and a dollar

katie and me

2008-06-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

big news

2008-05-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

I'm doubting that this blog gets looked at much anymore, and those that do probably already know my big news by now anyway. I'M ENGAGED! Katie and I are getting married on September 6th in Portland. I figured that news was blog worthy, since not much else seems to be lately for me. But while I'm at it I'll add on that my other news, not nearly as big, is that I got my own aprtment recently. No more sharing houses with people I don't really know or don't really like. Just me. I figured I'd get a couple months of living alone in before I'll never live alone again (I'm more excited about the second part).

happy new year...and some other days

2008-01-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

No updates during the month of December, so here's a quick recap:
A couple of great trips to Portland including a 6 day trip for Christmas that was spent with family and friends (and girlfriend, until she left for Tennessee to be with her family), a great month to be a Blazers fan, a few snow filled days, and bringing in the new year with good friends and Jesus (also a good friend).
January already has been memorable in its first week with the hurricane force wind storm that uprooted trees and left many, including myself, without power for up to a couple of days for some. This next week will also be memorable, in a more positive way, as John Mark and Sarah McMillan will be here with their band for a week doing various events including this weekends big youth conference event. It'll be great.

thanksgiving weekend recap

2007-11-30T17:00:00.000-08:00

It's already more than a week after Thanksgiving and I'm just now writing about it. I suppose it's better than not writing at all, which is mostly what I've been doing the last few months.
I drove to Portland Thursday morning after work without sleeping. The lack of sleeping didn't bother me during the drive, but mixed with the copius ammounts of turkey and italian food I would later consume, I was completely out it by the evening. However, before that was great. Aside from the excellent food, I got to introduce Katie (my girlfriend, for those you didn't know) to my immediate family as well as my extended family. She fit in well with everyone. It was a lot of fun.
After sleeping for twelve hours I went and picked up Katie again. We pretty much just hung out at my folks house all day.
On Saturday, I went to my nephews 1st birthday party. I also watched the Ducks football team throw their season away in a very pathetic performance. Oh well. Later that evening I got to hang out with a bunch of friends and introduce Katie to those who she hadn't met yet.
On Sunday, Katie and I went to Imago Dei in the morning. It was sort of weird going to church in my former high schools auditorium. Later in the day we went to see the movie Margot at the Wedding with Jack Black and Nicole Kidman. Jack Black is hilarious, but I don't reccommend it. All the characters were such nasty people. Later that evening we went to Bob and Lalita's and hung out there for awhile. It was a very nice change from the other loud and busy social gatherings we were at earlier in the weekend.
I then left Portland on Monday (after seeing Katie one last time of course). It was a great weekend. I'll be back in Portland in another week from now for Whipple and Sarah's baby shower. Does anyone know if they've had the baby yet?

almost Thanksgiving

2007-11-17T08:38:00.000-08:00

That means that I will be in Portland for the weekend.

i saw the champions

2007-10-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

I am not in any way a Boston Red Sox fan. By baseball law, I can't be because my favorite team (Baltimore Orioles) is in the same division. That to say, I wasn't particularly thrilled with the Red Sox winning the world series. However, the one positive thing about Boston winning is that this is the first time that I got to see the eventual world champions play in person (3 times: 2 in Seattle, 1 in Boston). That's kind of cool I suppose.

forgotten money

2007-10-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

I had to open an account with Pacific Power in June in order to have electricity over the Summer. Though the payments weren't too bad, I did have to put down a deposit of over $100 in order to open an account with them. Since I am now in a living situation where utilities are included in my rent, the Pacific Power account is no longer necessary, so I closed it. However, I had forgotten about the deposit until today when I received it back. Most excellent! What am I going to do with that money? More like, what DID I do with that money? I put it towards an ipod. This long desired purchase should move my mindless job at Home Depot from 'tolerable' to 'somewhat enjoyable'.

i'm back, though I never left

2007-10-17T19:42:00.000-07:00

I guess I just lost interest in updating this thing for awhile. Here's a little update of my life over the past couple of months:

The new living situation is working out well and has helped bring consistancy back to my life after living in a couple different places over the past few months.

I received another raise at work.

I've been actively involved in the youth group at Journey with the Jr. High and with worship.

I went to a youth leaders conference in Redding with Heather, Andrew, Micah, and Amanda and had an incredible encounter with the Lord.

I went to Portland a couple of weekends ago and saw the folks for the first time in many months since they were gone last time I was in town.

That's about it for now.

no longer homeless

2007-08-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

I was homeless this weekend...sort of. I had to be out of my place by Friday and couldn't be in my new place until today (Sunday). Fortunately I had already planned a trip to Portland so I was not in Walla Walla while I had no home there.
Portland was exceelent as usual. It would have been better if the folks were around, but didn't work out. I did get hang out with Jason, Becky and Sam a bit as well as several other friends including newcomer Simon Miller Ham. Way to go Bob and Lalita, you done good.

baseball, camp, and a place to live

2007-08-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

I hadn't realized it had been so long since I posted. I don't even have the excuse of having nothing interesting to post about, because I do (at least it's interesting to me).
Two weekends ago I went to Seattle with some guys from Journey to see a couple of baseball games. It was a lot of fun. Before the game on Saturday we saw The Bourne Ultimatum. Great movie. On our way to the game while walking to the stadium I heard someone yelling my name. I turned to see Bryce, Janaki, Johan, and Leah in a vehicle right by me. Janaki and Bryce got out and I got to talk for a little. Johan and Leah went to the Sunday game with them so I went and sat with them for a little towards the end. That was a nice surprise. The results of the games were not a surprise. The Sox won both games.
This past weekend was also an excellent weekend. I went to family camp with my church. There was about 60 of us there. I didn't have to bring food which was great. I just wandered around and ate other peoples food. I got to go out on the boat 3 times and got 3 excellent tube rides, the last of which I finally got thrown from the double tube and not surprisingly from the single tube (twice). I am not too sore today which is nice. I'm already looking forward to next year.
For my Sunday late night movie watching I watched Magnolia. It's weird (the singing and the frogs? I don't get it). There were some great performances though.
Now I turn my attention to life responsibilities. Most importantly finding a place to live since I'll need to be out of my current place in less than two weeks. I just got a couple possible places come up today. I better get that figured out.

