If everything goes as it should, this shouldn't post. I've jacked with the settings so much I'd be surprised.
If you do see this, start moving over to the new site from now on. I'll be updating there.
It'll be ugly and it'll change a lot, but we'll get it the way we want soon enough.
16.1.06
Mean Sleeper
You know how they say when you're drunk or asleep, you're without inhibitions and so you act and speak more truthfully then when you're alert? I really hope they're wrong because I'm an asshole when I sleep.
"Define: asshole," you say.
Alrightie sir. As an example, last night, Mrs. A and I went to bed on bad terms. I was an insensitive caveman while fully conscious and the day ended poorly. Mrs. A's family came over on Saturday and spent the weekend with us and we had a great time. We all got hammered on Saturday night and Mrs. A was feeling really bad the next day. But it was more than just hungover, it was something more etherial.
Anyway, add that to me being a jerk and we ended the day not talking.
So apparently, she woke up screaming and crying from a bad dream at some point. Being Mr. Caring and Attentive, I told her I'd get more sleep if she went to the couch.
Yeah, that's right.
Only thing is, I don't remember it. It's a pattern. Lil Miss Austin wakes up and screams at the top of the stairs, I grumble that she's got no room to be crying like that. Yogi wakes up and I blame Mrs. Austin for not giving him the right PJs or bottle or something. She'll wake me up if I'm snoring really bad because she's worried about me not breathing right and I give her a load of crap for it being 4:30 in the morning.
Now, I used to pride myself on going from REM to Alertness in nothing flat. I've always thought myself a light sleeper and still feel I take a long time to get to sleep and am easily disturbed by sounds or motion. So to hear that not only do I not wake up when my kids cry, but that I'm a selfish prick when I do really gets under my skin.
Why? Well why not? Would anyone feel good after finding out you're a mean ass bastard when you sleeptalk; especially to your loved ones? I love my wife and kids, I hate the idea that any part of me is mean to them, especially parts I can't control. That makes it somehow worse.
At first it was kind of funny, I'd swear like an old sailor or WWII vet, spouting some nearly discernable gibberish, then roll over in a huff and continue sleeping. It was charming because I was sleeping. Now it's just a pain in the ass and I don't know that there is anything I can do about it. I'm really a nice guy when I'm awake, most of the time.
If you've ever been blamed for something you didn't do, but enough blame is heaped upon you that you start going back over your actions to see if in fact you did do something wrong, all the while still knowing that you're innocent yet having that sureness start to crumble, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's completely out of your control, and yet in the end, you still did something wrong. It's like dreaming about have sex with someone that's not your spouse; there's nothing you can do about it, but people do get bent outta shape when they hear it.
So thanks to my stupid brain, we started the day bad too.
"Define: asshole," you say.
Alrightie sir. As an example, last night, Mrs. A and I went to bed on bad terms. I was an insensitive caveman while fully conscious and the day ended poorly. Mrs. A's family came over on Saturday and spent the weekend with us and we had a great time. We all got hammered on Saturday night and Mrs. A was feeling really bad the next day. But it was more than just hungover, it was something more etherial.
Anyway, add that to me being a jerk and we ended the day not talking.
So apparently, she woke up screaming and crying from a bad dream at some point. Being Mr. Caring and Attentive, I told her I'd get more sleep if she went to the couch.
Yeah, that's right.
Only thing is, I don't remember it. It's a pattern. Lil Miss Austin wakes up and screams at the top of the stairs, I grumble that she's got no room to be crying like that. Yogi wakes up and I blame Mrs. Austin for not giving him the right PJs or bottle or something. She'll wake me up if I'm snoring really bad because she's worried about me not breathing right and I give her a load of crap for it being 4:30 in the morning.
Now, I used to pride myself on going from REM to Alertness in nothing flat. I've always thought myself a light sleeper and still feel I take a long time to get to sleep and am easily disturbed by sounds or motion. So to hear that not only do I not wake up when my kids cry, but that I'm a selfish prick when I do really gets under my skin.
Why? Well why not? Would anyone feel good after finding out you're a mean ass bastard when you sleeptalk; especially to your loved ones? I love my wife and kids, I hate the idea that any part of me is mean to them, especially parts I can't control. That makes it somehow worse.
