Incomplete:

Delivery after reading of 3 volumes of manga, to Ms. Malcolm and Mr. Lai
2 attempts at NaNoWriMo encouraged by Darcy
Responses to over 3 years of fantastic articles and posts from astute, kind and thoughtful friends
Plans for camping, exercise, musical learning, writing as well as visiting astute, kind and thoughtful friends
Best wishes, acknowledgment of auspicious occasions including birthdays, support in times of difficulty, personal updates

Completed within the past 5 years:

Purchase of a home
A marriage
A bachelor's degree in English
Several videogames
The start of a few small things, which I could only hope come to some kind of fruition. These include a bit of camping, a bit of writing, a bit of music, a bit of exercise, and a lot of figuring out what the hell to do with my life.

Media to share, if that is at all appropriate:

Watched 7 Pounds this past week, cried for 10 minutes at the end. I'd recommend it. Likewise with watching Huff, a canceled series from HBO starring Hank Azaria. Riveting and no one has heard of it. Finally, Valkyria Chronicles for the PS3 is a fantastic strategy game. Balanced, engaging, vivid, just-right.

For enleve, a never-can-tell, though if anyone wants to reach me and take a swing at it, please:

The pope is giving a speech to an outdoor audience. A member of the audience approaches the stage, brandishes and fires a pistol, shooting someone seated just behind and to the side of the pope. Why?

You are permitted to ask any yes/no questions - including temporal ones (things that happened before, things that may/will happen) and ones that deal with relevance. My responses will include: yes, no, yesish (more true than false), noish (more false than true), yope (yes and nope, to a question that has multiple parts, interpretations or that is simply both true and false), FA (false assumption - where something assumed in the question makes it invalid) and irrelevant (if the response has no bearing on the solution).

For levity, a joke:

A boy grows up in a small town that hosts the training ground of a traveling circus. He visits often and is enamored with circus life, getting to know the performers and their acts and relishing every moment. His vicarious experience makes him a staunch supporter and circus aficionado at a ripe young age.

One day, the circus gets a new clown. One molded in a genre of humour most would consider offensive. He insults the audience and the other acts, is crass, rude and vulgar and he considers nothing sacred. His existence in the circus is antithetical to the boy's love and respect for it. The crowd however, jaded, cynical and looking for something edgy and new, love the clown and the circus hits new heights of popularity. One day, the boy himself becomes the clown's target. The clown catches his eye, speaks to the audience and asks "Hey kid, are you a horse?" "No" "Well you look like a horse's ass!" The boy doesn't get the joke, thinks it is hardly funny but is distraught when the audience rolls over in laughter. Tears streak down his face and he runs home heartbroken.

Over the next decade, the boy occasionally revisits the place of so many youthful dreams. Each time the clown is there, spots him, and picks on him in a similar fashion, turning a small vile insult into a tragic emotional crippling.

The boy grows, goes to college and struggles emotionally. He speaks to a counselor who traces his issues back to the circus. The counselor tells him he would have managed had he a response to the clown's insults. Soon the boy transfers to Insult University, and takes class upon class of snarky returns, comebacks, "yo momma" jokes and a wide palette of jabs, barbs and nasty, reflective puns. He excels and graduates Magna Cum Laude.

After working for a number of years, marrying and settling down, the boy, now in his 40s, realizes he still feels lost, ashamed and out of place. He seeks a therapist who, after several sessions, traces his issues back to the circus once again. The therapist suggests dealing with the root of the issue is most important. The man decides to look up the circus owners to search for some kind of resolution. Amazingly, he finds them and they know where their former, and highly successful clown is, in a nursing home in a town half a continent away. The man buys a plane ticket and gets to the home. As he passes through the sliding doors he asks himself "what the hell am I doing here, bothering this poor old man" but he keeps walking. When he gets to the room, the old man is sitting on the edge of the bed in a full clown costume.

The clown looks out, spots the man and after a glint of recognition appears, says "you"

"You", the man replies.

The clown gets up, cane in hand and teeters his way out to the hall. A small crowd of elderly folk forms to watch the confrontation. "Hey kid" the clown says to the 40-year-old man. "Yeah" says the man, oblivious to his age, reliving the encounter. "Are you a horse?" "No", the man responds defiantly. "Well, you look like a horse's ass!" the clown retorts smugly and the audience titters and giggles, amused and possibly slightly medicated.

The man shakes off the sting of the comment. He weighs his opponent, steels himself - he's waited for this chance. "Hey clown" the man says.

"Yeah?" asks the clown.

"Fuck you."

Date:	2007-01-30 14:41
Subject:	I never post.
Security:	Public
Mood:	contemplative

Wedding preparations are a looming monster at home these days. We are so very far ahead on a number of things that I`m worried we are forgetting others. It is tricky business and I hope I can keep up.

Live is rather static, no news but preparation for many things. Wedding, honeymoon, renovations (that can be done without money, ha!), classes and Anna getting ready to apply to Jet.

We`ve had some sad news, in that Anna`s grandmum is very sick and likely won`t be with us for much longer. Anna and her siblings got a chance to visit in Halifax, which was important, but I know their family is close knit and this is difficult for everyone.

I`m a little worried about my father too - he seems distracted these days. He chooses his words judiciously, and doesn`t look me in the eye as often as before. I think he worries about saying the right thing to me, keeping me motivated and skirting the line between scolding me for failures and boosting me with kind words. I also don`t know how his health is, as he keeps it quiet.

In better bits of news, I`m guessing some of you already are, but watch Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip if you can. Really. It is good. It is one after Heroes, and heaven knows, plenty of you must watch that. Good times.

I`m playing WoW a bit too much right now. I guess it is good since it is social, but I need to be careful about staying up too late. Between WoW, FF XII with Anna and renting an Xbox 360 for a bit to enjoy the tremendously violent but very well done Gears of War, I`ve had plenty of good gaming.

I`ve also started (or gone back to, 8 years later) swimming. I put on plenty of weight on the holidays, so swimming is slimming me back down. It feels really good, even if I do get passed by old men and 14 year old girls regularly.