jh camp

2007-07-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

Jr. High Camp was most excellent. The kids from both groups (WW and La Grande) were great and each one of them seemed to be engaged with what God was doing, which I have seen very rarely at a Jr. High age camp. However, next time I do a camp like that I will make sure to sleep prior to it so that I'm not up for 30 hours sraight. That was a little rough.

excellent movie

2007-07-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

I just saw Raising Arizona for the first time last night. It was great. I laughed and laughed.

sort of finished

2007-06-30T00:06:00.000-07:00

These past two weeks have probably been the busiest of my life. I've been doing the Filmmakers Boot Camp which is a two week filmmaking program taught by former Hollywood Production Designer, Jeffrey Townsend (you can find him on imdb). It's been amazing (among other things both good and not so good). We worked on our films from 8am until 10pm or later with a two hour break in the evening. I then went straight to work until 2am, went home and slept for about 5 hours a night, then started all over again. I am now sitting in the studio that we've been based out of, on the brink of having a finished film that I created. I'm basically finished with mine other than a FBC logo that seems to have disappeared. I'm going to wait until the other two students finish before I call it a night (I'm not going to work tonight). Saturday (today?) is the viewing out at the studio. I'm really excited about it. My piece turned out well after many issues. I'm glad to be done (basically).

repeat

2007-06-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

I'll have to make this quick since I'm at Filmmakers Bootcamp right now.
Yesterday was the city league soccer championship game against Chon Insulation. It was very intense, had some very sketchy calls against us towards the end, but we prevailed. Final score, 6-5. This is our second year as a team and second as champions.

that's hot

2007-06-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

Since returning to the dubs, I rejoined the soccer team (The Hot Tamales) that I played on last year and the opening game of this year before I left. I made it in time for the final regular season games which we won (5-2?), our first playoff game against the same team which we won (6-2?), and then yesterdays semi-final match against a team that we tied in the regular season (3-3), and was also the team that we beat in last years final on penalty kicks. This game, however wasn't even close. We crushed them 8-1 and had two players with a hat trick. The best goal came in the second half when our goalkeeper booted the ball down field. The wind took it over the heads of everyone and near the goalkeeper who ran up on it. He mis-judged the ball which bounced in front of him and then over his head and into the goal. If we were playing foosball, that would have been worth two. Since I rejoined I've been playing center defense which is different then last year when I played left mid. I felt a lot more comfortable with it this week and didn't allow a goal while I was on the field. Next week we play a team that beat us 7-6 or 6-5 (I wasn't there and don't remember what I was told). It should be a good one.

going to bootcamp

2007-06-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

Filmmakers bootcamp that is. I'm going to be doing a two week program where I will be writing/directing/filming a short film. I'm really excited about this, except for the lack of sleep I will get in those two weeks and the money that it will cost, but I'll deal with those problems as they come.

not so easy

2007-05-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

The Red Sox game rained out. Fortunately, it was rescheduled for the following day at 12:35pm. My flight didn't leave until 5:30pm. This ended up being a tight squeeze. I had to take my luggage with me to the game so I could go directly to the airport afterwards since going back to the place I was staying to get my stuff would take too long. I was counting on a nearby hotel to hold my stuff for me for a tip, but they said they could no longer do that for security reasons. The ball park couldn't put it anywhere and it was too big to take inside, so the people taking tickets suggested I pay a concessions guy (on the outside of the stadium) to hold for me. They said that the concession guys were there every game and would keep it safe. As sketchy as that sounded to me, I had no choice. I ended up paying a guy selling Italian sausages $10 to keep my bag in his car (parked by his stand). I worked out fine. After an exciting 2-1 victory for the Sox, I faced the difficulty of getting myself, my large bag and my backpack into an overcrowded Metro train. This wasn't working at all. The trains were too full with Sox fans, and probably would be for another half and hour or so. Instead I took a taxi to the airport, checked my bag, got my boarding pass, and inched my way through security (with my shoes off), and made to my flight just after they started boarding. It cost me a few extra bucks, but I at least I got to see a game at Fenway Park.

no more driving

2007-05-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

NYC was great. Here's a few highlights:
East village, Cafe Reggio, New York pizza, other excellent food, the observatory in the Empire State building, the beautiful parks all over the city, watching a Broadway musical (Spamalot), and a free ticket to Shea Stadium for the Mets vs. Brewers game (Brewers crushed them 12-3).
I am now in Boston which is my last stop before flying to Portland on Thursday. That means no more driving (as far as the road trip is concerned). Boston is also a great city. I walked the Freedom Trail today and explored the Harvard campus. Tomorrow however, will be the highlight of Boston for me. I'll be attending the Red Sox vs. Tigers game at Fenway Park to make it 3 MLB games in a week's time, all at great stadiums too. Then I will return to Walla Walla via Portland. It's been a great trip.