At first it was kind of funny, I'd swear like an old sailor or WWII vet, spouting some nearly discernable gibberish, then roll over in a huff and continue sleeping. It was charming because I was sleeping. Now it's just a pain in the ass and I don't know that there is anything I can do about it. I'm really a nice guy when I'm awake, most of the time.
If you've ever been blamed for something you didn't do, but enough blame is heaped upon you that you start going back over your actions to see if in fact you did do something wrong, all the while still knowing that you're innocent yet having that sureness start to crumble, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's completely out of your control, and yet in the end, you still did something wrong. It's like dreaming about have sex with someone that's not your spouse; there's nothing you can do about it, but people do get bent outta shape when they hear it.
So thanks to my stupid brain, we started the day bad too.
12.1.06
Big Move Part I
In the first of many installments, this is the first announcement that http://lifeinaustin.blogspot.com will be moving to http://www.life-in-austin.com. The domain and forwarding service have been ordered and the server has been configured to start running the site.
Next step will be to get the server applications running correctly, followed by the Blogger to Wordpress migration, then the template and archive design and adjustment, and finally the unparking of the domain to forward to the server.
I've got a three day weekend coming up so hopefully I can get this done by next week. Wish me luck.
Next step will be to get the server applications running correctly, followed by the Blogger to Wordpress migration, then the template and archive design and adjustment, and finally the unparking of the domain to forward to the server.
I've got a three day weekend coming up so hopefully I can get this done by next week. Wish me luck.
10.1.06
It's actually a job.
I want to set the record straight.
Mrs. Austin runs her own business. Her business is wedding photography. That means on weekends (just about all of them) she is shooting for 5-12 hours a day. The time she's not shooting she's editing photos, answering emails and phone calls, conducting meetings, packaging and shipping albums and doing account maintenance. She works very hard at it.
On top of it, she also does the lion's share of the household duties like bills and cleaning and wrangling.
She does not sit home all day watching TV and chatting on her laptop.
She has no more time to watch sick kids than I do during the day.
Her business is the same as my office job with the exception of the dress code.
When the kids stay home, she loses money and reputation because it's another day she can't do work.
Her being at our house doesn't mean she's at home.
There, that's done. I don't know who out there keeps putting this thought into her head that people don't think she's actually working, but I really wish you would stop. It's making her crazy and me have to hear about the crazy every day. Since she can't explain it to you, she explains it to me like clockwork. So the next person who says, "Well, but she's home all day..." gets a punch in the throat.
Mrs. Austin runs her own business. Her business is wedding photography. That means on weekends (just about all of them) she is shooting for 5-12 hours a day. The time she's not shooting she's editing photos, answering emails and phone calls, conducting meetings, packaging and shipping albums and doing account maintenance. She works very hard at it.
On top of it, she also does the lion's share of the household duties like bills and cleaning and wrangling.
She does not sit home all day watching TV and chatting on her laptop.
She has no more time to watch sick kids than I do during the day.
Her business is the same as my office job with the exception of the dress code.
When the kids stay home, she loses money and reputation because it's another day she can't do work.
Her being at our house doesn't mean she's at home.
There, that's done. I don't know who out there keeps putting this thought into her head that people don't think she's actually working, but I really wish you would stop. It's making her crazy and me have to hear about the crazy every day. Since she can't explain it to you, she explains it to me like clockwork. So the next person who says, "Well, but she's home all day..." gets a punch in the throat.
Rollman Photo Dot Com
Just spent the evening updating the Rollman Photography website.
Behold the informative and insightful bio page!
Marvel at the smooth navigation!
Recoil in sheer awe at the questions which are frequently asked!
In all seriousness, I'm still going through my self teaching program so this is a hodge podge of old HTML, some new XHTML required tags, some CSS2 and some good ol' fashion spit and polish. Mrs. A likes it, so that's all that matters. Plus, clients see this page, so I have to consider this the production level offering and have my little comic page be the sandbox.
Still nothing on the Wordpress thing yet. I've got some tips I got from their forum about the server apps, but finding the time...
Both kids are sick. Gregory's probably got an earache and Rowan has a nice, throaty cough. Luckily, Mrs. A was able to get insurance through the NASE so the kids are covered.
Mrs. A's Expo went pretty well. She did get some bookings and got a lot of phone calls and emails following the event (hence the web update) so we're looking to make a few more house payments.
Yay resourceful mammals!
