or her feel guilty for talking/associating with the person that the grudge is against. Or knowing full well that a specific topic upsets someone and yet, a person decides to bring that topic up anyway and cause tension. Save it for the reality TV shows, I don't need it in my life.

2 - Inefficiency
There is only one thing I hate worse than inefficiency. Just because you think you know better, don't make me do something in which I know there is a quicker/better way to do it. If you want me to move the pile of sand three feet, let me figure out how to do it, don't tell me what the "best way" is.

1 - "Normal" People
Anyone that reads this blog knows what I am talking about. These are the type of people that make up about 95% of the known population. These are people that don't get the jokes that I tell. These are the people that can't comprehend what I do for a living or even what a collectible card game is at all. These are the type of people that have a "normal" life. They have a nice house in the suburbs, kids or no kids. They do normal things like stay in one place their whole life or do the whole highschool/college/career right after another. These are people that don't get what sarcasm is. These type of people think it's funny to call me Darth Vader because I mentioned that I liked Star Wars a couple times. These type of people sit around the living room (the one with no TV) and sit and stare at each other or make casual conversation about absolutely nothing while I have to sit there and not go absolutely insane from this asinine waste of time. These type of people don't understand that I can't sit still for more than a minute or two and constantly ask why I always "fidget" even though I have told them more than once why. These type of people don't understand that constantly "replying to all" doesn't get on people's nerves. These are the type of people that the ONLY thing they have is something like sports ( I mean, I enjoy sports as much as the next guy, but it doesn't rule my life nor is that the only thing I do). It's these people that I dread when looking for a new job.


What do I do about these when I encounter them? Usually nothing. Often times, they will upset me for a split second, but since my mind works differently, it's usually gone. What sucks is when the same thing happens repeatedly and I'm forced to encounter it repeatedly. In that situation, I usually just leave or start ignoring people and then I get in more trouble. These are the types of things that happen on a daily basis. It's like living an entire 1000+ page book everyday. So much to take in, so little time.

Saturday, June 11, 2005

Where a Kid can be a Kid


chuckecheese
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
So my nephew is in town and you know what that means. A TRIP TO CHUCK E CHEESES. I live for these trips. I can't go when I don't have an excuse of a younger kid cause they kind of frown upon 27 yr olds in the ball bin with no kids of their own (not that I went in the ball bin).

Anyway, we walked away with about 350 tickets and my nephew got a cool Mr. Potato Head. So fun was had by all, I ran the gauntlet of the SW arcade game, and pwned the baseball token to ticket thing (I was averaging a triple per token which was good for 7 tickets a pop if at least 1 guy was on base).

Look Familiar?


RedJewel
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
So the adventures continue. Do some of you remember getting this Jewel? Well, I found it. But you'll notice, that I am Horde. And for those that dont' know, I'm on a PVP server and....not a rogue. There was much carnage after this photo.

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Busch Gardens Quickie

It was hot today, no..just humid
Beer school was fun with my father in law.
I found a beer that I like, it's that new B to the E. It's nice and fruity beer.
Curse of Dark Castle is money, you should go on it.
My 3.5 yr old nephew wanted to go on the Log Flume, he was wet afterwards.
The sampler platter at the smokehouse is good.
The blue train is faster than the red train
Did I mention it was humid?
I got some sun.
It was nice not thinking about work for at least 2 hours. Somewhere on the Curse of Dark Castle, some inspiration hit for some gametext. I wish I could have wrote it down.
I had so much fun, I upgraded the single pass to the summer blitz, I can go for free until Aug 31st. There should be plans made to go, it'll be a blast.

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Look at those Pipes!!!


MVC-008F
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
This is my nephew Aidan. He is a badass and if you cross him he will kick your ass. He is clearly a pimp like his uncle Mikey.


The kid is money. If you knew him, you would say the same thing.

One present down...


joss
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.
Now I know what to get Evan for christmas.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

It Figures

Satan

You scored 75% Pride, 80% Envy, 95% Ambition, and 87% Deceitfulness!


You are Satan, the consummate villain, and the ascendant figure in the unholy trinity. Throughout history you have been called The Serpent, The Accuser, The Devil, Lucifer, The Prince of the Power of the Air, and The Dragon, among other things. Your “compatriots” in the unholy trinity, the Antichrist and the False Prophet, are merely pawns in your futile struggle with God. Though, they probably don’t know this. This is because you are a master of deception; indeed the Bible calls you “The Father of All Lies”. You are also very ambitious, and you strive to be in positions of the utmost authority. Unfortunately, it was impossible for you to obtain the highest title in heaven and this is part of the reason why you decided to leave. Of course, you couldn’t just leave by yourself, so you managed to use your deceptive abilities to get one third of the angels in heaven to join with you in revolt. God put down the rebellion and kicked you out of heaven. To most people, it would seem foolish to start a war against God, but pride can sometimes cause people to do foolish things. In heaven, you were the most beautiful and powerful of all angels and you were well aware of this. Unfortunately, you let your pride consume you and your passions led you down the road to perdition. After you were expelled from heaven, you let another one of your attributes consume you—envy. You knew that you could never defeat God, but you could attempt to destroy humanity, his most beloved creation. Your goal is to bring as much of humanity as possible to suffer in Hell with you. Fortunately for you, but unfortunately for the rest of us, you’ve been endowed with all of the attributes necessary (deceptiveness, confidence, ruthlessness, and ambition) to do a terribly good job at this.







My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender
:






















free online dating
free online dating

You scored higher than 90%
on Pride






free online dating
free online dating

You scored higher than 93%
on Envy






free online dating
free online dating

You scored higher than 95%
on Ambition






free online dating
free online dating

You scored higher than 97%
on Deceitfulness




Link: The Which Biblical Villain Are You Test written by MetalliScats on Ok Cupid

Sunday, June 05, 2005

"It's not tipping I believe in..."

"...it's over tipping."

That line is from one of my top 3 movies. And it's something that I have believed in ever since I was old enough to pay for food. That was then reinforced when I started working for Pizza Hut, always looking for that extra buck. So tonite, I get Outback Curbside to Go (because there were some alliance mopes that were asking for a beating, so we couldn't take the time to go and sit down there). The bill comes out and I think to myself, "what is a proper tip for this"? I mean, we tip the waiter/waitress for bringing us our food, keeping our drinks topped off, seeing if we need anything, and being friendly. These waiters/watresses don't actually cook our food so that isn't taken into account in either situation (whether it's curbside to go or dining in). So what is the right amount? I usually tip about 25-30% if they did a good job, kept my drink filled, and didn't piss Marnie off. Well the curbside to go waitress was nice, quick, asked me if I needed anything else and she wished me a good night (and she didn't even try to hit on me, which I can't say about the Paula Abdul wannabe at the No Frills Grill today for lunch). So she got about a 20% tip. The only thing that she didn't do is keep my glass full (which I didn't have). I mean, it's not like I keep a tip card in my wallet (like a friend that I know).

That movie still rocks.

Saturday, June 04, 2005

EP III - Take Two

Just saw it with Marnie. She said that it was very dark. I was able to take notice of a lot more subtleties this time around. Such as the skeleton work of the death star on the front of palpatine's bureau in his office. The ebb and flow of the movie is still a little off to me, but I'm blaming the ADD for that. This movie will definitely crack my top 10 of favorite movies.

Friday, June 03, 2005

Waving Goodbye

From now on, it's going to feel like I'm stranded on an island, in the middle of nowhere. With only my volleyball to talk to. Thank goodness the volleyball has an internet connection.