o's

2007-05-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

I have been a Baltimore Orioles fan since I was a little kid. Last night I got to see them play at Camden Yards. It was amazing. The O's won 11-6 over the Devil Rays, sweeping the series. Kevin Millar hit a 3 run homer in the first help with a 5 run first inning. The Rays came back and got within 2 late, but a rally in the 8th pulled the O's ahead for good.
A highlight was when Melvin Mora stole 2nd, then stole 3rd on a wild throw. The throw to 3rd however was good and made it a close call at 3rd base. The ump called him safe which got the fans cheering, but caused the Rays 3rd baseman to throw a fit. After some jawing, the ump had enough and tossed him. The crowd cheered louder. As he left the game he threw his hat into the crowd. The crowd began to chant "Throw it back! Throw it back!". The fan with the hat was reluctant to throw it back,knowing this is a rare souvenier. Whether it was knowing that he would provide an emotional boost to the fans and players, or just simply peer pressure, he threw it back. The crowd cheered louder. Meanwhile, over near 1st base a crazy fan jumped onto the field and began running around (fortunately he was not naked). After about a minute the security guards caught him, handcuffed him, and took him off the field. The crowd was going wild. It was some good baseball.

the big easy and mega state day

2007-05-10T05:20:00.000-07:00

There is too much to tell right now, so I'll move quickly.
New Orleans was excellent. The houses are beautiful and it's so much fun. I ate lots of good food and hung out on Bourbon St. for two nights which is just one giant party. We were going to go to the Jazz Fest on Friday, but a flashflood kept us from going anywhere. It poured for an hour or more, covering the main street we were by. The water came up to some of the store fronts and began flodding those too. Just getting from the car to the hostel got me soaked. Once it cleared up, things were nice again.
We left New Orleans to head up the east coast to Savannah. We drove through 5 states (Lousianna, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia) in one day. Savannah was beautiful, as was our next stop in Charleston, SC. From there we moved on to our current location in Washington DC. Today we'll travel to Baltimore and see an Orioles game, then on to NYC.

cock of the walk

2007-05-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

Chicago was amazing! Any city larger than Portland seemed too big for me, but Chicago proved me wrong. I loved it. It also helped that the weather turned beautiful after days of cold and some rain. We were shown around the city by a friend of Missi's named Chris that she met in New Zealand. We went with him to a function that his job was having on Friday evening. It included glorified karaoke (American Idol style), free beer (the best option was MGD), and free fried food (including cheese sticks with magical juice inside). The next day was spent walking around the downtown area, hanging out it Centennial Park, and eating amazing Mediterranean food. We stayed at Chris' with his family who is very quirky and hilarious.
We then headed to Cincinnati where we stayed with Douglas and Shena who Missi met in Boston. I had met Shena many years ago through the Pietila's, but that's another story. We hung out with them that evening, all the next day (my birthday), and some in the morning. My birthday was very relaxing and fun. Highlights included Indian food, ice cream and sitting on the front steps of the church with mugs of beer.
I am now in Nashville where we are staying with a lady (Cindy) who, along with her husband Jerry, were part of the community with Keith and Melody Green back in the 70's. Unfortunately her husband is out of town so we didn't get to meet him, but Cindy is great. Last night we ate delicious catfish at a place called Cock of the Walk. Good times.
We should be arriving in New Orleans in 2 or 3 days. All is well.

pictures

2007-04-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

Check out the written update on the post below.

Missi and I and some Yellowstone thermal activity.

On a hike.

Old Faithful.

Bears in the distance.

Some giant heads in the rock.

houses are nice

2007-04-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

I am currently sitting in a nice house by a fireplace in Madison, WI and it is warm and great. Every night prior to this one has not been so. However, other than cold nights at campgrounds or rest areas, things have been going very well. The snow day at Yellowstone cleared up by the afternoon so it wasn't a completely lost day. Unfortunately, Missi wasn't feeling well so she just rested. I did not. I took a four mile hike, following the Gardner River upstream. At first it was beautiful, but things soon took a bit of a turn. The path got really muddy and began stick in layers on the bottom of by All Stars (not good hiking shoes in case you were thinking of trying it). Then, everything got really quiet and ominous. I realized that nobody was anywhere near me and started thinking of wild animals and what might happen if a bear or wolf met me on the path. I pushed the idea aside and kept going...until I saw animal bones just to the side of the path. Still, I shrugged it off and went on. Awhile later I saw a wooden post with an arrow pointing towards the river from the path. I saw another wooden post by the river so I left the path and walked towards it. I was watching my footing so it took me a little while before I noticed the animal that was previously blocked from sight by a tree. It wasn't a bear or wolf, but it was a fully grown bison and it was less than 40 feet from me. It stared me straight in the face. I think it smiled at me. Not the friendly kind of smile, but the kind that is almost evil. It was as though he was saying "Get the eff off my land before I gore you to death." I quickly backed wawy from him and back to my trail. Then I ran. He gave no chase so I escaped unharmed.
The next day was spent seeing Old Faithful and a few other things at Yellowstone that we missed previously. We then made it to Wyoming which is very beautiful. The next day we went to South Dakota. Mt. Rushmore was really cool and I felt like a learned some about US history as well. That whole area was great to drive through. Once we left that area, things took a bad turn meaning we entered the rest of South Dakota (also called Stinktown). It was incredibly boring. When it wasn't boring, it was creepy. There were signs for many miles for Wall Drug Store. The signs had fun little cartoons or catchy slogans on them. It was clearly a tourist trap...and it worked. The store was closing when we arrived so we didn't get the full experience, but I am fine with that. It had lots of manicins and dummies n the windows and I am convinced that they come alive at night. We left there and kept driving the lonely road. Suddenly, a dinosaur skeleton appeared by the road. At first was sort of cool, until I saw that it was on a leash, held by a human skeleton. The sunset was directly behind them which made it even creepier. We were happy to leave South Dakota.
Tomorrow will begin the city portion of the trip as we head to Chicago. More stories will follow.