Finally, if you are up for a dark and compelling fantasy movie, go see Pan`s Labyrinth now. It was really good - dark Spanish civil war story mixed with fantasy storytelling.

I don't like venting - I tend not to feel any better and I'm no very good at it to begin with. Instead I think I'll try a segue from one topic to another.

I found, to my disappointment, that I was immediately eliminated from a competition to a job I have the perfect qualifications for. I was far from a sure thing - it included a rigorous bilingual check, with a high level of French writing, and I might have failed - I just wish I had the chance. It would have meant a solid paycheck - and while I know I'll find the right thing for me at some point, I feel like I am incapable of selling myself. I have not seen a job I was more appropriate for, and I could not get past the first round of competition. I have only myself to blame, as my resume didn't pop the way it needed to. 600 people applied for 1 spot.

So the confidence, it comes and goes. My belief that I am capable and hard working slips in and out - some things get all my energy and others, I give up on far too easily. I'd like to know what the hell is wrong with me. My band, Kingston Fog, played a show last month that had people dancing, cheering and jumping around - we've gotten better. And while I'm happy about success anywhere, our lead singer/lyric writer and his wife, our violinist, are part of another band. That band is making very big headlines in very little time. They are, by some accounts, the toast of the town. Our sound has evolved enough that I think we can go out there and make a splash - but it hasn't happened and I don't know how we do it. I don't know how they did it and I'm scared (even if it isn't all that likely) that we might lose them to this new project. I can't be mad though, I love the music of this new band. I just wish we could do more, write more, make a name for ourselves. I don't know how to do it - the same way I don't really know how to apply for a big job, write a book, take care of my house, take care of my fiancee, take care of a wedding, really apply myself in my classes.

I don't know and it scares me a lot. The funny thing is - I feel close, on all those things, like there is just some tiny spark and I could write a book, install hardwood floors and fix the heating, get a huge crowd going for KFog and have everything in this wedding down pat.

I'm 27, so I'm actually starting to feel like I must figure this out soon. Sad as that might be.

I don't have the confidence to support people around me either. Between Anna, my father (and the many little medical issues he semi-hides from me) and my birth-father (whose wife still has a brain tumor that won't go away and is impeding her vision) I just feel like I am letting them down because of a lack of energy and of confidence. Sometime I do alright, but I cannot be very reliable these days. I need to get my shit together before I can really help.

Aside from that, I've talked about writing here before, but have little to show for it. I can post the 10 or 15 pages of projects I have left by the wayside, but that is the whole kit and kaboodle. I lost a certain amount of it on a busted harddrive anyhow, and it wasn't stellar.

So now I am trying again. While I keep failing at a nice little adventure involving puzzles, geared towards a younger set - I'm off on another tangent. Simply for the fact that anyone reading this could have a brainstorm of some kind, I'll throw it out there. (I'm almost worried about doing that - it seems like as soon as I really make an idea public is when it dies for me)

Thesis: The single most important catalyst in the development of society is the lie. The ability to lie effectively, as well as the ability to detect such lies, are the two most important skills we have, in terms of social structure and development. Lying is not an exclusively negative action here - for example, our ability to tell stories (a lie that contains truths that are applicable to living) is one that made a huge difference in our development.

So I want to trace that - how our mechanism for creating and dispelling lies works, how it has altered history (big lies like propaganda and politics) and how we have disciplines devoted to creating effective lies (PR, politics, media) and effectively detecting lies (science, judiciary etc) - I think I will need to do a lot of research. I'd love to end with a section on lie detection and on understanding grey-area answers. Avoiding absolutes is important because, well, essentially nothing is absolute. Most generalizations and absolutes we live by have no real value.

So to you - can this work?

Here is the trick - in telling me, please don't lie. :)

I need to figure that out, a long with everything else. If anyone has a suggestion, pass it on.

OK - looks like my committee is about to start. All the best folks!

It is a controlling factor in democracy, war, science, politics and the arts - essentially the components of civilization.

Date:	2006-08-29 10:10
Subject:	Celebrities that match my hideous halloween mug shot
Security:	Public
Mood:	optimistic

More time goes by without my posting here.

I am going to do the 5 or 6 things about me that harem president tagged me with. I should get to that later today or tomorrow.

As far as the doodad above, the original search landed 3 women as the top matches to that questionable photo. I removed Jena Malone, who I know nothing about, and Rutger Hauer of "the cyborg guy in Blade Runner" fame, because I am scared of Rutger Hauer.

But there you go. Kinda puzzling but fun.

I'll have the other meme and a post soon. Hope you are all well.

Date:	2006-03-31 19:36
Subject:	I hate not explaining things. Here goes. Ask away.
Security:	Public
Mood:	weird

The Rules:
1. You can only say YES or NO!
2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone comments asks about it.


( Read more... )

Date:	2006-03-03 13:39
Subject:	Muchos gracias y respeto a todos mi amigos y amigas
Security:	Public
Mood:	happy

THANK YOU!

Every last one of you rock!

I have already done some writing and I will continue. I know that rowan_redfern encouraged me before, but it is hard for her to press on over that distance, especially when she is so very busy and baby-fied. Besides, there has always been an excuse - some other glut if things to keep me occupied. I think it is pretty fair to say I have the best friends in history. Objectively speaking.

But I will work at this. Simple suggestions are finally making me stir with ideas.

Hopefully you will see something new here in the coming days/weeks.

In the meantime, for my videogame playing friends, take a look at this: (This includes any casual gamers! This is something for everyone!)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8372603330420559198&q=spore

It is 35 minutes long but is incredible to watch. Could be the best game ever made that ANYONE could enjoy. From Will Wright who came up with the Sims and a few other popular games.

Just watch it!

And thanks again. All of you.

Date:	2006-03-02 15:30
Subject:	Domino's Pizza
Security:	Public
Mood:	optimistic

With all due respect to Riizu's former employer's founder, wow, this guy is out of his fucking mind.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/02/catholic.town.ap/index.html

Seems like plenty of people are out of their fucking minds these days.