Behold the informative and insightful bio page!
Marvel at the smooth navigation!
Recoil in sheer awe at the questions which are frequently asked!
In all seriousness, I'm still going through my self teaching program so this is a hodge podge of old HTML, some new XHTML required tags, some CSS2 and some good ol' fashion spit and polish. Mrs. A likes it, so that's all that matters. Plus, clients see this page, so I have to consider this the production level offering and have my little comic page be the sandbox.
Still nothing on the Wordpress thing yet. I've got some tips I got from their forum about the server apps, but finding the time...
Both kids are sick. Gregory's probably got an earache and Rowan has a nice, throaty cough. Luckily, Mrs. A was able to get insurance through the NASE so the kids are covered.
Mrs. A's Expo went pretty well. She did get some bookings and got a lot of phone calls and emails following the event (hence the web update) so we're looking to make a few more house payments.
Yay resourceful mammals!
7.1.06
Are you kidding me?
So we just found out that this wonderful product brought to you by the kind people at Johnson & Johnson, the same folks that have delivered tearless baths for generation, contains an ingredient that may cause serious breathing problems if your family has a history of asthma or allergies.
Now, it's printed on the back, so we have no one to blame for this oversite but ourselves.
But I mean, what the fuck? It's tearless, but it can aggrivate your allergies or asthma? What kind of a trade off is that? You know how many people in the U.S. have both of those?
Anyway, if you're a parent and you read this and you have a child with asthma, be alerted. If you also happen to know where we can find a good asthma safe baby wash please either email me or use the comment field.
Thank you.
LMAisms
Before I forget, I have to write down more wisdom of a 4 year 7 month old.
Mrs. A, "Where did you come from?"
LMA, "Your belly!"
Mrs. A, "And where did you come from before that?"
LMA, "The hospital!"
Mrs. A, "No, BEFORE that..."
LMA, "Um...could you give me a hint?"
and
While working with Yogi on where his nose is, Mrs. A didn't want LMA to feel left out so she turned and ask, "Where is your cerebellum?"
LMA making an educated guess, points at her crotch.
Fun times man.
Mrs. A, "Where did you come from?"
LMA, "Your belly!"
Mrs. A, "And where did you come from before that?"
LMA, "The hospital!"
Mrs. A, "No, BEFORE that..."
LMA, "Um...could you give me a hint?"
and
While working with Yogi on where his nose is, Mrs. A didn't want LMA to feel left out so she turned and ask, "Where is your cerebellum?"
LMA making an educated guess, points at her crotch.
Fun times man.
4.1.06
3.1.06
Top Lists
First of I hope very many wastes of time. This goes out to all my online comic buddies who don't read this site.
Top First Posts on Comic Book Creator Message Boards
Trust me, if you don't read comic book message boards, all this was freakin hysterical.
Top First Posts on Comic Book Creator Message Boards
- Hi all, I need a logo for my (non-comic book related group) and I thought I'd ask here. I can't pay, but you'll be making a great portfolio piece.
- Come see my new online comic that's poorly drawn and the humor has to be explained.
- Greetings. I haven't been drawing in a while but I thought I'd get back into it. Here's some new art, please don't critique as I have a "style" and all talk of anatomy and composition will only be met with childish retorts.
- Please visit my eBay site so I can help my collection addiction by selling topless drawings of Elektra and Supergirl.
- Could I get you guys to look at my gallery site and let me know what you think of it? It's on a free web service, so ignore all the banner ads. Also, I'm no good at html or css or any language so the page is a bit simple and hard to get around. Oh, and I won't respond to this post once I submit it. Thanks!
- Hey Fellow (insert board name here)-ers/ites/ians! Want a great opportunity?? Such and Such Studios has just opened its doors and is now accepting submissions from all skill levels and any kind of story. All we ask is that you send us a full script, at least 20 pages of artwork, and possibly some splash or cover pages before we'll even talk to you. Don't worry that you may see this in print very shortly without your knowledge, credit or payment, that's part of the magic. So don't wait, send us your best stuff now so we can use it before our ISP figures out we're scamming people!
- I'm a writer and I've had artists back out on my project...(don't even need to add more to that one.)
- Hi, I'm new, what's the best book to get to learn how to draw? Can I download it? Will it make me better before the Dragon Con?
- What's the best place to host images for free with unlimited storage and bandwidth usage that allows remote linking? Shortly followed by...