ups and downs

2007-04-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

We're on to day 3 of the road trip. It has definately had its ups and downs which is to be expected. We arrived in Yellowstone yesterday and spent a lot of the day hiking around the area near our campsite. Today we had planned to drive to other sections of the park including Old Faithful, but the weather took a turn for the worse with snow making the road conditions too difficult to get anywhere worth going. We will probably hang out some tomorrow as long the predicted weather is correct, which is much better than today. I've also seen some pretty amazing wonders of nature and wildlife. Pictures will come later.

gone

2007-04-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving here in a few minutes. Hopefully I'll be able to post some updates and pictures of my trip while I'm gone.

travelling man

2007-03-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited about going on a roadtrip next month. I will take lots of pictures for anyone who cares to see my adventures across the country.
I'm also really excited for the "Hoot Nanny" going on this week at Journey. It's going to be excellent.

some were right

2007-03-04T18:50:00.000-08:00

I got a few Oscar predictions correct, but not many. I guess that's why they haven't asked me to be a part of the Academy yet. The Awards show, which I hadn't actually seen for several years until last week, was quite entertaining, at least the first part was. Ellen was hilarious and the musical number with Will Ferrel, Jack Black and John C. Reilly was great. Anyways, that's it for movie business for now.
My current plans (always subject to change) are to be gone from mid April to mid May on a road trip across the U.S., then save up and get things in order to start my Chimney Sweep business by the Summer of 08. Again, very much subject to change.

adam's road to the Oscar's

2007-02-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow night is the Oscar's. I rarely watch the awards show, mainly because I haven't seen most of the movies that are nominated. This year however, I seem to have seen more than my usual amount of Oscar nominated movies (including 4 of the 5 nominated for best picture). So, I decided to write my take on some of the Oscar nominated movies including my picks for some of the awards in which I've seen the majority of the movies. I will try not to give away much of the plot, but if it's a movie you'd rather see before hearing my opinions, don't read it. I'll start with the movies nominated for Best Picture:
BABEL - A good movie with moments of greatness. The overall movie was enjoyable and well done, but felt slow. This already lengthy movie seemed even longer. However, certain scenes definately made it worth it. Most of the story about the deaf/mute Japanese girl was brilliant. My personal favorite scene was with her in the nightclub. Wow. The movie reminded me of Crash in that it followed several people's stories and how they were all connected. Instead of dealing solely with race (like Crash), it dealt with communication among different races, cultures, and governments. My rating: 8.2 of 10.
THE DEPARTED - I saw this movie on the opening weekend of its release before I had heard any reviews or hype. This would be one, at least for me, where some idea of what to expect may have helped me enjoy it more. When I first saw it, I hated it. Most of the movie was great, but I so strongly disliked the ending that it left a bad impression on me overall. I would like to see it again and think I would enjoy it more the next time. My rating: 7.9 of 10
THE QUEEN - This was the big surprise of all Best Picture nominations for me personally. I had heard that it was an excellent movie and didn't doubt that, I just didn't think I would care for it too much since it was on a subject (the British royal family) that I don't know much about or care much about. However, I really enjoyed it. Helen Mirren was amazing and deserves the Best Actress Award (even though I haven't seen the movies with the other nominations). I found myself sucked in by this story that I had previously no interest in. My rating: 9.2.
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - I didn't get around to seeing this in the theater, but got it for Christmas on DVD before I had seen it. I heard good things from people whose movie opinions I respect. I had no idea it would be my favorite movie of the year. It was hilarious and the characters were excellent. I would be surprised if it won for Best Picture, but I hope it does. My rating: 9.7.
I have not seen Letters from Iwo Jima. I want to, and it's finally in Walla Walla, but I'm not sure when I'll see it. Like I said, I hope Little Miss Sunshine wins, but I don't think that'll happen. I have a bad feeling that The Departed will win, but maybe it's one of those where the critics and the Academy don't see eye to eye. If that's the case, I think the Queen will win. That would be fine with me. Babel has a shot because of it's similarities to last years winner, but I don't think so.
Here's a few other movies nominated for other awards that I enjoyed and reccomend:
CHILDREN OF MEN - Very intense. The whole latter half of the movie put me on the edge of my seat. I loved the story. The action was very exciting. The acting was great. My rating: 9.3.
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Different than what I expected. I thought there would be more of a fantasy world created. Instead, there were just a few fantasy elements inserted into the life of the main girl (who did a fantastic job). Despite the expectation difference, I though it was a great story. My rating: 9.0.
DREAMGIRLS - Lot's of excellent performances. Enjoyable music. Good movie. My rating: 8.8.
I'll end this lengthy entry with a few other categories of which I've seen the majority of the nominations along with my pick:
Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Best Supporting Actress: Rinko Kikuchi - Babel
Art Direction: Dreamgirls
Cinematography: Children of Men
Directing: The Departed
Film Editing: Babel
Makeup: Click (didn't care much for the movie, but they way they made the characters age was the best I've seen)
Original Screenplay: The Queen
That's all I got. Let me know what you think.