I almost wish they'd give it a go though. It is awful of me, but I'd like to see it fail.
I think that sort of thing a lot - I know it is poor of me - but the ideological nutjobs that we often talk about here on LJ (given that many of us share a large degree of political leaning and social understanding) are never convinced by studies, comparisons ... hell, even reason.

So a lot of the time I want to say, "Go on. Try it. See how it goes." But of course, if they do, some people get hurt. So it isn't worth it.

Better still they do something like, say, invade Iraq. It doesn't work but they keep telling everyone it does.

Well, crazy Domino's Pizza founder guy, enjoy your city. I'm sure the tourism alone will be worth the work. Perhaps we should plan a road trip.

Date:	2006-03-01 12:04
Subject:	Writing more often
Security:	Public
Mood:	restless

I was talking with an old friend from Toronto the other day who has always kept an eye on where I am in life. She had kind words for my fall from Waterloo and my goofing up things at large. She encouraged Anna and myself when we considered working on a comic together. She is also decent at kicking my ass. We went to nerd camp together (I hope she forgives me for calling it that) and thus have a connection that is at least somewhat connected to getting shit done.

She has challenged me. The post she offered was a reply to my last LJ entry but I will cut and paste it right here.

>>
Here's your next assignment: write a story about a breakup that will make me.. err... people.. laugh, cry, think, and eventually be glad the bastard's gone. You are not allowed to suck 500 words from the world's written language, which will actually happen if you don't get this thing done.

And here's the stakes: if you don't get this done, I will cry.

You have until March 15th.
>>

The "suck 500 words" is a reference to the fact that I would make it 1500 words long, +/- 2000. Just to cover all the bases. She is sneaky.

So - that is that. It will be tough as I may be staying a bit longer at the current job (since Parliament has limited hours if any available to me in April.) and I need to focus on my class too. But look at me! Making excuses. So I will get it done. Guess what, it is open season in 2 ways. 1. You can all smack me around if I miss this deadline.

Even better: 2. You can all give me something else to write about. This was Anna's idea. I asked for inspiration and direction before (making me one of those "I want to write but I don't know what about" folks that I really wanted to avoid becoming) but I should have clarified. I need small stuff. Not something with characters and plot and all that - if you guys could offer me that, you should be writing yourselves. But instead, asking for a short story of any sort ... would be real nice. I want to dive in and churning out something for friends would be fantastic.

Please let me know.

Beyond that ... life is scary but good. My reasons for leaving work were to have more time, energy, to get healthier and focus on home, school and more interesting work. I made the decision in November and gave my notice in January ... but I am still here and may be for a while longer. Boo. I lost some of the weight I had put on but I still feel sluggish as well as pessimistic a lot of the time. This transition won't be fun as I'll be trying to be a healthier happy person right as I start running out of money.

But in a sense I've been on a degree of cruise control lately and working towards improving ... well ... everything is a cause I can get behind.

Kingston Fog is ramping up for a lot of shows. I feel great about that. Rick, our lead, is a bit stressed as he hates work more than I do, and I hope it doesn't affect the band. We struggle to practice regularly and to find a meeting point for our ideas and sounds. I hope we find our groove this summer and Rick gets happier.

Anna is working a bit too hard. She needs a break too. More time outside, relaxing and living in ways that don't involve school or work so much. Our house at large feels a bit bogged down.

But yeah. Erm ... watched a great Tony Jaa movie about elephants. That was nice. He kicks people very hard. Being a stuntman for him is possibly the worst job ever.

Ok, done.

Date:	2006-02-01 12:50
Subject:	Yoinked from Flying Squirrel
Security:	Public
Mood:	*Sorta

As consistant as ever, here we go.

I am old. I have an RRSP, a wedding fund and I live in a near-crippling state of fear and worry about the future. This, if I calculate correctly, makes me an "adult". Although the criteria is far from universal.

I'd love to have stories of wine and roses but I do not.

I quit my job. It is just going to take 1 - 1.5 months for "I quit" to actually mean "I am no longer working here" - I gave them a long time and they jumped on it, which might be for the best as I have few guarantees for the future. I have had some luck with both going back to Parliament and with jobs I can do on the side ... but nothing is in stone, nor is my departure date.

I hope that when I do leave, I can stop thinking about money and actually get to having energy, getting exercise, putting more effort in to school and not being a moany, lazy schlub.

Why can I never find something interesting to write about? Someone give me a topic. Oh gods, please!

If you want, email me for a new never-can-tell, yoinked from somewhere some of you may visit so ignore it if you read it.

A man has 2 accurate, functional clocks in his office, yet he calls the NRC Time number. Why?

I hope you are all well.

From the "Not tagged but need attention" file:

Plinked from flying_squirrel

Four jobs I’ve had

1. Mensware Sales Representative, Jack Fraser
2. Dishwasher/Prep and Salad Cook/Bitch, Cafe Crepe de France
3. Proceedings and Verifications Officer, House of Commons
4. Customer Support Specialist, Tomoye Corporation

Four movies I can watch over and over

1. Run Lola Run
2. Noises Off
3. Death Becomes Her
4. Shaolin Soccer

Four places I’ve lived

1. Edmonton, Alberta
2. Ottawa, Ontario
3. Waterloo, Ontario
4. Cambita Garrabitos, Dominican Republic (for 6 weeks)

Four TV shows I love

Do Ottawa Senators hockey games count?

1. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
2. CBC's The Hour
3. Any one of them rennovation shows, Grey's Anatomy, whatever my fiancee is watching
4. Hell, I don't know. Jeopardy?

Four places I’ve vacationed

1. Kannanaskis Country, Alberta
2. Vancouver and B.C. Interior
3. Calgary and Banff, Alberta
4. Halifax, Nova Scotia

Four of my favorite dishes

1. Something
2. Different
3. Every Day
4. Fajitas

Four sites I visit daily

1. Gamespot
2. TSN.ca
3. Fark, sadly
4. Something Awful, even more sadly

Four places I would rather be right now

1. At home
2. Outside
3. In the company of my gal
4. In the company of my friends

Four bloggers I am tagging

1. annallama
2. stateofplay
3. rincredible
4. claporte

Date:	2005-11-15 13:37
Subject:	Sanity Break
Security:	Public
Mood:	optimistic

Another one of these monthly, if that, updates. Hope all is well with all of you.

