Resolved

In the year 2006 I resolve to: Reunite the Spice Girls. Get your resolution here

Normally, I don't do the New Year's Resolution thing because, like most folks, I just end up breaking them. But this year I'm inspired by a friend of mine who made a resolution to quit drinking for a year last year, and despite the fact he was heavily pressured by his roommates to cave, he never did.

So this year I resolve to increase and exert my willpower. I know this seems somewhat esoteric, but there are a slight number of things in my life I wouldn't mind changing (and in varying degrees from "just a little" to "dramatically"--and I shant be getting into any of their specifics here tonight, because I'm sleepy, not because I'm secretive; I'll gab on them later) and my success in changing them will rely almost entirely on willpower.

Don't wish me luck; wish me strength in my resolve. Please.

So, any of you going to be resolving anything?

Auld Lang Syne and Stuff

It's New Year's Eve and Denise and I are going to a kid-friendly party at the friends' place. It's really nice because otherwise we very rarely ever get to go to the same function together--with few local friends to babysit for us (especially with a nursing baby). So, I'm relieved and excited and all that.

Hapy New Year, my peeps.

Swagalicious

And you can bet your socks I had a great Holiday as well. As mentioned earlier, I really got to go a bit overboard in gift-giving this year--for the kids, for Denise, for almost all of my friends (there are a couple who, rightly, celebrate Halloween with me instead, and a couple I just plum neglected because I'm braindead). Being able to be so giving really made this the best winter holiday I've had for as far back as I can recall.

I cooked the best ham ever, too. Really outdid my expectations. Last year ran a bit too dry; this year nice and moisty (hey, none of our words would exist if someone didn't make them up first).

Christmas tv that rocked: Simpsons and the Boondocks. Christmas tv that didn't: pretty much everything else.

I want to thank my friends and family who helped contribute to the holiday experience for me and/or my family. People really paid attention to the fact that I'm a DVD addict, which was really nice. I got some much needed clothes, a kick-ass pair of combat boots, a new digital camera (finally, some better quality to me pics), and one friend even bought me a star! Thanks a bunch everyone; I love you.

And to my Halloween homies, I love you too.

Oh, and while not an X-mas gift, it took me long enough to listen to it... Suzie--the cd kicks butt. Thanks!

Yule Tide Cheer

Well, Christmastime went on by without a hitch. The small financial boon I alluded to before came through in time and I got to spoil the kids rotten for the first time in, well ever. Here are Lash and Aeia shortly after opening their swag, amongst most of their swag. Thanks to everyone who also sent art kits, dollies, clothes, books, etc. The kids loved EVERYTHING they got this year (proving that, for them anyway, it isn't the giving that truly matters. And good for them; they needed a disgustingly materialistic Yule-Christmas-Solstice-thingy for once).

Rael, of course, won't sit still long enough for the same sort of poster, but I was lucky to get him in this outfit that Aimee sent for him. He's almost standing on his own now, which is a bit frightening.

Milk and Cookies

Enjoy the cookies you fat elf.

Merry Christmas, etc.

Or whatever....

Have a wonderful holiday (if you so choose).

Happy Solstice Everybody!

It's the first day of Winter and all of Chico is rainy and inundated with the traffic of last minute X-mas shoppers. Crazy.

Happy solstice!

Aggravated

I really wish Denise would make an appointment to have her hearing rechecked. I'm tired of having to repeat everything I say at least once and if a hearing aid will help with that I need for her to let go of any stigma she puts on it and get one.

Perhaps this seems like a small issue, but imagine having to repeat almost everything you say to someone you see for many hours every single day of your life. Now imagine doing it with half of your lung capacity. It's getting old.

Pic of the Day: Lash Holding Rael

Photoblogging

Here's what's in the camera today.

Non-Tagged Five Things

Aimee non-tagged this meme on her blog and I felt I'd do it here anyway.

What were you doing ten years ago?
Managing McDonalds and making more money than I have at any other job ever before or since. In December, I was best man at my "brother" Joey's wedding to high school sweetheart, Misty. Being oblivious about (until 4 months later) the woman I was in love with but afraid to commit to dying.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
A lot of coughing. Wrapping fewer presents for a lot more kids than this year.

Five Snacks that you enjoy?
1) Chips & salsa
2) Cheetos (but only if I'm feeling maudlin or want to be)
3) Egg Rolls
4) Hostess Cherry Pie
5) Chocolate covered cherries

All of it unhealthy...

Five songs you know all the lyrics to?
1) Black Sheep Boy -- Okkervil River
2) Gouge Away -- Pixies
3) Kiss Off -- Violent Femmes
4) Absolutely Cuckoo -- Magnetic Fields
5) Psycho Killer -- Talking Heads

Five things you'd do if you were a millionaire?
1) Establish a trust fund for my kids.
2) Pay off student loans.
3) Open up a comic book shop.
4) Find something(s) to invest in.
5) Travel, travel, travel.
6) Buy my grandma a Porsche.