the issues of the nation

2007-02-16T17:47:00.000-08:00

The War in Iraq and against Terror. The moral issues of the nation including the current stir of homosexuality in pro athletics. The threat of global warning. The effect of natural disasters in our country and the governments response. There are many issues that one could concern themselves with in this world and in this country. And yet, when I flip through the national news stations, one story overshadows them all. An issue of great importance and significance to our nation and to the world. An issue to which we should all give our attention. An issue that causes us to look deep into our souls and ask ourself, "What the F*** is wrong with this country!!!?" This issue is none other than Anna Nicole Smith. God help us all.

a few updates

2007-02-09T17:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I met with a guy about starting a small business, specifically a chimney cleaning business. I now have a good idea as to what it will take to do this. The meeting confirmed my assumption that it will take a LOT of work. But I think I'm up for it. I need to do a little more research before I commit to it.
I got my grade back for the correspondance course I was taking. I read my grade for one of the bigger assignments first and saw that it sucked. I was sad. Then I saw the rest of the grades and they were much better. I ended up with a B. Not bad.

there and back again

2007-01-29T17:26:00.000-08:00

Here's how my weekend went:
On Friday evening Cliff Baker spoke at Journey. It was great. After service I went to go see Pan's Labyrinth, but neither Laurel or myself had cash and the ATM at the theater was also out of cash. We watched Joe Versus the Volcano instead. I took Friday night off of work, but was still unable to go to sleep at a decent time. After 4 hours of sleep I left for Portland with Cherise. I hung out with Greg Davis for the first time in nearly a year. I then proceeded to my parent's house and hung out with the whole family for the afternoon which included Lunch at Noho's, Nintendo Wii, and Bohnanza. The evening was excellent as I picked up Lalita and Cherise and went to Lalita's birthday party at the Press Club. I enjoyed hours of great music by Janaki DeChand, Justin Power, and The Butcher's and The Builder's (or vice versa, I can never remember), as well as excellent hang out time with some excellent friends. I also got my first quality tobacco pipe thanks to Bryce. I went home, got about 3 1/2 hours of sleep and then proceeded to return to Walla Walla just in time for worship rehearsal. After another great service with Cliff Baker which was exactly what I needed to hear, I went home and took a nap. After the nap, I went with Amber, Brendan, and Laurel to see Children of Men which was a fine movie. Very intense. Afterwards I went to Verve and played Catan for the rest of the evening included getting crushed at Seafarer's (my first full game) and then dominating the original version. I went to my prayer service which I enjoy much more on Sunday nights then the brief stint on Thursday afternoons. I tried to watch Pirates 2 as my later night movie, but only lasted about a half hour before I began dozing off. I then slept for nearly 12 hours.

i guess

2007-01-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

It snowed the other day. That was nice. The Seahawks lost. That was not nice. I've won the last 4 times I've played Catan.

on the night shift

2007-01-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

Last night was my first night back at work for over a week. It was short lived. I got there at 10pm to find the store completely empty and all the lights off. One other freight worker came right after me. We were equally confused as to why no one was their since we were told specifically that we were working New Years Day. Apparently the other workers knew since nobody else showed up. I guess I'll try again tonight.

good finish

2006-12-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

Last night was the Survivor finale. It capped what was in my opinion one of the best (if not the best) seasons yet. Yul and Ozzie were two of the best I've ever seen. I would have been fine with either of them winning, but I'm glad it was Yul.

now that is procrastination

2006-12-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

I had 6 months to complete a correspondance course. I then purchased a 6 month extension. Finally, I finished it and turned it in...on the last possible day it was due. I've procrastinated before on school work, but this just about takes it.
With the annual Christmas party on Friday, I guess I'll now be going to Portland then instead of Saturday. I'm fine with that. I'll also be in Portland for the entire week after Christmas as well. I just found out that I have more vacation time then I thought so taking days off is not a problem.

busy week and beer

2006-12-10T17:26:00.000-08:00

I have til the end of this week to finish my correspondance course. I've been going at it for the last week and a half. It wasn't the best of ideas to fit the majority of a 6 month course into 2 and half week span. But it will get done.
Yesterday I got to help a friend brew some beer in his kitchen. That was fun.

portland and snow

2006-11-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

Portland was great. I saw lots of family and friends, including the newest member of the Caputo clan. I will post some pictures later.
Today it snowed a little in Walla Walla. That was nice.
I have a lot of school work to do in the next 2 1/2 weeks. I better get started.

the good list

2006-11-21T09:18:00.000-08:00

Portland tomorrow
4 day weekend
Seeing my nephew for the first time
Amazing food on Thanksgiving (both traditional Thanksgiving food and Italian food)
And of course, seeing friends and family that I haven't seen in awhile

art and stuff

2006-11-18T16:50:00.000-08:00

This morning I, along with Mika and Laurel, judged an elementary school art contest. There were some really creative and well done pieces. The theme was "My Favorite Place". One of my favorites, and what I thought was the most creative, was entitled "Inside My Head". It was a drawing of the girls head with pictures pasted above of the different things going on inside her head which appeared to be, along with random thoughts, both aspirations and insecurites (at least that is how I interpreted it). The girl, I believe, was only second grade.
I'm really excited about going to Portland this coming week. I'm also excited about Journey Bite tomorrow after service. I will likely be in a turkey coma for the next week.

why is that man wearing a dress?

2006-11-17T08:34:00.000-08:00

From my late elemetary school days into high school I had some friends by the names of John and Andy (they are brothers). John (the older brother) was always the responsible one and stayed mostly out of trouble, but he would always come up with crazy schemes and ideas which he would rarely act on. Andy however, would act on John's crazy ideas. That's just a little background to this story. Instead of telling the story, you can watch it unfold on the Judge Joe Brown show.
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=phat59
Under the video titled: Tenacious P(laintiff)

uncle Adam

2006-11-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

As of yesterday morning, I have a nephew. Samuel Rocco Caputo. He was born at 9:32am at 7lbs. 7 oz. and 19" long. Here he is:

He's already got more hair than his dad. Way to go little fella.

anyone have 2,460 Euros and a plane ticket they want to give me?