Work is 110 miles an hour right now. I've been typing all morning and will continue with a sizable to do list this afternoon and tomorrow. Updating isn't a chore today, it is a break. I should like writing more ... sigh.

Work: I'm beginning to wonder if I am cut out for this. Mostly given our company's structure. So many things should be policy based but instead we just wing it. The sales guya and the CEO promise things we cannot deliver and the backlog is getting big. I'm being used more and more to relax the customers as oppose to actually solve their problems because some of them cannot be solved, and certainly not by me.

Today I've already gotten so much done, though, that I feel a little better. Fingers are crossed.

Anna: Got a migraine yesterday, poor thing. She is a very strong gal, iron will and a lot to handle. When she gets deflated, I feel it too. Us and life and work and some small family issues are niggling at us as well. This morning I had Dad's car so I drove her to work while listening to the Rent soundtrack. We sing to it together, it was nice for a workday morning.

School: Actually I am upbeat about my class. Apparently I expect more than the professor does, so as long as I am paying attention and learning, it's ok that I did my paper at the last moment and it contained very casual language. :P

Writing: I have NO chance at NaNoWriMo. I have imparted the "write everyday for a month and then try to stop" advice to a few friends who have agreed earnestly ... but I have yet to implement it myself.

Reading: Terry Pratchett's best 6 books are his last 6 books. THUD! is a magnificent yarn with a lot of left/right wing politics being satired. Lots of fun. Also, if you ever want to try some classic Canadian lit, read Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock. Written 1912, the humour still works today. Damn funny.

Band: Kingston Fog has 2 shows up and coming. December 2 and December 14, both at Maverick's. I quite like the bar and I love our new music ... now, can we fill the place? I hope we can.

CONTACT ME IF YOU WANT TO BUY A CD! Please!!!! I'd be ever so happy.

Video Games: Ha! No time. Ok a tiny bit - Shadow of the Colussus is fantastic, even though I've only played an hour or two. Buying Magna Carta this week - Korean RPG with fantastic art. Plenty to play, little time.

We should get our 32" TV back soon, hopefully this one won't have wonky red stripes on it (that is why we took the last one back). The tv is en lieu of some rent from our fine housemate, Blip. Very cool since it is a nice TV and the last one blew out.

Anime: See videogames. Although, watch Full Metal Panic, The Second Raid - if you have a chance. It is really fantastic. While you are at it, stop watching Naruto. It is now fully written, drawn and produced by a team of monkeys. And not the industrious hard working type chimps - these ones spend a lot of time flinging poo.

Alright - those online quizzes have my age at 30 and I got 10/10 in 8th grade math. I do not have the links at the moment.

This is now yoinked from flying_squirrel and I only have to change half the answers I think. The girl side, sadly, is the easy one. I'll stick to his plan of "one per show or film"

( 10 Favourite Anime/Manga Male And Female Characters, Since you are Dying to Know: )

Gimme me a call, let me know how you are. Take care of yourselves. All the best. I'm sure there is more but damn if I can remember.

Date:	2005-09-07 16:16
Subject:	Changing world, busy band and a meme
Security:	Public
Mood:	busy

1. Go here.
2. Pass it on.
( my answers )

Alright so an excuse. I am at work and have little time - but get this - since my work laptop is mine alone, I can keep myself logged in. I won't miss posts and I may even update regularly.

What to speak of - working very hard here but I like it. I have a new job as the Customer Support Specialist at Tomoye, a little software firm across the river from Ottawa. Steady income and hours are helpful although I'm nervous about fitting school and the band into 40+ hours per week.

The band is doing well - last practice was a little dead, we lost a speck of enthousiasm but we are all really busy. 2 marriages, a move, a job search, 3 new jobs, pressing the album, interview with the Ottawa Citizen upcoming and getting ready for the CD release can do that.

Beyond that, looking to make the most of the time I have away from work. I've been on the move a lot lately - less time to keep up with friends and stay grounded but more productivity. Anna just started 3 years of graphic design. Of course money is a concern, wedding is in 2 years, student loans and I have to worry about tuition while I worry about work.

If you can - come see us on October 1st at Zaphod's in Ottawa. It is our CD release, the first CD I have been involved in, and the show should be special. If not, perhaps I can interest you in a CD. Let me know. :)

Still, things are good. I hope we have more relaxing weekends upcoming. I hope claporte succeeds in his job hunt soon - rooting for him - and I hope I have chances to see everyone. Adulthood is slamming into about 50 people I know head on and I hope we come out the same, perhaps a bit wiser but not jaded, as when we rushed in.

I also especially hope I can put up more Judd Hirsch songs with starshiptrooper and company. Keep it real.

The world - well we've discussed oil, disaster and future political and military action through LJ before. All the big issues we brought up look a little bit closer now. In some form or another, big ugly change is on its way. As flying_squirrel showed me, we will adapt and systems have a tendency to balance themselves. The question is how bad things get before we change them and both the bad and a lot of the change are right on the horizon. Be positive, be flexible and hold on to each other.

Start getting ready to be used to those high gas prices - they might waver up and down but you know which way they head in the long run. I wish the best for the horrible situation down south, I know we all do. I hope we learn a little bit because we'll have lots on our hands in the next decade or two. I hope we figure it out with the minimum tragedy.

We have lived through such good times ourselves. I hope we realize this, make the most of it and I hope we are prepared when worse times come to bear. We can get through but being ready is a more and more important thing.

Live well. Take care. I always get silly/serious at the end of these LJ posts.

Love and rockets,
~Jon

Date:	2005-07-23 02:58
Subject:	Making sure a record of these balmy times exists
Security:	Public
Mood:	optimistic

I guess I can only run away from this for so long. I read livejournal about every 2 days or so and I post less often than I get haircuts.

I'll work at that. I really want to.

So ... not dead. Good start. Life keeps changing so I'll update a go here.

Parliament finished for the summer. Anna is already full-on teaching this summer and she's going to college in the fall. 3 more years but I'm happy for her. I think she'll take to graphic design and I think she'll be doing a lot more art as well. I was looking for jobs then for the summer as finances will be tight while we're both students and paying for this house.

