hilarious pudding

Yesterday, Josh Hall posted one heck-of-a-funny blog about the intricacies of the pudding cup over at joshuadhall. I believe we could all echo his sentiment. It's really worth the read! Bill & Ted would be PROUD.

movement

I'm now going to reveal the reason why I've been keeping things so "mum" around here lately. These past two weeks have been extraordinarily busy. I've been to both Tucson and Milwaukee for job interviews. Each city was very nice and had a smattering of clever, witty and intelligent folks to pal around with. It was a pleasure to visit both. I've since been anxiously awaiting formal offers from the companies in both cities. Arizona was the first to get back to me on Tuesday (and was also my TOP choice). First, they came with a mediocre offer that I would have had to think long and hard about. It was fair, yes, but not exactly what I was looking for. So I told the nice folks out west that I'd need a day or two to think about things and I'd get back to them. No more than five or ten minutes later, my phone rings again. They had prepared a new offer, one more in line with my requirements. It still wasn't exactly what I had wanted so I told them I'd be willing to negotiate, using this offer as the starting point. As Wednesday gave way to Thursday, we bartered back and forth (mostly about the relocation package) and eventually settled on a very acceptable package that would place both Reese and I in Arizona at no cost to her or myself. I formally accepted the revised offer yesterday and put in my two-weeks-notice here at Consol.

Now, I've got even more work ahead of me. I've got to find a way to get completely moved to Tucson by the 22nd of July. Couple that with an upcoming wedding and honeymoon and I've now stepped right into "crunch time". I need three quotes from different moving companies. I need several hundred cardboard boxes or plastic totes. I need precious time to pack all of this stuff.

The bottom line? Reese and I will be gone for good as of July 22. We're certainly going to miss this area, especially all of the friends who've stuck by us so closely for the past few years. I know that we'll all remain close, though. (That's what friends do.)

No doubt that Tucson will be a life-changing adventure; one that I am wholeheartedly looking forward to.

a ton of pics?

I just realized I have quite a few photographs that I really need to upload SOMEWHERE.

A month or so back, Rollo (the ever-giving) gifted me with a Flickr Pro account. I feel like I'm disrespecting him by not using it. The man spent his hard-earned rubles on it, so I should be man enough to use it. I think I'll go on a picture taking binge tonight before/after I go running.

I don't use the facebook photo albums much as I should. Most of my stuff is already on flickr and I get really lazy when I have to upload everything multiple times. I hardly use myspace for anything anymore, so I never, ever get the itch to upload anything there. Maybe I'll do the facebook / flickr combo. That sounds mainstream.

Oh! Also inspired by Rollo, I posted a link to my old, old, very old webshots album! Circa 2002-04! Peep some nostalgia.

myspace blogs

I've got a million and one things to blog about but can't for reasons I won't mention just yet, I must withhold them.

What I will talk about is what's stuck in my craw. Myspace blogs. For the love of Christ, with the exception of Ted's, all I ever see in these things are how bad of a breakup last week's love interest was. Or how somebody is "has their eye on somebody special but just doesn't have the cahones to tell them straight up: I LIKE YOU". My goodness, myspace has turned into the love-notes of the information age. Whatever happened to just doing something nice for whoever you're interested in? Ever consider telling her she's got nice hair? Or maybe that you like his cologne? How bout the old stand-by --- You look very nice today.

Nope.

We'll blog until we're blue in the balls about how much you need somebody, only to turn back to your Dashboard Confessional playlist, which is undeniably set to REPEAT ALL. At least Ted keeps it interesting. I believe he once blogged about eating the heart of a pickup truck.  Now THATS an entry!

Ladies & Gentlemen: We all have facets of our lives that are bigger than others at any given time. Diversify a bit! Love isn't the only thing that's bloggable! These blogs about how you can't get over an ex, or how you're so out of control that you can't fall in love are not only one-sided, they're downright sickening.

I know, I know - if I don't like these blogs, why do I read them? Hell, good question! I definitely steer clear of the posts that are share titles with various emo bands' songs. Its when they mix up the titles to indicate they may have had a change of feeling, had a good day at work, or found a friggin' nickel am I drawn into the abyss. Think they'll blog about that nickel?

Nope, again.

Every single blog is same. Can't wait for the next one!

a cold new world

Got my A/C fixed! Yesterday I returned home to an uncle and an A/C man in my driveway, wrapping up their work. You know what that means? All windows shall remain closed for the foreseeable future. Thus, I won't have to deal with the feathered version of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band ruining my morning!

So, to rejoice, I wake up an extra minute early this morning JUST so I can go upstairs and read every single article in the newspaper. I open it up, stretch a bit and peer deep into the text of Sunday's paper. Looks like mom accidentally threw away Tuesday's edition! (Thanks, mum!) So, I ask you this: Who out there does not want me to enjoy an editorial with my breakfast meal? And since when did the Sunday paper begin excluding the funnies?!?

what is this? amateur hour?