2006-11-11T15:06:00.000-08:00

Over the past year I've discovered an interest in filmmaking. Recently I've been thinking of which direction to take in order to pursue this art further. As I was searching out film school options, I came across one that particularly caught my interest. Not only is it a quality school, but it would also quench my desire to travel. It is the PCFE Film School in Prague, Czech Republic. If I were to pursue this, I would probably do a month long workshop in the summer. With tuition and traveling, the cost would be approximately $4,500. They only allow a small number of students so I probably need to build my resume further if want a decent chance of being accepted. For now, I'm going to keep looking into my options and continue to develop my skills.

delayed

2006-11-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

I'll have to wait another week to become an uncle. "The Baby" wasn't quite ready to show up yet. His lungs weren't developed enough. Apparently he'll be ready next Tuesday. That's fine by me since I wouldn't see him for another two weeks anyway, but I'm sure Jason and Becky wouldn't mind him coming sooner than later.

on to a good month

2006-11-01T19:20:00.000-08:00

I don't like the month of October. Nothing particularly bad happened this month, in fact a lot of good things happened. But as far as months go, November kicks the pants off of October. So much of the focus of October is on Halloween, which is a stupid holiday. Novemeber, however, leads up to Thanksgiving which is way better. Thanksgiving will be particularly good this year because it will be the first time I get to see my first nephew who will be showing his face in this world for the first time in a week from today. It wasn't looking so positive that I would be able to get the Friday after Thanksgiving off since I work at a retail store (I worked 14 hours at two different retail stores last year on that day). In order to get any days off at my work, one has to get three people to sign off. Two were easy, but the assistant manager is never an easy one, especially on that day. Fortunately, she never looked at what day it was and signed off on it. It looks like I'm in the clear for a long weekend.

still adjusting

2006-10-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

I'm having some issues getting into a sleeping schedule with my new hours. Instead of taking a nap this afternoon, I watched the rest of my movie that I started a couple of days ago. It was my first time watching Schindlers List. Wow! That movie messed me up.

schedule change

2006-10-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day back on a day shift at work. I now work from 4am to 1pm, Monday-Friday. I'm trying to get my body to switch sleeping times again and last night was a bad start. I tried to go to sleep at 10pm and hoped to get about 5 hours of sleep. Instead I layed there very uncomfortably for about 3 hours and slept for 2. I'm going to go take a nap now.

that was quick

2006-10-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

Shortly after posting my last entry about The French Connection, I went to the library and lo and behold, there it was. I had yet to see it there and assumed that they did not carry it. I was incorrect. When I put it in the DVD player, the disc wouldn't load. However, my computer did play it. There was only about 10 minutes left. The car chase scene that I thought I missed actually happened earlier, but because the disc (or DVD player) was causing trouble, it skipped part of the scene so I didn't think that it was "the" chase scene. I got to see that scene as well as the end. The chase was great, the end was...I'm not sure yet what I think about it actually. Overall, good movie.

movie quest on hold

2006-10-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

I attempeted to continue the "Best Picture Watch" from the 70's with The French Connection (the only one of the remaining three from the 70's that interests me). Right at the climax of the movie, as the first shot of the final stand-off is fired, the movie freezes. I wiped off the disc and tried it again. No good. I tried playing it in my computer. No good. I brought the disc back and they put it through their disc buffer. No good. I've tried finding the movie at other rental locations. Nothing. I guess I'm stuck for now.

another portland weekend

2006-10-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a good one as Portland weekends usually are. It was the last time that I'll see Jason and Becky before they are parents. That's weird and exciting. I can't wait until the little guy is old enough for me to teach him cool stuff like burping the ABC's, spitting up in the air and catching it in your mouth, as well as some colorful words among other things. I'll have a few years to come up with a list.

quite a stir

2006-10-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

I didn't even mention "Crash" in my last post, yet it caused quite a stir. Even as I originally wrote this it received two more comments. I have seen it, and had more of a positive reaction to it, though I have no interest in seeing it again, nor do I think it should have won the Oscar. I'll leave it at that.
Laurel is a bit further than I am in the number of Best Pictures seen since 1970 and Bob is just amazing. I've only seen half of them since 70 and only a few scattered ones prior to that. I was most surprised that I've only seen one Best Picture from the 80's (Chariots of Fire) even though there are several that I've been wanting to see for quite a while. The 70's Best Pictures that I've seen are from 72-78 which are: The Godfather (72), The Sting (73), The Godfather: Part II (74), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (75), Rocky (76), Annie Hall (77), and The Deer Hunter (78). That leaves me with Patton (70), The French Connection (71), and Kramer vs. Kramer (79) still to see. I've heard very little of these three so if anyone has any insight on whether these are worth watching, let me know. From the other 7 that I have seen, several rank highly in my favorite movies of all time. The only one that I didn't care for was The Deer Hunter. It was well acted and had some good moments, but it was a little slow for my liking.
I'm interested to know which Best Pictures others have enjoyed or not enjoyed.

portland, sufjan and movies

2006-10-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

I will be in Portland this weekend. I am very excited about that as well as everything that being in Portland includes such as hanging out with friends and family, Sufjan Stevens concert, and Portland restaurants. It will be a great weekend.
I recently decided that over the course of the next several months (or longer) I want to try and watch every Oscar winning movie for Best Picture from the 70's until now. I'm just interested to see what made a movie "Best Picture" in different era's. Surprisingly, the decade that I've seen the most from is the 70's, already seeing 7 of the 10. I may not watch all of them however, because some just don't interest me at all.

the ol' switch-a-roo

2006-10-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

Starting October 24th I'm going to be temporarily switching positions at my work. I'm going to leave the graveyard shift and go to an early 4am-1pm shift, still Monday through Friday. It'll only be for 8 weeks, but it will be a nice change. I'll be working with a small group of associates and we will be going through the entire store and putting inventory tags on everything in the overheads in preporation for inventory at the end of the year.
On a different note, I've actually bought a Christmas present for a family member already. This is a big deal since I rarely by any Christmas presents prior to the week before Christmas.

why is the milk gone?