I found one. I am very happy with it. I will be working for a company called Tomoye. A software company and I'll be doing Customer Service - an expression I fear but this is not call-centre stuff. I will know the clients by name and be their liason to the company. So, frighteningly it seems like nearly a career. I start Monday. I am worried and I will need to impress but hopefully it's time for that in my life.

We're entering our 4 weddings in 6 weeks period. One is tomorrow. I'm playing music at another - piano I need to learn. I'm in the wedding party at a third. The fourth I'm thinking I'll just wear shorts and a baseball cap to, to liven things up.

Kingston Fog seems to be doing well. We had some nice little shows this summer - working on a steady fanbase which is far and above the hardest thing to do. We have a chance to make an impact in September when we play at Barrymore's - Ottawa's big bar venue - opening for a popular upcoming band. October we release our CD, currently sitting here begging for bass tracks and volume adjustments. November I'll be doing coke lines of a prominent US Senator's daughter's stomach. By december I plan to be on my "You thought we'd never get back together because we hate each other but here we are, the money is enough for us to love again" tour and I'll play duets with Elton John and Keith Richards.

Sounds like a plan?

I finished my summer class. I'm taking care of education one class at a time. B+ in both so far which I'm happ with. I'm not obsessed but I don't slack off either, just making my way through this degree. Is this the right degree this time? I have no idea. But I'm happy and I'll finish this one.

I edged over 200 pounds about a month ago - didn't look much different, a bit rounder, but that's really heavy at 5'6" (5'7" if you ask me but Anna tells me I'm even shorter) Now I'm in the 180s but I didn't exercise this week. Gotta get on that truck.

Things are as good as they can be, given a few little concerns.
Still have an anime and videogame backlog ~ won't have time to do that, write and work 40 hours a week, but I will try. Time to start drinking coffee. I have little doubt that statement is honest truth, or will be soon.

My birthfather's wife, Joan, made her way through her second brain tumour in 20 years. I'm glad she's doing ok and they are relaxing. They both work too hard and stress too much.

Oh goodness - could I have forgotten to mention: I am engaged. To be married. In 2007. To a girl called Anna who, if you have visited me in the past 3 years, you should know. I sometimes make up sickeningly cute names for her so I may have accidentally introduced her as snugglewidget. If so, I apologize, it is not her name.

So things are good. We keep on truckin. I am surrounded by fine people, good times and a healthy degree of love. As I have said before, and I hope it does not fall on deaf ears, I extend a similar love to any and all who I know and who read this. If you are a stranger, I extend perhaps not love but a friendly handshake.

Cheers love and rockets,
~Jon

Date:	2005-03-18 01:15
Subject:	Some pretty good stuff.
Security:	Public
Mood:	amused

Seven degrees of lj-separation meme

Go to your 'friends' page. Click on the name of the seventh person who posted. Go to his or her 'friends' page. Click on the name of the seventh person who posted. Repeat until you are seven LJs from your own. If you come across someone who doesn't have seven entries on their friends page, pick the last one. If the seventh entry is a journal you have already visited on this trip, or a community, skip down to the next one and continue).

1. [info]riizu
2. [info]spacesquid
3. [info]thehair
4. [info]llothe
5. [info]poetjen
6. [info]all3n
7. [info]katirocks

1. What is the title of this journal?
Kati's Journal

2. How many communities does this person belong to?
6, I personally approve of show_w_the_door

3. List any interests you share in common with this user.
Alright, to be honest ... acting, amélie, bands, being happy, cats, foreign films, harry potter, ice cream, laughing, movies, music, peace, silliness, singing in the car, sleeping, sunshine, white chocolate, you

4. List any friends you have in common with this user.
Not a one.

5. Where does this user live?
Houston, Texas. Yeah right, no court in the world would ever convict a baby! Maybe Texas.

6. What is the seventh sentence in this user's most recent journal entry?
"a bit like a large green dementor." (I AM NOT even kidding. Hell that owns. Or pwns. Or something. I love hearing Luc (Anna's brother) pronounce the p in pwns. Ha! It owns.)

7. What is the first sentence in this user's seventh most recent journal entry?
"so." (ONCE AGAIN not kidding. That rules.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright I don't do those too often but I'm starving for comedy. I'd love to write funny posts but I gots me no subject material. This can be filler. Although if you want a funny post give me a subject. I'll exercise creative writing muscles. Do it! Do it or I shave the turtle. See how desperate I am for comedy. That's what we call a double entendre there people.

I wanted to share something else with you. Actually two things: If any of you watch a show as base and silly as MXC (That is Most eXtreme elimination Challenge), you may enjoy the dubious wordplay of the voice actors, who I love, and the creative way the writers make the show funnier. There is an event where folks have to run up a slippery slope (sic) and paint something. They used to show a picture the contestant was "supposed" to follow (inserted by the american writers of course) but now that have a description. Here were the descriptions of what the contestants had to paint. Dialog is included on the first one (just because) and on the last one, who successfully completed his drawing.

1. Norman Rockwell's Boy and Father in the Kitchen "Did you have trouble remembering the Rockwell piece?" "I dun don't know French Impressionists too well." "I'm sorry to hear that"
2. 1/4 size replica of the Sistine Chapel
3. Accurate Map of 12th Century Eastern Europe
4. Electrical Diagram of all systems on B-52 bomber
5. Catbird on a stick "That's impossible, he'll never be able to ... oh OH OH OHHHH! AMAZING!"

The guy of course trips, the brush makes two strokes, one a vaguely animal shape with tail feathers and pointed ears and the other a simple diagonal line. You can see that joke coming 3 minutes before it hits but I laughed for 2 more after it was over. Anna was worried about me. I kept mumbling "catbird on a stick". Crap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And the second thing - this may be copyrighted ... it was written by someone on Fark. Don't tell them. Just know I enjoyed it a lot. Here it is, lordy.

"I'm so tough I used to have 5 dogs, now I have 4. I fed my dogs their pal.

