Hey guys, how've you been?
Good, good - I'm glad to hear that.
Me?
I've been busy slowly transitioning into a different phase of life.
Hm, yeah, it's okay.
Living in the so-called "real world" has been treating me well.
I can't complain.

It's funny, part of the reason why I haven't been writing here nearly as much as I used to is because I've been updating my "blog" over at my MySpace account instead. The thing is, MySpace, despite its purpose, is so impersonal. According to the statistics for my blog, plenty of people read, but no one ever leaves comments. It's not so much that I really ever needed comments to encourage me to keep on writing - it just feel strange to never see any feedback or interaction, that's all. Back to LiveJournal with gusto and arms wide open. ;)

On with the show.

Item 01: For the love of Cain, everyone, it is "rIdiculous" and not "rEdiculous". Get it right!

Item 02: Why do people bother to add me to their friends lists on MySpace or LiveJournal if they never use either to communicate with me? I'm not interested in being another name on your friends list so you are perceived as being "popular" online.

Item 03: Speaking of which, I greatly dislike friends who promise to spend time with you, call you, visit you, etc. and never follow through with keeping their word, yet go out of their way to trip over their own feet to attend to the new love interest of the day/week/month in their life. Or better yet, make up some entirely lame arse excuse as to why they can't be bothered to spend time with you in person or at the very least drop you a line via e-mail, snail mail, AIM, phone, smoke signal or Morse code. Hm, what harrowing lives they must lead, indeed!

Item 04: For the love of all that is good, I don't know why I bothered to try and pursue a man I'm interested in - it only backfired. It seems like once I admitted to being interested, that was the end of that. If I had known admitting anything would cause us to drift apart, I wouldn't of said anything at all. It feels like I've lost a friend, and that bothers me more than anything really. But honestly, what is so damnably hard about deciding whether you feel something for someone or not? It's a simple yes or no question. Give me an answer and let's move on. Positive or negative, life is much too short.

Item 05: I've become so tied up in work lately, that I've forgotten I enjoy drawing, playing my guitars, and reading. Wow... Where did I go?

Item 06: Speaking of work, having a more formal job has caused me to make interesting changes in my wardrobe. And by interesting changes, I mean "feminine" changes. I am now a master at eye makeup and own a genuine pair of leather high heels that I fancy wearing with my smart trousers and button up dress shirts. Once I get home though... I am ALL OVER my hoodies, jeans, and Adidas Sambas. Oh comfortable boyish clothes, let's be best friends forever!

Item 07: I bought myself a 30GB iPod and named it Amadeus. My older iPod mini, Widget Jones, now belongs to my mom. :)

Item 08: My name is Kilo Echo Lima Lima Yankee in military alphabet speak! Am I the only one amused by this?

And now for some stupid art and music.


( Drumroll, please! )

Hello my friends, and welcome to a much needed update for my journal.

So! Life has been pleasantly busy recently. In case anyone missed it the first time around, back in late December I got hired on as a designer for a local website design company. That means I occasionally design websites, code and build out my own (and those made by others) websites, utilize my jedi-like Photoshop skills, and... Answer the phone! I'm a real multi-tasker, I am! :) Overall the experience with working at the firm has been great - my boss is a great guy, and the other two website designers I work with are fabulous. We're small, but we're a good group of blokes, if I must say so myself.

The best part about this job is that time seriously flies by without notice. I'm kept busy and challenged all the time, so there's really never a moment to be bored, you know? The only downfall is that I come exhausted every now and then, and have no desire to get up and go out or exercise, which I haven't done in a few months (naughty!). I still feel like I'm behind in catching up and getting adjusted to this new adult lifestyle, but I'm getting there. Tally ho!

In other news, I never did get around to creating those watercolors I thought I would be creating last weekend. I was just utterly exhausted, and made up my mind that I'd rather read books by Chuck Palahniuk (who I've become quite fond of) than bust out my Micron pens. I really do need to remedy that though, since I haven't drawn anything decent in what feels like ages. This goes along in the same vein of being too exhausted to exercise when I come home from work - it's a vicious cycle that must be broken. Broken, I say!

I think I'm rambling. I am switching to list mode... NOW.

Item 01: I want a 60GB black iPod now that I can actually afford things from being paid to be a web nerd. I shall name her Stella.

Item 02: I also want Guitar Hero for PS2, which is somewhat silly seeing as I have a real guitar already.

Item 03: I've recently watched Brokeback Mountain, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Ringer, King Kong, and Glory Road in theaters. If I had to recommend ONE movie to watch out of all of thee above, it'd be Glory Road.

Item 04: As I've mentioned above, I've recently taken a fancy to Mr. Chunk Palahniuk's written works. What I love about his books is that they are written with an pleasantly awful sense of humor and never quite about what you think they are about.

Item 05: I have two sketches and a song that has been running through my mind all week to share. Behold!


( Two quick pen sketches I did back in December while I was still a substitute teacher... )

Finally, I've been stuck on Alanis Morisette's cover of "Crazy" by Seal for quite some time now. It's rather good.