- How do I display images here?
- And finally the all important, How do I get an avatar/change my title/put a picture in my signature, question.
Trust me, if you don't read comic book message boards, all this was freakin hysterical.
31.12.05
WordPress
I'm still working on WordPress installation.
The WP install itself probably isn't bad. See, I haven't got there yet. I'm still jacking with PHP and MySQL. One of the pitfalls of having your own webserver is that you can't just assume your host has all the latest server scripts and just start uploading all these new groovy modules to your site. You have to configure it yourself, which means a lot of ini hacks and dll moves and path associations and, basically shit I don't care about.
But, at least I'm learning something. I've always said I want to learn some web scripting languages and this is pretty much the way to go unless you plan on taking it as a course in college.
So, I'm to the point where it's all installed, but I can't get IIS to see the right extensions, but then I do and then PHP doesn't support MySQL. Ironic that I'm writing about the setup of this new blog here. I need to find someone who, out of sheer kindness, remotes into my web server and just makes it work.
Not so much. I'd have been done by now if it was, or maybe if I was smarter.
Anyway, that's what's going on. I think I'm gonna take a break and start inking some stuff. I have a three day weekend, might as well try to take advantage of it. I have to try and get this all done by March. Don't see that happening, but we'll see.
For you IE users, I talk about all the "stuff on the right side" a lot and you're probably thinking, "What stuff?" Well, for some reason the del.ico.us code snippet and Blogger don't like each other so it pushes everything below the last entry on the page. If you feel like scrolling, have at it, just an FYI. I do add new links almost every day, some informational, some not so much.
Carry on.
The WP install itself probably isn't bad. See, I haven't got there yet. I'm still jacking with PHP and MySQL. One of the pitfalls of having your own webserver is that you can't just assume your host has all the latest server scripts and just start uploading all these new groovy modules to your site. You have to configure it yourself, which means a lot of ini hacks and dll moves and path associations and, basically shit I don't care about.
But, at least I'm learning something. I've always said I want to learn some web scripting languages and this is pretty much the way to go unless you plan on taking it as a course in college.
So, I'm to the point where it's all installed, but I can't get IIS to see the right extensions, but then I do and then PHP doesn't support MySQL. Ironic that I'm writing about the setup of this new blog here. I need to find someone who, out of sheer kindness, remotes into my web server and just makes it work.
More simply, WordPress is what you use when you want to work with your blogging software, not fight it.
Not so much. I'd have been done by now if it was, or maybe if I was smarter.
Anyway, that's what's going on. I think I'm gonna take a break and start inking some stuff. I have a three day weekend, might as well try to take advantage of it. I have to try and get this all done by March. Don't see that happening, but we'll see.
For you IE users, I talk about all the "stuff on the right side" a lot and you're probably thinking, "What stuff?" Well, for some reason the del.ico.us code snippet and Blogger don't like each other so it pushes everything below the last entry on the page. If you feel like scrolling, have at it, just an FYI. I do add new links almost every day, some informational, some not so much.
Carry on.
29.12.05
Misc.
So I think this is pretty damn funny. That's probably just me.
Just so everyone knows, I may be moving this blog off blogger and to something else. Word Press is a likely candidate, but I want to decide whether or not I want to keep this name or my Polaris Comics name. I think a plan might be to have a polariscomics.com/lifeinaustin/ page, in light of registering ANOTHER site and create ANOTHER virtual page on my server, but that's not a bad idea either.
I was talking with a friend of mine and I told him I want to keep it all, but have it all work together. I feel like those IBM commercials in which the heads of some bloated company are giving their overtaxed IT group something impossible to do.
So hey, general public, use that comment thingie and let me know what you think. I really am very ambivalent about this, but I know I want to change it, make it work better.
I also want to resurrect AutoNeurotica somehow. Surely there's more material there, right? I had huge plans for that little blog. I wanted to get people from all over to contribute their stories about bad drivers and have some kind of database that would show where they were from, the kind of car they drove, etc.
Turns out I needed some skills to pull that off. So instead I wrote about people cutting me off.
That said, I found it ironic that heading to the kids' doctor's office last night, I was stopped by a train, during rush hour, carrying materials to a site where they were building a new road.