I'm so tough my doormat doesn't say WELCOME it says F*CK OFF.

I'm so tough when I'm at a bar and two girls walk in I say, I'll take the fat one. You take the really fat one.

I'm so tough if my boomerang isn't back here by 8 o'clock, that's it I'm leaving."

I don't even know what that meant. Pure gold.

Date:	2005-03-16 03:26
Subject:	365 Degrees, Burning Down the House (No worries, the house is fine)
Security:	Public
Mood:	awake

I said a long time ago I'd go for small, interesting updates. I'll be consistent and keep my friends in the loop of any significant goings on.

It's clear to me now, I'm a pathological liar.

Seriously though, I've been busy with my NSA contract work.

No no, actually seriously. I have plenty to chat about but no feel for the swing of things. I'm almost too far removed from this journal thingy.

A quick update:
- I have little to say about anime, I've hardly watched any. Just a time thing.
- I have found a bit of time for the occasional videogame. I will trumpet amusing misadventures at a later date. I'm sure none of you can wait for titillating sentences such as "I totally shot his face with the shotgun 3 times after I did some flips." Regardless, my girlfriend, the effervescent annallama, is far better at Devil May Cry than me or any of my peers. She spins those 3 stick nunchackus like she received some formal lessons. Me more like someone doing his best not to knock himself out. Them thangs be dangerous. On other notes, Gran Turismo begs the question "Why is there not for focused cheating in professional car racing?" It also begs other questions like "If I have trouble parallel parking, is it reasonable for me to drive a MacLaren around Nurembourg?" and "They expect me to know what wheel camber does? Fuck that." Which of course isn't actually a question, save a rhetorical one. By the way, I'm not talking about videogames.
- Anna, myself, Jamie and his darling dear went to see the Cannes Advertisement festival at the Bytowne. Heavens that was a jolly time. Jamie scored free tickets as he won the contest which provided the advertisement for the festival in Ottawa. (He's in advertising) Anna drew the art for him. It appeared in 2 of the city papers and all around the theatre. Very cool.
- Kingston Fog is #1 on community radio in Kamloops. BAM!
- We're still working at things, now starting to look for shows, polish our songs and make some marketing decisions. Also the notion (I shouldn't be writing this) of considering possible guitarist/bassists has come up ... which I'm hesitant about as I love our sound ... but you never know. Friends, look for Urgency soon on zunior. It has a meat cleaver (dubbed June Cleaver by me - props to followers) as a logo and should be around soon. Urgency, of course, is our album.
- Class has gone well. My professor often seems to forget where he is but we're getting by. I'm happy to be back in classes.
- 6 couples I know are getting married this summer. 2 in may, 4 in august. List keeps getting bigger. crazy stuff.
- I am poor but I'm doing my best to pretend otherwise. Anna and I both have fingers crossed for travel committees to make a bit more cash and see the world. Also looking forward to a visit from my movie set building birthfather this spring summer. There is another beautiful spring event involving friends who may be reading this RIGHT NOW AS YOU ARE READING THIS. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE THEM. I think they've brought it up so I'll be so bold to at least say our fingers are crossed for some darling roommates.
- Lots of cross visits to and from TO/Waterloo and Ottawa in the future, right everyone.
- I have more lateral thinking problems ... and I really want to do some .... in fact, I've failed at impressing zaldan at every turn, I want another go. On that note, Zaldan! I never did finish the one about the clocks on Eric's website.
- I have a new email. I'll send that out but email me if you'd like it sooner or if I miss you.
- I want to be funny but it's late. Things are going well. Strains on finances but that's the way she blows. I'm doing well and happy 'bout it.

Hope everyone is peachy. All the best.
~Lutze

Oh yeah. Eat it!
Whuzzah? Ok that dance thingy you guys all did a week ago. It gives different dances it would seem. I had an azumanga Yukari tantrum dance I wanted to show. Ah well, try lutze, jon, teppic and jonathan if you want to see some people didn't post.
Sorry one last last thing, for those silly little dances, the name blip wins hands down. Then again, the name blip usually wins. [liz is a close second]

Date:	2005-01-11 01:08
Subject:	Bushi Bushi Su
Security:	Public
Mood:	hopeful

Date:	2004-12-08 17:29
Subject:	Big brewin's
Security:	Public
Mood:	busy

I am, once again, a University Student!!! Yay!

Rowan_Redfern - THANK YOU. Your song will be available once I figure out how I can record it and whether or not it gets lyrics. Thanks so much!

Oddly I'm a 2nd year student. I already have 16 courses under my belt.
The odd thing is they accepted all my courses from Waterloo. This means I get to keep those credits but: 1. My average starts out VERY low. and 2. I have to take almost all core-courses for my english degree. No electives for me, I "wasted" them all on thermodynamics and equilibrium systems.

Still though I am very happy.

Work has been plentiful for both Anna and myself. She has run herself near-ragged but the end is in sight. 2 jobs (Parliament and Black's Photography), 5 classes and lots of major photography and painting projects. I'm doing my best to juggle lots of late hours at work, taking care of the house and chores and playing with Kingston Fog. The house is now in a constant state of behind on chores but at least not so much as to be unlivable. We are at a good place for Christmas shopping, being around half done, perhaps more. I`ve heard rumour that we might not sit in the house next week which is a big hit on the budget but what can you do. Money has been good but the threat of no work in January looms. I will be tapping resources or dropping of resumes soon. I wish there was more time for that. It`s nice to do well at parliament ... I just wish I could avoid getting used to good cash flow.

On that note, I bought congas. Yay! And I'm coming to Waterloo to visit. Who will be around the 20th of Dec or so?

Hmm what else was there?
Zaldan - Thanks for Lost! We're hooked! Anna and I have a weird TV interest but it's awesome that we love the same stuff. We watch very nearly nothing on TV, we're rarely home at the right time. Instead it's downloads of Lost, Bullshit, Desperate Housewives, Dead Like Me, the Amazing Race and the occasional Extreme Home Makeover whazzacallit. The one where they spend about $1000000 to make a new home for needy families. Makes you feel good.

I'll blab about anime once I finally catch up on the many shows on my system.

