Something To Scare The Neighbors

When carving pumpkins each year I try to theme at least one with the costume I'm going to wear. I remembered a T-Shirt design Christy was looking at and I absolutely had to go with it.

The question now is, do I put it out for my parents and neighbors to see?

Post Prompted by Pumpkin Ale

My attention is drawn multiple directions tonight and I thought I'd just make a catch-all post. I'm also attempting to avoid using the same label twice on my posts, thus rendering them completely useless. Suck that, establishment!

As I was browsing the previously mentioned game news site, Evil Avatar, I came across a post about a Fantasy Congress game someone had started. I'm so far removed from your typical sports-watching male that I've never participated in a fantasy football or baseball league, nor ever had the interest, but this sounded damn interesting. You sign congressmen and senators to your "team" and follow their proposed bills, gaining points if they pass various stages on the way to becoming law.

So I started a FLAK First Ward league, password flak. Please come join me if you have the inclination. I have no clue how to play but I'll try to help in whatever capacity I can.

While I'm on the subject of politics, how about that Pete Ashdown guy? He's got a campaign wiki where he asks for contributions from his supporters, or anyone really. He keeps tabs with his volunteers through his site and mailing lists, a blog, and pretty much any other web resource you can think of.

He's almost as far opposite as you can get from Orin-troglodyte-Hatch. He seems like he'd actually give a shit what people living in his representative state think and hear them out, rather than looking for the biggest handout. Which reminds me instead of a fundraiser dinner where Hatch pulled in $500k for his own campaign, Pete had a charity dinner that raised just over $8.000.

Christ we need more statesmen like Pete.

Brandon's Porn 'Stache

I'm not sure if my costume was supposed to be a secret but it isn't now.

I just need the western-style tie and I'm all set, save one question. Do I or don't I?

Do I shave a gap in my mustache and go for the authentic Brandon-as-cowboy look? Is it a bad look for anyone to try and pull off? Is there room for one more son?

I wouldn't be shaving the rest of the goatee, just the middle of the mustache.

Please comment and cast your vote. Gap or no.

Now With 10% More Art!

So I had intended to include art somewhere on this blog and three posts in it's been nothing but a tease.

I was unhappy with the sketch I was using for my profile picture so here's the beginnings of the new one. It looks a little scrunched so I may have to play with the shape of the face but I already like it more than what I was using.

The plan is to post the image in progress as I get it cleaned up and colored.

You Don't Know Me

At my previous job I worked for a small company and there was no dedicated janitorial staff. Throughout the 8 years I worked there different people who worked in other capacities would take the side-job and side-pay to come in early and vacuum and empty garbages.

For my last few years there an older woman took up the job. She generally got there before I did even though she lived in Farmington and we'd sit and talk for a few minutes most mornings and I got to hear about her adult children and about her having to take care of her elderly mother-in-law.

The most anyone else saw of her in my department were the e-mails she'd send out asking if they could do this or that to make the janitorial part of her job a little easier and less of a pain in the ass. They'd complain and make fun of what she wrote and it would piss me off but I never said anything.

She's one of the people I miss most from my last job.

At my new job the team I work with is made up completely of men, save one woman. After being there a week I came to discover that, at best, some of the guys ignored or tolerated her and, at worst, made mean comments out of earshot.

I hadn't really paid attention to her much early on as I was trying to tread water and keep afloat. But yesterday after most of the guys I generally ask for help had left I decided to ask her. She was friendly, knowledgable, and extremely helpful.

Today I made it a point to go to her on more than one occasion even when the regulars were there and available. She's since stopped by my desk a couple times to make sure I knew about this or that bit of information I might need in the future.

She's probably not attractive by some people's ideals but she's certainly not socially backwards. You can tell she's aware of her appearance and dress and makes an attempt to look nice. I guess your opinion on whether she succeeds depends on your opinion of her.

My observation in all of this is that I'm disappointed that many people bypass the worth in others based solely on their appearance or age. There's so much more to people if you only give them a chance.