Is it just me or does getting stopped by a train seem archaic? Aren't we at the point technologically where we shouldn't have to deal with this anymore? Isn't there a critical mass we've long sense passed when that's just not an option? It's 2006, I think all roads should go either above or below railroads. There shouldn't be any reason to stop anymore.
Oh, and Pediatric Center of Round Rock, open until 5:30 means there's someone at a desk in the office until 5:30, not 5:10. Especially only 90 minutes after I'd called and said, "I need to come pick up my kids' paperwork, how late are you open?"
Just so everyone knows, I may be moving this blog off blogger and to something else. Word Press is a likely candidate, but I want to decide whether or not I want to keep this name or my Polaris Comics name. I think a plan might be to have a polariscomics.com/lifeinaustin/ page, in light of registering ANOTHER site and create ANOTHER virtual page on my server, but that's not a bad idea either.
I was talking with a friend of mine and I told him I want to keep it all, but have it all work together. I feel like those IBM commercials in which the heads of some bloated company are giving their overtaxed IT group something impossible to do.
So hey, general public, use that comment thingie and let me know what you think. I really am very ambivalent about this, but I know I want to change it, make it work better.
I also want to resurrect AutoNeurotica somehow. Surely there's more material there, right? I had huge plans for that little blog. I wanted to get people from all over to contribute their stories about bad drivers and have some kind of database that would show where they were from, the kind of car they drove, etc.
Turns out I needed some skills to pull that off. So instead I wrote about people cutting me off.
That said, I found it ironic that heading to the kids' doctor's office last night, I was stopped by a train, during rush hour, carrying materials to a site where they were building a new road.
Is it just me or does getting stopped by a train seem archaic? Aren't we at the point technologically where we shouldn't have to deal with this anymore? Isn't there a critical mass we've long sense passed when that's just not an option? It's 2006, I think all roads should go either above or below railroads. There shouldn't be any reason to stop anymore.
Oh, and Pediatric Center of Round Rock, open until 5:30 means there's someone at a desk in the office until 5:30, not 5:10. Especially only 90 minutes after I'd called and said, "I need to come pick up my kids' paperwork, how late are you open?"
28.12.05
New Look
So I got tired of the old look and not really being able to put my own graphics up, so I got a new template. I hope it works ok.
If you have problems seeing anything or want to give any feedback, the comments section should work, but it's Blogger comments, not Haloscan. Couldn't figure that bit out yet.
If you want to be added to the list of "musts" or "fine folk," shoot me an email and either include an 88x31 button and the link or just a link.
I hope you enjoy the new space. Happy 2006.
If you have problems seeing anything or want to give any feedback, the comments section should work, but it's Blogger comments, not Haloscan. Couldn't figure that bit out yet.
If you want to be added to the list of "musts" or "fine folk," shoot me an email and either include an 88x31 button and the link or just a link.
I hope you enjoy the new space. Happy 2006.
27.12.05
Bits
Read this over on /. Pretty cool.
Yes, I added ads. I'm sorry. It's more an experiment than anything. My site meter says I'm getting a fair amount of hits so I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm pretty sure by this time next year it would cost Google more to mail a check than the actual amount they're giving me.
Hopefully they become more targeted and not just tons of ads for blogs. Right now you probably can't see them, I'm troubleshooting that.
The del.ico.us links aren't working well on the sidebar if you're viewing this in IE. They're ok in Firefox, haven't checked Opera yet. But the Flickr badges don't align right in Firefox, but they're ok in IE. (I get tired of this sometimes, ya know?)
Thanks to all who sents cards and gifts. We apreciate all you've given us and the kids and it was good hearing from you. Let's do this again in about 350 days.
Two more things, if you notice my little Flickr badge is mostly artwork now. I'm going to try to use it as a social repository. Mrs. A's Flickr will still me photographs primarily.
Also, I've added a wish list on the links section. I think this is a good idea for everyone to have for birthdays and holidays that require gifts. Right now it's just stuff I want but I'm going to start making lists for things for the kids as well. Supplies they might need, clothes, toys, software, etc. The likelihood of it ever being used by anyone but me is next to nothing, but you never know.
Have a happy new year everyone. And to all my Jewish friend, Gut Yontiff.
Yes, I added ads. I'm sorry. It's more an experiment than anything. My site meter says I'm getting a fair amount of hits so I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm pretty sure by this time next year it would cost Google more to mail a check than the actual amount they're giving me.