Five Bad Habits.
1) Too honest at times
2) I'm a procrastinator
3) Nose Picking
4) Stress Snacking
5) A slightly larger than normal amount of selfishness

Five Things You Like Doing?
1) Reading
2) Writing
3) Video Games
4) Singing
5) Hanging with those I love (family and friends)

Five things you would never wear again?
1) Parachute pants
2) Knee-length socks
3) Suspenders
4) My heart on my sleeve
5) Spandex

Five Favorite Toys?
1) G.I. Joes
2) Transformers
3) Star Wars
4) HeroClix (still)
5) Godzilla & Ultraman

Non-committal tagging: Drew, Adj, Chrissy, Shel, Joseph

Thanks, Shel!

From me (hereinafter referred to as "the wishor") to you (hereinafter referred to as the "wishee") Please accept without obligation, except as stated herein, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, politically correct, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all, and a financially successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2005, but with due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures or sects, and having regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform or dietary preference of the wishee. By accepting this greeting you are bound by these terms:

1. This greeting is subject to further clarification or withdrawal.

2. This greeting is freely transferable provided that no alteration shall be made to the original greeting and that the proprietary rights of the wishor are acknowledged.

3. This greeting is communicated "as is" and implies no promise by the wishor to actually implement any of the wishes, nor does it create any warranties of any kind, except as expressly stated herein.

4. This greeting may not be enforceable in certain jurisdictions and/or the restrictions herein may not be binding upon certain wishes in certain jurisdictions and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wishor

5. This greeting is warranted to perform as reasonably may be expected within the usual application of good tidings, for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first.

6. The wishor warrants this greeting only for the limited replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wishor.

7. Any references in this greeting to "the Lord", "Father Christmas", "Our Savior", or any other festive figures, whether real or fictitious, dead or alive, shall not imply any endorsement by or from them in respect of this greeting, and all proprietary rights in any referenced third party's names and images are hereby acknowledged.

Weekend Update

Friday had a relatively low turn-out at the HeroClix tournament; Lash got second place though.

After Denise got home, I went over to Ian's to help him try out a new board game he'd bought: Lord of the Rings' War of the Rings. It's a strategy war game like Risk, it took forever to set upi and forever to get the hang of the rules. We were nowhere near done with our first game when we stopped playing at 3am and I went home.

Slept in 'til 11 and then got up to grade papers, only to find out that technical difficulties with the paper database would keep me from my work (and again today--sigh). That afternoon we were all invited over to the Chrisses' for dinner and eggnog. Yummy. We then sat around and watched Sky High on dvd. It was...mediocre, but the side of mediocre that's decent. We then left Lash and Aeia there for a sleepover and came home with the baby, burned a couple compact disks, answered some e-mail and hit the hay.

R.I.P.

One of the first comedians to bring me the funny passed away yesterday. Farewell Mr. Pryor, I hope you're in a better place.

Interviewed Anew

After responding to my questions to her, I opened up the forum for Shel to reciprocate and ask me 5 of her own questions (as tag-backing seems to be the in thing this season for all of us).

5 (or so) Questions for Evan

1. What is your absolute favorite "selfish" thing to do for yourself?

Shop. I have a tendency to not divide post-bill entertainment funds equally with Denise. She has a tendency to enable this in me.

I almost went with this: Sometimes I'll take the kids to 7-11 for Slurpees and always neglect to get one to bring home for Denise. Except I don't do it maliciously or selfishly; I just always forget until after I'm en route home.

2. Describe one fantasy that you regularly think about. Is it something that has already happened that you relive in your mind? Is it something you want to happen? Or is it something that probably wouldn't hold up in reality and is best left as a fantasy?

This is really difficult. There's a personal loss that happened in 1995 that I often fantasize about how things might have been different, but the last three years or so have helped me begin moving more and more away from that. Probably my strongest, most long-lived fantasy is to be successful (not necessarily rich, but successful and known) as a writer (be it as a poet, fiction writer, songwriter, scriptwriter or comic book writer). The reality of it is that it isn't an impossible fantasy, but I lack the confidence (and to some degree, the funds) to really try and get myself out there.

3. You're given $500 and only have 1hr to spend all of it. What do you do?

I've really been longing for a new and improved digital camera.


4. List 10 things you like about yourself and 3 you don't. Try and pick one from each category that will come as a total surprise.