2006-09-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

Because I drank it. The whole half gallon. Not in one setting of course. That would be gross. In the last 10 months that I've been buying my own groceries on a regular basis, I think this is the first time that I've finished a half gallon of milk without having to throw some out because it's gone bad. I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate this accomplishment with a glass of chocolate milk, but then I realized that I was out of milk.

quotes

2006-09-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

My dad has a blog now where he will frequently post quotes (usually movie or TV) for people to guess. You can find it at myoneliner.blogspot.com. Check it out.

fix

2006-09-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

It appears as though I fixed my unhappy car. It wasn't accelerating very fast (0 to 60 in 5 minutes). But that is no longer the case. I had a friend look at it, so he pulled out a spark plug wire that was completly burned up and said "There's your problem". So I ordered the wires and replaced them myself, making it a fairly cheap fix. However, I did pay for it with a skinned knuckle.

it has begun

2006-09-02T23:50:00.000-07:00

The first Saturday of College Football is complete, and the Ducks won. That means it was a good opening Saturday. Now it's only a week and a day from the NFL opening Sunday. That means happy times for Adam.

i'll stay

2006-08-29T17:16:00.000-07:00

I've decided to stay in Walla Walla for an indefinate amount of time, opposed to moving back in Spring/Summer like I had considered. I'm excited about that. School will just have to wait a bit longer. I feel that God closed that door for me right now.

got it

2006-08-22T17:43:00.000-07:00

It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would to get my new computer battery. It came today in the mail. That is nice to have. Now I have to send back my old one before it blows something up.

recall

2006-08-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

I am one of those lucky people who bought a Dell computer with a battery that is now being recalled because some of them started lighting computers on fire or something along those lines. I now have to wait up to 3 weeks for my new battery. In the meantime I can only use my AC adapter to power my computer, or I can risk my computer blowing up. I'm trying to put a positive spin on the situation by pretending that I won some prize with my computer, sort of like a golden ticket. Except, instead of winning a trip to a chocolate factory, I won an effed up battery that might blow my hands off.

portland weekend part 2 of 2

2006-08-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

My car just barely survived the second weekend in a row of Portland trips. I need to get it fixed. This weekend was very fun and action packed. Friday night was spent at the Beer Garden at PGE Park for a Beavers game. The Beavers won 11-7 with several homeruns hit making it very exciting. We also got free food and drinks. I spent Saturday helping my parents with yard work in preparation for my mom's 50th birthday party the following day. I then went to Joel and Amanda's wedding which was great. It's always fun to see good friends get married. I got to catch up with several people who I haven't seen in quite awhile as well. On Sunday I stopped by New Song for bit to see people, but couldn't stay long since I needed to help get things ready for the birthday party. Once again, I saw many people who I haven't seen in awhile and told them all the same things about what I'm doing and what my plans are. I eventually got peopled out and hid in the basement for a bit. I was planning on leaving Sunday evening, but ended up staying the night and leaving this morning so that I could hang out with Whipple. That was a lot of fun as well. Now I'm back in the Walla's and will most likely not take another Portland trip until October for Sufjan.

portland weekend part 1 of 2

2006-08-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

I was in Portland this weekend for Joel's bachelor party, and will be again next weekend for Joel and Amanda's wedding. It was so much fun, but really busy. I hung out with Jason and Becky when I first pulled into town. Then went straight to the airport to see off the India team and ended up hanging with the Fishers for a little bit. That was nice to catch up with them and hear what's happening with New Song and some of the people there. Then I went home and slept for an hour before going to McGillicuddy's for Joel's party. Many things happened there of which I will only mention a few such as shoving popsicles down Joel's pants, hitting him in the head while he wore a baseball helmet, and being hated by the rest of the bar for monopolizing their precious karaoke night including an episode that almost got some of us beat up by a big bald dude. We proceeded to the Pietila's Battleground property where we spent the night. It was fun even though there were some ridiculous conversions (concerning the environment, politics and religion) that shouldn't be had by drunk people. We went to breakfast in the morning at some place on Fremont after an attempt of breakfast at Sharri's that ended with a walk through WinCo and Joel vomitting in the parking lot for all the post-church Sharri's eaters to see. Later in the day I went to the river with good friends, followed by Thai food. Overall, it was an excellent weekend. I will be back in Portland again on Friday for another busy, but fun weekend.
This weekend also helped me develop some potential future plans which would include moving back to Portland in early Spring, followed by a 2 month U.S. road trip. Then I would finish school the following Fall or Spring. It may not happen that way, but it's an idea.

camp and boat and AAA

2006-07-31T15:40:00.000-07:00

Family camp was so much fun this weekend. It was very relaxing except for the boat rides which were crazy amounts of fun, but by no means relaxing. I hurt a lot from those.
The one down side was when someone (not myself) locked my keys in my trunk. The trunk popper stopped working awhile back so we had to call AAA and wait around for 45 minutes, only to find out that there is a switch in my glove compartment that enables the trunk popper. Kind of frustrating, but at least I know how to make my trunk pop now.