Hopefully they become more targeted and not just tons of ads for blogs. Right now you probably can't see them, I'm troubleshooting that.
The del.ico.us links aren't working well on the sidebar if you're viewing this in IE. They're ok in Firefox, haven't checked Opera yet. But the Flickr badges don't align right in Firefox, but they're ok in IE. (I get tired of this sometimes, ya know?)
Thanks to all who sents cards and gifts. We apreciate all you've given us and the kids and it was good hearing from you. Let's do this again in about 350 days.
Two more things, if you notice my little Flickr badge is mostly artwork now. I'm going to try to use it as a social repository. Mrs. A's Flickr will still me photographs primarily.
Also, I've added a wish list on the links section. I think this is a good idea for everyone to have for birthdays and holidays that require gifts. Right now it's just stuff I want but I'm going to start making lists for things for the kids as well. Supplies they might need, clothes, toys, software, etc. The likelihood of it ever being used by anyone but me is next to nothing, but you never know.
Have a happy new year everyone. And to all my Jewish friend, Gut Yontiff.
24.12.05
Year end.
First attempt at posting art here. I have a Live Journal account that I was primarily using to upload artwork, but I haven't really used it to its full potential and I don't think but maybe 3 people were looking at it, so you're going to see more artwork here.
Eventually I want to merge this and my comic site, as mentioned before, but I haven't figured out how yet.
This piece is for the Art Swap over at Penciljack. It's my first serious piece in a while, serious meaning not cartoony or sketchy but something on a nice 11x17 piece of Eon board, blue lined and inked. I think the composition turned out well, but I'm really rusty on inking and it's kind of sloppy there. Mrs. A will say I'm my own worst critic which is fine, I like it that way. The day I'm happy with my work is the day I'm done being an artist.
The family made the trek to the Austin Trail of Lights down at Zilker Park last night. It was the first time in the six years we've been in Austin that we visited the event. We've seen the Moontower or Zilker Tree before, and that was fun. Just a few minutes of standing under the tree and spinning around while drinking cocoa and eating kettle corn and signing impromptu carols. The TOL, however, is another matter entirely.
Luckily it's not a day long festival in which people park and stay for hours. You park, you walk through and you leave. Sure 20,000 people may have been there at any one time, but it was all mobile. So we sat in line on Mopac to park and as we closed in on the cops they turned off their sign and feed people back onto the freeway saying to go downtown and take the shuttle.
Yeah, go ahead. Picture me being all bent out of shape and frustrated. Get it out of your system.
Fortunately Mrs. A kept a cooler head and we parked by the footbridge that runs under Mopac, so it's just a mile or so hike to the front gate. We had the kids in the wagon so it didn't seem too bad. Until we got there.
Yogi was really enjoying the lights, as you'd expect. They were bright and shiny and colorful; all the things a little brain needs. Lil Miss Austin on the other hand couldn't have cared less. The initial walk up was full of excitement and anticipation, and then about five minutes after the big opening tunnel, she started losing interest and spent the rest of the time faking sleep in the wagon or wrestling with Yogi.
Toward the end Mrs. A and I were just speed walking to get out of the place with two seriously antsy kids. Fun.
Which brings up today's final thought; child behavior.
LMA is a constant work in progress. Until she's 18 we're going to be learning how to deal with her behavior and emotions and her boundaries. We're not doctors, we're not analysts, we're just parents who are both working to pay the bills. We don't see the kids a lot because they're in daycare/school and it really hurts me to only see them for about two hours a day and most of that time spent disciplining them.
So, we're constantly adapting. LMA so far is getting the brunt of our experiments as we move from physical punishment to reward system to ignore system back to physical, but we're doing our best. She is a little person who just needs to move constantly, doesn't know how or is physically incapable of shutting down until she's passed out asleep. She constantly says, "No," which is typical. She cries as soon as you tell her "No" or that she can't have/do something. Lately she gets so bent out of shape she screams and runs to her room and slams the door. (I expect I can look forward to this behavior until I'm dead.)
But it's really wearing us down. There's no middle ground with her. She's either mindless out of control or melting down to the point where she can't comprehend what we're telling her, even if she's not in trouble.