Umm same thing for games. Metal Gear Solid 3 - The story is fantastic. Mixed in is a whole lot of Cold War history. Check it out.
Prince of Persia 2 - He's very angry this time.

Rowan Redfern - SOMEDAY I will watch Full Moon Wo Sagashite. Right now I have no idea when. I will also write. Lots of ideas, some in the Palm I got a while back on the cheap. Helps me sort thoughts and responsibilities. Can I visit when I visit? Looking forward to seeing you and handing over both FMP 5 and 6 as well as the Kingston Fog CD.

Much has happened but is it interesting. We bought a friend's dryer because ours died. It's in the garage until I figure out what to do with it. Kingston Fog had a nice show 2 weeks back. We have another in January ... likely nothing in Dec. outside of open mic nights. We should be recording end of Jan or a bit after that. I'll let folks know.

Lots of friends getting married. Lots of plans. Lots in my head but little to say.
Please visit us in January! You know who you are. If you don't, you're invited as well.

Finally please search for Perry Bible Fellowship. I think Flying_Squirrel or Zaldan posted a comic from there before but the collection is twisted, dark and fantastically funny. "There are no survivors Mary. Especially not over there." So very wrong.

Finally to all your computer folks, anyone catch wind of Microsoft demo-ing new tools for (I believe) searching the internet and having the screenshot appear to show them using Firefox? It was probably doctored but still the idea is both plausible and funny. Search for it to find more. I'm sorry I don't have the link.

I wish I had time to organize thoughts. Lots going on. All my best wishes to all of you these holidays. Keep in touch if you can.

Love and rockets.

Date:	2004-11-17 19:13
Subject:	Nuttin big
Security:	Public
Mood:	artistic

Hello hello.

I posted about a week ago but LJ screwed up times and it may not have shown up for anyone.

Might be just as well, last week felt very rough mentally. Post US election headache, politicing and problems with hours at work. A dryer that broke down and a phone that stopped working for a little while.

Things are smoothing out, although my mind is still rapt with misplaced yet desired thinking about the same kind of broad vision I carried in high school.

I don't have the words though, so we'll stick to at home stuff.

Kingston Fog has now played 2 shows as a guitar-violin-keyboard band, we've got an open mic tonight and we're playing an hour long set at Molly McGuire's in the Glebe next Friday. Looking forward to it. Out last show was in front of about 12 people, 5 of them my friends, at Babylon's as the 4th act of the evening. We played at 12:30am. The headliners, for some reason, played 2nd. They were David and Michaud and they were CRAZY. Batshit f&^%ing crazy. They smashed eggs on their faces and painted each other onstage. Real performance art stuff. Whoo boy, I'm glad we didn't have to play right after them.

Please everyone if you have some time, head to kingstonfog.com to listen to some songs (without me but still good ones :P) and get the occasional update. I won't be on a recording until January likely, but you can see what kind of sound we have.

I have officially applied to english at Ottawa U. I will know by Dec 1st or 2nd whether or not they can see past my Waterloo transcript to let me in.

In the domain of anime: I don't have a lot of time to watch ... but to Rowan_Refern and anyone else who enjoyed the hilarious FMP Fumoffu series (perhaps Flying_Squirrel among others), they are making a 3rd Full Metal Panic series. Yeehaw.

I am in the final part of a competition for a full time job. I should hear results before the end of the week. There are 6 people still competing and 2 spots available. Fingers crossed but I also had some misgivings about the process. I am, regardless of whether I get the job or not, going to be the person who steps up and puts our concerns to management. Heaven knows we've needed to do it for a while.

I know there is much, much more to talk about but it is escaping me and I must depart for the show. Perhaps I'll mention more anime, music and video games etc... in another post soon. I wouldn't mind extolling some gobbeldy gook on politics. Lots to talk about.

Again, as I have said before, I read all of your posts all the time. I just don't get around to write nearly often enough. Know that your joys and sorrows don't go unnoticed. I guess we have a pretty cool network already that read and post to eachother all the time ... I guess I just wanted to say even if there are no comments to something you posted, chances are I read it with interest.

All the best,
Jon

Date:	2004-11-03 18:14
Subject:	Raw Thought as strong as I've felt in a long time
Security:	Public
Mood:	indescribable

There are things that boil me down to my base nature. Events that make me pause from everything - sometimes just for a moment, other times for a while - and lament things top to bottom. Most of the time I, like most people (I believe) give interested thought to where my life, my friends lives and society are going at large ... all the while busying myself with the background static - that is to say daily life.

I've had a few of those, meaningful or not.
I also have a healthy dose of regular life getting in the way but I have done my best to ignore it.

Kevin, Nora and Lynn Kirkpatrick's father has passed away. I am saddened by their loss and also by the difficulty they have and continue going through losing someone who was no longer close to their family. I hope they can work through this.

Going to the wake gave me pause to reflect on losing my mum. I don't think about her enough. Life "got in the way" which means I let life get in the way. I will think about her more.

Another, strangely, is the American election. Considering the future of both the US and the world breaks a big shell of optimism I carry around me.

DETOUR - I have so much to talk about - the world, politics, my job, my music, Anna's work and art, the election and a great many other things but my thoughts are a whirlwind and I have no time. I will try to post late tonight.

Let me just say this, in nice big all caps:
I AM TIRED OF BEING LIED TO. About a great many things. I am fortunate I have wonderful friends who do not. Thank you.

I AM TIRED OF EVERYONE BEING LIED TO.

I AM TIRED OF EVERYONE BEING MANIPULATED.

I AM TIRED OF EVIL. THERE IS FAR TOO MUCH OF IT.

and finally
I AM DOING MY BEST TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO HELP STOP THAT SHIT. but. I AM SCARED I MAY NOT HAVE ANY WAY TO DO THAT.

Sounds silly. But I will try. Here at work, in what I write and in what I say. I want to break down and cry at how wonderful things - everything could be and is not. It hurts so much. The world is not fair, not nice and often violent, disgusting, horrible, bigoted and evil. It is not the nature of a concept like "the world" it is the nature of some people. Some people can fuck an awful lot of shit up. Some people are monsters. If I can find them I want to fight them.