My First Tag

If I don't heed the tag do I get 7 years bad luck or will my car insurance double or something?

3 smells that I love:
· Christy - She ask me what she smells like and I don't know what it is, she just smells good.
· Sage - Christy's sister had a bunch (bushel?) of this burning at her wedding and it smelled wonderful.
·Fresh garlic.

3 smells that I hate:
· The Great Salt Lake
· Burning hair - Just typing that made me shudder.
· Geek stink - I've been lucky in the geeks I get to associate with on a regular basis, they all enjoy the benefits of regular hygiene. I've smelled the alternative.

3 jobs that I have had in my life:
· Sweeper for an elementary school.
· Tech Support for library software.
· Help Desk for a large medical network.

3 movies that I could watch over and over:
· Dumb and Dumber - It's like the temple movie, I get something new out of it every time. (Ok so maybe it's NOT like the temple movie)
· Real Genius - In the immortal words of Socrates, "I drank what?"
· Love Actually - My eyes always well up at the end when the kid is running through the airport to say goodbye to the girl he likes as his step-dad cheers him on.

3 fond memories:
· Family reunions in a lodge in Park City.
· My 19th birthday.
· The moment I realized I could entertain any idea without having to constrain it within a narrow prescribed worldview. Remembering that switch in worldview still gets me going.

3 jobs I would love to have:
· Indie Game Developer - I would like to eventually learn enough programming to mess around with my own little games and possibly even sell them.
· An artist in some capacity drawing comics, or designing icons, logos or interfaces.
· Quality Control for Victoria's Secret.

3 places I have lived:
· Utah
· Utah
· Utah

3 things I like to do:
· I like to play games in any shape, format, or level of dependence on electricity.
· I like to sing, even though Christy wishes I wouldn't and looks at me that way when I do. I'm not that great but I still like to pretend.
· I like to learn new things, whether it's history, programming, a new way to color a drawing, I love learning.

3 of my favorite foods:
· Marzipan - Alone, in candy bars, on cake, I love it in every shape and form.
· Mushrooms - On hamburgers, steak, on pizza or in lasagna, wherever.
· All Indian food - The mix of cream and spices... It tasted like heaven from the first bite.

3 places I would like to be right now:
· At a german biergarten drunk, full, and having a good time with friends.
· Museum and cathedral hopping in Paris, Milan, or some other European city known for those things.
· The PNW - I have a bunch of friends there and have always wanted to visit.

3 websites I visit daily:
· EvilAvatar - My daily video and computer game news.
· Penny Arcade - The comics are funny and well drawn, but the writing on the news posts drives it home as a must hit page for me.
· TIGSource - Ok! So I like keeping up with videogames.

3 things that make me cry:
· Existential angst when I'm already feeling down, specifically thinking about not having done all I want to do yet.
· See Love Actually above in Movies I could watch over and over.
· Times when I'm reflective or caught up in the moment and realize just how great, comparatively, my life is.

3 friends that I am tagging:
· I'm last to the party, there's nobody left to tag.

It's criminal how long this took me to complete.

Oh Hell

What's the best way to break in a virgin blog?

I got the idea for this blog shortly after Christy started her own. Initially I thought it would be a comic-a-day blog with no words outside the actual comic itself. Then I paused to recall how incredibly busy and unmotivated I can be and slightly modified the idea.

The idea!

I'm going to blog like most people blog, with words, for the most part because I also enjoy words. I'm not as deft with them as some but I do ok. But I'll toss in the occasional sketch with the words during the week, culminating in a finished picture/comic/pinup-cheesecake-girl-in-heels on Sunday.

Putting myself on a once a week schedule makes it more likely I'll complete something rather than just posting a bunch of half-ass sketches over and over. I think my style lends itself to being finished and colored anyway.

Besides that benefit I also get to topically rant about whatever's on my mind and not have to think of some clever way to tie it into a drawing each and every day. Just thinking about the mental energy required to keep that up is making me wonder what the hell I was envisioning at first.

So welcome to my blog.
Come for the entertaining words, stay for the half-naked women.