So we're going to try new things and those things won't work so we'll try different things. Mrs. A has decided she just wants to let LMA do her own thing. She thinks maybe we've got too many rules or are too strict. I'm going to try the reward/ignore thing for a while, see what that does. Expects say that's the best way, but I tell you what, if you see a kid pitching a fit in a store and the parent is ignoring the kid, what's your thought? Mine too.
For your information, we did celebrate Solstice on the 23rd since I had to work on the 22nd. For those that read this, thank you very much for the gifts. We all love them.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
22.12.05
Happy Solstice!
Every year I will publish this so get used to it.
Mrs. A and I got into this talk yesterday at lunch. The War on Christmas phrase has invaded our waking lives and has truly given us pause during a time when we should be loving each other and being open minded and accepting and joyous. Especially in America where we have much for which to be happy, proud and thankful.
But no, we have to have a War. Now more than ever I'd like to recap what I've spun in years past; Christians, you're doing it all wrong.
First, if you want to put the meaning of Christmas back into Christmas I think that's the tops. I think more people should stop diluting their feelings and beliefs and trying to remain PC just to appease the lowest common denomination. But at the heart of the celebration of Christmas is the birth of your Lord and Savior. So go to mass, wish Jesus happy birthday, have a nice dinner with friends maybe afterward and be done with it.
No where in the Bible do the words "Christmas Tree," "Christmas Presents," "Santa Claus," or even "Winter Wonderland" come into play. Your desire to make a Pagan/Anglo/Norse tradition your own by is not your fault originally, but to get testy with people for saying "Happy Holidays" goes against the very nature of the event. You want to be correct? It's a Yule Tree and Santa Claus is a very old Elf (you know, those heathen, wood dwelling folk of old?). There were no evergreen trees in Jerusalem. No one put lights or wreaths on their huts.
You want to be put the meaning back into Christmas? Stop making it a commercial holiday and start celebrating what it is.
Second, yours isn't the only holiday going right now. Every religion has something going on at the end of the year. The longest night, the rebirth of the light, the company of friends during a dark time. Christians preach acceptance, tolerance, brotherly love, but apparently only when you say "Merry Christmas." To do otherwise will send you to hell.
Hey, what about all the Hindus and Muslims and Jews and Pagans and Buddhists? Some have end of year traditions, but what would you say if someone at a store or restaurant said, "Happy Chanukah?" This is what "Happy Holidays" means. It means, "I don't know you, I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable, so I'll just shotgun blast this catch all phrase that should encompass everything and be done with it." And a normal person hearing that should just say, "You too," and the transaction be finalized.
The point is, this is a time when we should be looking out for each other, making it a little easier to get through the hectic days and long cold nights. If you start sniping at people because they didn't specifically wish you a "Merry Christmas" then you've done far worse in missing the point of the holiday than all your non-Christian friends.
Besides, the whole thing was stolen from the Pagans anyway.
Happy Solstice.
20.12.05
Bogus plea.
Whether real or not, this little tidbit has been making the rounds on a good number of message boards. It hit Penciljack today.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
Slowly but surely.
Excuse the size of the file. See, now I'm in rotation, I have to get busy and produce more. (For those that don't know what I'm talking about, that's my comic book as "Indy Book of the Day" on comicbookdb.com.)
Open letter to Old Navy,
Dear store buyers,
Not all of us guys are 6'2" and weigh 170 lbs. Please carry some fat midget clothes until we can lose some weight.
Thank you.
Open letter to Old Navy,
Dear store buyers,
Not all of us guys are 6'2" and weigh 170 lbs. Please carry some fat midget clothes until we can lose some weight.
Thank you.
19.12.05
Sanctuary!
Mrs. A and I were at Barton Creek Mall yesterday with the kiddos getting pictures taken and on the way in we drove by Abuelo's Mexican Food Embassy (yes that's its real name.) I've never heard of a place called a Food Embassy. I've heard Emporium and Palace, but never Embassy. So Mrs. A caps the day's humor quotient by saying, "That's where food goes when it's in trouble. It runs up to the door shouting, 'Hecho en México!'" I haven't laughed that hard in a while.
I'm gonna make a shirt for it and submit it to Threadless.
I'm gonna make a shirt for it and submit it to Threadless.
18.12.05
Improving your experience, improving my skills.