As much as I fancy the holiday season, I must say I am glad Christmas is over and done with. I don't think I could stomach any more holiday cheer even if I tried.

Good gravy.

That's not to say these past few days haven't been interesting though.

On Saturday morning (Christmas Eve) I left Sacramento at about 11AM to drive down to San Francisco. The ride was peaceful enough as I had time to sit and listen to a lovely mix CD my friend Afton made me for Christmas and just clear my mind a bit. Halfway there, as I drove through the dimly green hills to get to the Bay Area, the clouds were flying low and the fog was rolling about each and every way while the sun lazily tried to burn itself a niche in the sky. The surreal scenery paired with Chris Martin's voice blaring from my speakers ala Where Is My Boy? made for a sort of ephemeral moment which I really can't explain - it was just really lovely.

At about 1PM, I rolled into San Francisco and made my way over the Golden Gate Bridge, through Golden Gate Park, past the Dutch Windmill, and finally into the Richmond area. There, I met up with the man, the myth, the legend, Chris Daines (jacksonslam). From his place we moseyed on over back into Golden Gate Park to visit the De Young Mueseum, which upon closer inspection looks suspiciously like a beached battleship made of copper with a grandiose aluminum foil sculpture near the delivery dock. (Don't ask.) Annnd...! Just so all of you good people don't make the same sorry-arsed mistake I did, the De Young Museum IS NOT named after Dennis DeYoung of Styx fame. Damn it!

Chris and I wandered throughout the museum for a good hour/hour and a half scoffing at modern art, trying to attach symbolism to otherwise WTF? paintings, cowering at the Creepy Girl Portrait™, chortling at Aztec sculptures which resembled bongs, and making friends with Mordecai. (I do say Mordecai my good fellow, stick your hand in your jacket and hold this compass while I paint your portrait. Everyone will think you are a distinguished cartographer, by Jove!) Many laughs were to be had in the De Young museum, though I'm sure the we crazy kids got a few stares every now and then.

After we finished causing debauchery at the De Young, we walked over to a nifty little Greek-themed coffee shop where I ordered a small white mocha in order to garner some quarters in change for Chris and I to use for the MUNI (the public transportation system in San Francisco). Once that mission was accomplished, we hopped on to a janky old bus that made mysterious squeaky noises every time it started rolling. About 2,341 sqeaky noises worth of travel later, we arrived at the Moscone Convention Center where there is an indoor ice skating rink.

Once there, we rented some skates and made our way to the ice. While Chris took to the ice like a duck takes to the water (being a former hockey player and all), I took to the ice like a blind moose with one leg and no fur takes to, well, anything. Needless to say, as Chris ice skated, I myself ice flailed. It was an astounding sight to see my friends, and I'm terribly sorry you all had to miss the comedy routine that thus ensued.

Hm, right.

Being the nice bloke he is, Chris allowed me to hang on to his arm for balance and we circled the rink and talked about this, that, life, and everything else in-between. While talking though, I almost bit the dust a total of three times. Each time that happened, however, my skating buddy was nice enough to spot me and prevent my face from making friends with the ice. The second time he helped me out I suspect I accidentally violated him - he's too nice to admit I did any such thing though, but I'm apologizing for it right now just to make sure. I didn't mean it, really. ;) The third time he helped me out, I seriously almost died became some big guy fell right in front of me and I couldn't stop and OMG OMG I'm falling O WAIT I'm not falling anymore O YES I'M FALLING again O SHITTE O WAIT NO BALANCE now I'm upright again. Pretty much Chris the Jedi Skater saved my life. :C

O rly? Ya rly!

( Eric Estrada makes a guest appearance... )

In conclusion, I just wanted to say thank you to Chris again for putting up with my tomfoolery, laughing at my jokes, and treating me to dinner. You're seriously one of the kindest people I've ever encountered, and I enjoyed your company. To my partner in utterly ridiculous thoughtcrime, Yvonnesava, it's always a kick in the pants to spend time with you. You're one of the greatest friends I'll ever have, and I miss you.

So! I received two special gifts today. The first one was an adorable cow-themed holiday greeting card from the fantastic Miss Allison (alamoo), which was a wonderful surprise and extremely sweet. Thank you Miss A! :) The second gift that I received today came from none other than the Emperor Fabulous herself, Vonner (vonner4). It's a favorite photo of mine (of Tracy, Amy, herself, and myself) in a hand crafted frame, and it is gorgeous. :) If I ever work in a facility which provides me with a desk, it has a premium spot right up front reserved.

Speaking of work, tomorrow I'm going in for an interview for a position as a graphic designer (web design, specifically - just what I was aiming for)! The interview starts at 11AM, and I'm a teensy bit nervous, but not terribly so. I'm hoping I'll just charm the pants off of the president and he'll hire me on the spot - or at the very least, give me freelance design work to do. ;) Any positive vibes you good fellows can send my way would be very much appreciated!

In other news, I'm totally digging Jeffrey Gaines's acoustic cover of In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel. Someone needs to be my boyfriend so I can sing this to them while accompanying myself on the guitar.

Yes, I am a closet romantic - almost to the point of being cheesy.

Butdon'ttellanyonethat!