I guess that blue jay from the blog entry directly below this one somehow got wind of my frustrations because early this morning, he's outside boppin' around with another, LOUDER mystery bird. Birdwatch is now at DEFCON 3.

Seriously, I have no beef with birds. I've had the pleasure of growing up around them. I have a best friend who is obsessed with them and I've even worked with them. Most of the time, they're damn nifty to be around. The thing is though, I don't work with them anymore and I will never (NEVER!) wake up next to my bird-loving best friend. So, as I see it birds shouldn't play such a huge role in my morning.

To break the situation down, this bird is more of a singer than the wren or blue jay. That's nice and all, but it seems like all of these fellas have adopted the typical karaoke train of thought: "If I can't sing well, might as well sing loud." The damnedest thing is, I can't get a bead on this bird to try and identify it. (Gotta know the enemy) I saw it boppin' around with that blue jay for just a moment when it flapped off hastily. (morning grogginess conflicts directly with bird identification) Oh it came back alright, but it was nowhere to be seen. And brother, when it came back it sure let me know it was somewhere on the porch. (my best guess is that he's a rafter-sitter...) "CHIRP-A-REE-CHIRP" over and over and over again. This dude is louder than the blue jay (who has occasionally given it a rest from time to time) but I don't see any reason to play favorites here. They each have their own shortcomings.  And the final verdict always is; by their power combined, I'll never read my paper!

(Chuck, when & if you read this - 10 points if you can identify the bird.)

that bird

Nothing is more annoying to me in the morning than the banter of a certain bird that insists on tweeting right outside my kitchen window.

Imagine this: You've just heard the balloon pop that ends your peaceful night of sleep and you begin yourc rawl out of bed towards your laptop alarm. You reach over, tap the trackpad twice to shut off the same song thats been waking you up to for the past year or so. You begin to stand up, shrugging off the fact that you've slept on your right arm for practically the entire night and begin the trek upstairs to get some bachelor breakfast. As you head upstairs a familiar and haunting sound grows louder. "That bird.." you grumble as you approach the top of the stairs. "HAYYYYYYYYYYY" says he. Again. And again. You look out the kitchen window as you slide some bread into the toaster. You think, "There he is, sitting on the patio fence." You know his plan. You've watched him before. Same pattern, day-in, day-out. You watch as he bops along the fence, occasionally needing a brief flight to reach his ultimate destination - the cat food. Today was no different, he chirped, bopped and ate cat food. The status-quo of the morning.

You'll excuse my surprise when I went back for my second round of toast. As I approached my breakfast corner, there was that bird perched on the ledge right outside my window. "Whoa, that's a whopper!", I thought. I guess birds around here eat well. "HAYYYYYYYYYYYY", he said again with great monotony. I shooshed him away with a quick "WHAT!", but he was back before too long - grabbing up what little cat or dog food he could before the cats could close in and make him too uncomfortable. This is how I start every morning during the spring/summer.

Just TRY to read a newspaper with a big whopper of a blue jay AND a loudmouth wren attempt their best impression of "The View" just outside my kitchen window. It ain't gonna happen.

the new and old

I've had so much going on this past month, I can't possibly document it all here. I'm sure that even if I did document it here somebody would take issue with it, so I will generalize:

(The New)
First and foremost, buying a house has become less and less a priority for Reese and I. I've recently got three prospectives (yes, let's call them prospectives) from a variety of places around the lower 48. When one finally comes through for me, then we'll begin the search for a house all over again. Until then, I'm focused on the wedding and all associated expenses.

(The Old)
Chuck and I have started playing Diablo II again. This is our third stint with the game (once in high school, once early on in college, present). My all time favorite role playing / hack-and-slash game, I was ecstatic when he suggested getting back into it. World of Warcraft was a TON of fun to play, don't get me wrong, but I find it abyss-like in that the scope of the game is so massive it seems like it swallows you up. I love how expansive the game is, but its too huge for me anymore. I only have a window of three hours a night (maximum) where I can relax and just game, and three hours isn't enough to do much of anything in WoW. Not to mention the $15 per month fee that's required to play it (Diablo II is free to play online). So, we're gettin' the team back together! Rollo's joining us too this time, too! If this game is nothing more, its nostalgic and damnit, I had some damn good times playing Diablo. My passion for playing this game will never die.

Reese has an interview later in the week with a childcare establishment in Canonsburg. That's AWESOME. I know she'll knock the interview outa the park and return home with good news. I'm DAMN excited for her. She was born to mother children, and since this is as close as she's getting to that Mesopotamia - I know she'll thrive.

I'm an excitable boy, apparently.