Like:
My intelligence
The texture of my hair (babysilk fine)
My love
My cooking
My writing
My eyes
My wit
My connection to others
My capacity for forgiveness (which is the one that surprises me)
Whatever it is that makes my children look at me with so much love in their faces

Dislike:
My weight
My lobectomy scar
My writing
My impatience
(I know you asked for 3, but I felt like 4)


5. Ok, this next one is actually a series of clinically chosen multiple choice questions and may prove to be difficult so really put your thinking cap on here...

a. McDonald's or Burger King?

As a former manager at McD's, I oddly still find my preference there.

b. cotton or silk?

Silk

c. plain or peanut?

Peanut (but I really prefer the almond ones)

d. pepsi or coke?

Cherry Coke

e. zipper or button-fly?

Button-fly

f. au naturale or shaved?

I'll have to answer this one another time.

g. cat or dog?

Dog. But I'm not big on pets because they are stinky. As for cats, I'm allergic.

h. cake or pie?

Pie.

i. glasses or contacts?

Glasses are very very attractive if they're carefully chosen for the face they frame.

j. coffee or tea?

Really tough. Green tea wins by a hair.

k. beach or mountains?

Beach, always.

l. butter or margarine?

Butter

m. drama or comedy?

Drama is my favorite genre of them all.

n. morning or night?

Night

o. rain or snow?

Rain.

p. white or wheat?

White

q. shower or bath?

Shower.

r. pj's or neked?

I'll have to answer this one another time.

s. high speed or dial up?

High speed is my ambrosia.

t. men or women?

I really can't answer this one without estranging the one I end up not choosing (in other words, I don't want to make all the women angry with me after they ask why I don't choose them in this list).

u. carpet or hardwood?

Hardwood.

v. college or wide-ruled?

College

w. crispy or original?

Original (had it tonight, even).

x. digital or analog?

Digital.

y. cup or glass?

Depends on the beverage.

and last but not least...

z. boxers or briefs?

I'll have to answer this one another time.

Insensitive

After some feedback, I've come to realize possible secular undertones to my Holiday 10 post might bother some people.

I just attended a "holiday party" this evening that made great pains to be PC (and while it failed in this task, I think it's an impossible task and they did admirably well regardless) and really went on to remind me of just how much it bugs me that anyone of any religion ever feels the need to walk on eggshells with other religions.

Aside from being a "Christmas" post, I didn't see it as a secular post. I'm not out to offend anyone. You don't have to be Christian to enjoy It's a Wonderful Life and eggnog, or snuggling by the fire (point of fact: of the four people I tagged to answer the post, zero of them are Christian, and they're all still wonderful people). Denise and I are not the same religion, nor are either of us Christian, but we still enjoy the holiday (as do the kids, none of them being raised Christian, though with plenty of real Christian values)--we just leave out the secular aspects of it.

So anyway, if you're not Chrisitan, and you're offended by my posting about Christmas, I apologize. I promise that there won't be many posts on the subject come January.

Lyrical

This Thursday past (December 1st, yokels) I had a poetry reading at the University (as did the entirety of my writing class). I got to close out the whole shebang. I read three of my cancer poems and completely rocked.

The rest of my classmates did quite swell too.

Holiday Goodness

Typically, I tend to announce that as funds are tight I won't be buying gifts for friends and non-immediate family. That might not be the case this year. I'm really happy to say that things are looking even brighter nowadays--tuition looks like it's going to be covered for Spring, everything. I do the happy dance (and all I had to do was sell my soul on eBay--just kidding folks; don't be so serious).

I'm enjoying actually being able to think about what I might get for someone if things work out the way they look to work out. And spoiling the booties off my kids for once.

The Holiday Ten

Instructions: Copy and paste the questions to your blog (with your answers, not mine), and tag at least three others to do the same.

1. What is your favorite holiday movie?
The Ref w/ Dennis Leary and Frank Kapra's It's a Wonderful Life are pretty neck-in-neck.

2. What is your favorite holiday song (title and artist)?
Winter Wonderland by whoever.

3. What's the best holiday gift you were ever given, and why?
I can't recall EVER having a particular holiday gift that stands out.

4. Do you have a special someone to kiss at the stroke of midnight on New Year's?
Oh, yeah.

5. Name of your favorite reindeer?
Prancer.

6. Favorite Holiday food?
Eggnog is what I look forward to every holiday.

7. Snow day -- cuddle by the fire, or hand me a snowball?
Cuddle by the fire. And pass me some eggnog, too, while you're at it.

8. What was your New Year's resoloution for this year? Did you stick to it?
I don't remember, so probably not.

9. Is there really a Santa Claus?
According to my classmate Gavin in Kindergarten, nope.

10. Present, or stocking stuffer?
Can't I have both? (I'm so greedy!)

Now for my tags:
Drew, Adj, Shel, Chrissy (I refuse to be limited).