Systems resolve themselves eventually. Repressed systems, corrupt systems, unsustainable or unfair systems. Darcy has talked about that before and got me thinking about a lot of systems and when or how they fell/will fall. Sometimes culture has to shift. I am thinking about that a lot.

ON ANOTHER, WONDERFUL NOTE THAT I HAVE UNFAIRLY LEFT TO THE LATTER PART OF THE POST:

Annallama's birthday was yesterday.

I love her more now than ever before. I have a responsibility to show her that and I am going to try harder. Hold on though - when that shell broke it gave me pause to think about our relationship. So I can step back and say with conviction:

I LOVE HER MORE THAN EVER BEFORE. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Just thought you all should know that. I hope she does. :)

Happy Birthday Anna! I love you, I wish the best for you and I hope we have a great time tonight. I am sorry it is so busy around your birthday but good times are a comin'.

Believe it. Take care and see you soon.

Everyone reading this who knows me - I know for certain I care a great deal about each of you. My best wishes go out to all of you in whatever you are each doing right now. Through good and bad may you find things to love and be happy about.

May all of your lives be adventures.
~Jon

Date:	2004-11-01 00:57
Subject:	The crazy bubble has popped
Security:	Public
Mood:	crazy

Lists:

My work schedule starting 2 days ago:
Sunday 4pm - 11pm Home at 12am
Monday 7:45am - 7:15pm
Tuesday 8:00am - 8:00pm
Wednesday 7:45am - 8:15pm But I feel ok and I'm producing funds. Can't complain.

Anime (whoo boy - max 10 words for each this time):
NOTE: This is often after only 1 or 2 eps. I am also not done watching these. I will keep the list for future posts and fill in what I watch later on.

Mai Hime - Many girls, great FX. Giant swords, superpowers, intriguing and sharp.
Gunbuster 2 - Fanservice, odd costumes, incredible FLCL animation. Tres chic OAV.
BECK - WATCH THIS NOW. Rockn'Roll. Broken/profane english. Dog made o'scraps.
School Rumble - Funny. Azumanga Daio sped up. Cute. Initial D cameo!

Is D a word? Is it just an Initial?

Kannaduki (Kannazuki?) no Miko - Great art, interesting story (not positive) Giant robots and lesbians!
Sunabozu - Humour in the desert wasteland. Odd but much potential.
Windy Tales - Different look. Gentle and moody. Very cool.
Ichigeki Sacchuu! Hoi-Hoi San - 10 minutes long. Get it! Hahaha! Bugs!
Re: Cutie Honey - I should not be allowed to watch this. Watch it.
Uta-Kata - Kiddy Grade designer does cutsey suggestive drama. Ho-hum pretty.
Tsukiyomi - Have not watched.
Yakitate! Japan - Have not watched
Gankutsou - Have not watched.
Grenadier - Have not, OH MY GOD her breasts are enormous.
Genshiken - Not available yet.

You better have been watching Samurai Champloo.

Events:
Halloween Party - Halloween, 6pm, Our House, Costume Requested. Fun and relaxing. Suggestions welcome.
Addess: 1162 D'Erable Place, Ottawa, ON. K1C 5L6 - North of queensway, right across from Place D'Orleans.

My first actual, real, in front of an audience performance with Kingston Fog - my good friend Rick's fine band - Wednesday, October 27 @ Zaphod's Bar in the Market (As everyone says - next to Barefax) starting at 9pm until about 9:45pm.

Hopes:
People enjoy Halloween and have a good fall. The season, that is.
Joy and luck to friends.
I find work post Christmas until Feb.
We can get some more house fixy-uppy done and find another roommate.
Democratic election - minor semblance of sense returns to the world.
I get some writing done. This doesn't count.

Dreams:
The flying one.
The hero one.
The odd one.
The sex one.

Names I gave my toes, just now:
Earl
Slim Pickings
Gorgeous
Freida
Johann Kepler
Jimmy 'The kneecap' Balducci
To Be Determined
The Lying Toe
Holy Heaven I am so freaking tired
Skullfucker (Old habits die hard)

I have just renamed Earl to now be called Old Habits. Take that you cantankerous old bastard!

Help me! Send Ovaltine.
Zzzzzzz - Jon

Date:	2004-10-12 13:56
Subject:	Feel like an Old Man
Security:	Public
Mood:	numb

I am a wee bit of a cripple. I got back to jogging this past weekend, it felt great but I threw out the knee a little. Next I (sadly) hurt my elbow ... wait for it ... getting out of bed. On Monday I played squash with Anna`s brother and father and I really, really hurt both knee and elbow. I think I hyperextended both tendons. Good gosh it hurts to straighten out my arm. I`m hobbling everywhere.

Anna and I have felt a shirt. I have gone from unemployed in August to working 7 days next week and the week after. There is some satisfaction in work but also a disparate feeling of distance as we see less of each other, less of our friends and as we put our energy into work, school and the house.

I guess that sens of business is aided by the fact that I have, heaven help me, joined a band. I will be playing keyboard (and perhaps some other instruments). I will not explain more until we have our first show, in case things don`t work out. That first show is late this month. If you are in Ottawa and wish to attend, email me at jon_joynt@hotmail.com

Still trying to watch plenty of anime. Way too many shows this fall season. A question: Does anyone read my comments on anime? Should I keep doing that? If it helps, I will in the next post, otherwise we'll keep things mum.

Nellabella, if you read this still, know that I have purchased the first of Pullman's His Dark Materials series.

Rin, Riizu, Claporte and others - I purchased Going Postal, the latest Discworld novel. I can lend it around when I head down to Waterloo and environs (hopefully in November or I can send it back with whoever visits - hopefully all 3 of you by the time Christmas rolls around.) I haven't bought the Fforde book but I likely will. Gotta read the final 3 HUGE novels Kind churned out in the Gunslinger series

So that's it. Working hard but getting better for finances. Trying to write but broken. Exercising but injuring myself. Watching what I can, practicing magic and music when I can, spending time with a wonderful Annallama in the small spaces in between.

Hope people and things are good. Keep in touch.