You might start seeing some changes around here. I've started some tutorials on web development to both reinforce my foundation for what little html and css knowledge I had and expand by picking up xml, java, php and anything else I can think of. It's not going to be overnight, and since it's nothing I'll be using at my day job, it won't be very soon at all. But this is my playground where I'll be experimenting with what I learn.
My art site will probably also see some changes. Ideally I'd like to combine the two into one place since I do nearly all the writing here and I haven't updated my art site in so long because it's clunky. But, I don't want to lose this blog, nor do I want to lose my domain name and have to register another, so some though will have to be given to how to best go about this change. Life In Austin seems like a good enough name, Polaris Comics was sort of a last minute thing, and honestly the name is up for renewal anyway. I'd hate to pay for another year and then not use it. Oh well, we'll see. This all of course takes away from all the drawing I should be doing.
That's another thing, I sat down to draw a picture of Batman for the Art Swap over at Penciljack and I realized I have no motivation to draw Batman. So I thought I'd sketch some of my own characters. Nothing there either. Then I tried just random sketching for practice; nada. I had zero motivation to draw anything. I've been offered a nice artistic donation from a friend if I go back and redo the interior pages of Project: Gemini, which is something I want to do anyway, then push out #1 and #2 at the same time. #1's artwork wasn't all that great. I rushed it to get it done and yes I'm glad I got it done, but it was a sketchbook. I want to ink it to have it at least look finished. I'm no great inker, but I can at least make it look more polished.
Yet, I can't find motivation for that either.
What I can, apparently find motivation for is dorking around with my two sites and watching TV. I gotta stop that. I have to get back into the creative mind set. So, we'll see which one comes up first; web design or comic book.
By the way, you need to see the Santa pictures Mrs. A put up on Flickr. For those that don't know, we try to get a pic with Santa every year, not just the kids, the whole family. I don't know if she's got the other years up or not. Notice how it looks like I'm crashing the party in this one. Good shot, mall people.
If you're using something other than IE, you'll notice the "Of Interest" category now on the right. That's the links I've been hitting that I think are worthy of wider exposure, check them out. If you're using IE, I'm still learning the code and why it pushes it all the way to the bottom. Sorry about that.
Our tree is up and the house is lit. As soon as I got the tree decorate, with the help of the children, LMA asks, "Can we open our presents now?" There were no presents under the tree, but I wasn't smart enough to tell her that.
Carry on.
My art site will probably also see some changes. Ideally I'd like to combine the two into one place since I do nearly all the writing here and I haven't updated my art site in so long because it's clunky. But, I don't want to lose this blog, nor do I want to lose my domain name and have to register another, so some though will have to be given to how to best go about this change. Life In Austin seems like a good enough name, Polaris Comics was sort of a last minute thing, and honestly the name is up for renewal anyway. I'd hate to pay for another year and then not use it. Oh well, we'll see. This all of course takes away from all the drawing I should be doing.
That's another thing, I sat down to draw a picture of Batman for the Art Swap over at Penciljack and I realized I have no motivation to draw Batman. So I thought I'd sketch some of my own characters. Nothing there either. Then I tried just random sketching for practice; nada. I had zero motivation to draw anything. I've been offered a nice artistic donation from a friend if I go back and redo the interior pages of Project: Gemini, which is something I want to do anyway, then push out #1 and #2 at the same time. #1's artwork wasn't all that great. I rushed it to get it done and yes I'm glad I got it done, but it was a sketchbook. I want to ink it to have it at least look finished. I'm no great inker, but I can at least make it look more polished.
Yet, I can't find motivation for that either.
What I can, apparently find motivation for is dorking around with my two sites and watching TV. I gotta stop that. I have to get back into the creative mind set. So, we'll see which one comes up first; web design or comic book.
By the way, you need to see the Santa pictures Mrs. A put up on Flickr. For those that don't know, we try to get a pic with Santa every year, not just the kids, the whole family. I don't know if she's got the other years up or not. Notice how it looks like I'm crashing the party in this one. Good shot, mall people.
If you're using something other than IE, you'll notice the "Of Interest" category now on the right. That's the links I've been hitting that I think are worthy of wider exposure, check them out. If you're using IE, I'm still learning the code and why it pushes it all the way to the bottom. Sorry about that.
Our tree is up and the house is lit. As soon as I got the tree decorate, with the help of the children, LMA asks, "Can we open our presents now?" There were no presents under the tree, but I wasn't smart enough to tell her that.
Carry on.
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