weekend travels

2006-07-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend is "We Are Family" Camp. It's going to be super fun. Camping, swimming, boating, etc. I haven't camped since the super friends camping trip of 04. That was a good. This should be as well.
The following weekend, I will going to Portland for a couple days. I will also be going to Portland the following weekend for the wedding. Lots of driving, but all for good reasons. I can't wait.

penalty kicks

2006-07-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

Italy won the World Cup on penalty kicks yesterday against France. Italy made all five of their kicks while the French missed one. Zidane of France (who won the Golden Ball for best player of the tourny) was ejected for head butting a guy in the chest. The head butt was not during play. He charged the Italian guy and knocked him down after some words were exchanged. It looked like it hurt.

100

2006-07-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

This is my 100th post. Here are a few of my favorite quotes in the first 100:
-I says "Leon, you're right. Let's get us one of them."
-If a silly talking Russian man is going to be the bright spot of a Rock and Roll show, then I'd rather be playing in a marching band.
-Soon the Santa's were on their way to spread Christmas cheer to another gathering of drunkards.
-It was a waste of an afternoon that I could have spent playing Nintendo.
-Pastor Richard causing a diversion in a super market by riding a razor scooter through the aisles.
-She was taking major safety precautions in her adventurous act.....and by "safety precautions" I mean she was wearing a child sized snorkel.
-Dan: Oh. I was thinking you didn't sound like Latoya Blue. Thanks for your time though.
Adam: Okay. Bye.
-Pink vomit actually......with frills mixed in.
-Words of the Day:
Nunny (the quality of being nun-like)
Con-folk
-A little boy came up to me today and licked my arm.
-By penguin I mean dog, and by drinking a slurpee I mean licking its butt.

italia

2006-07-04T15:27:00.000-07:00

Italy just beat Germany in the World Cup. I'm very excited about that.

a year

2006-06-28T16:51:00.000-07:00

One year ago from right now, I was driving my car from Portland to Walla Walla with the majority of my possessions crammed into "The Legend of Acura". It's been a good year.

open open open

2006-06-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

Verve is now open. This past week has been the soft opening, but tonight was the grand opening event. There were lots of samples and lots of people. It was a butt load of fun.
I am going to go to the church for prayer. Go Jesus, Go Jesus, Go!

wheat doesn't grow in the winter stupid

2006-06-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

The Walla Walla city league soccer Championship game was on Sunday. Somehow, the Hot Tamales (my team) were playing in it. We beat JJC (the number 1 seeded team) the week before. Now we were playing the number 2 seeded team, Winter Wheat. They had previously beaten us 5-1 earlier in the season. We had improved a lot since then and knew we could at least contend. At half we were trailing 2-1. They scored again to make it 3-1. Shortly after, we scored on a free kick to make it 3-2. Beezer (our top goal scorer) then scored his second of the game to tie it 3-3. We had a couple of good chances to win it (as did our opponents), but neither could convert. The game ended in a 3-3 tie and moved on to penalty kicks (best of 5 wins). Both teams made the first. We made the second for a 2-1 lead. They made the third to tie it. We both missed the fourth to tie it after four. Down to one final kick for each team. Arguably the best kickers from each team were up. Our team Captain (David) went first. He tried to fake right and kick left, but the goalkeeper didn't buy it. Fortunately, he nailed it in the left corner so close to the bar that the keeper couldn't get it. We were up 3-2 only their last kicker to go. They make it, the penalty kicks continue. They miss, we win. Their player kicks it to the right, Abel (our amazing goalkeeper) dives and knocks it out of play. We rushed the field in after a very dramatic championship victory. It was glorious. I think our opponents were in rush. We were major underdogs being only the sixth seed out of 8 teams. Definately one of my most favorite sports moments of my life.

park it

2006-06-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

I am back (to Portland) from L.A. and I think I will take a break from theme parks for awhile after 6 straight days. Vacation was a lot of fun, mostly because I don't see my family too often, but Disneyland was fun too.
I will be returning to WW tomorrow so I can play in my teams last soccer game. I know it's the last because it's the championship game. I'm really excited. We'll see how it plays out.

vacation

2006-06-11T22:37:00.000-07:00

I'm going on vacation to Disneyland and other such places in Southern California. I leave tomorrow.

look at me, I'm an owl-man. owl owl owl. man man man.

2006-06-04T01:17:00.000-07:00

I decided that instead of trying to go to sleep on a Saturday night at a reasonable time and just toss and turn for several hours since I'm not used to going to sleep until 7am, I am going to stay awake. Not all night I hope. I tried that last weekend. It didn't take. I think I'm going to put in a movie or something and try to fall asleep to that. I don't know what movie yet, but I do know this SHUT UP! Say that last sentence out loud. It makes more sense and is funnier that way. HA HA! I just got some of you to yell SHUT UP! That's funny. I can now sleep well tonight.

sleep is for the weak...and the tired

2006-05-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

I had a great and sleepless weekend. I got off work at 6:30am on Saturday and then left for the Sasquatch festival at the Gorge at about about 7:30. I didn't sleep in the car so I ended up staying awake all day. Sasquatch was so much fun, but it also had its low moments. The lowest would have to be the 20 minute hail storm that delayed the festival for 2 hours. The high points definately outweighed the storm. My most favorite shows were The Shins, Sufjan Stevens and the Flaming Lips. The Flaming Lips put on one of the best shows I've ever seen. I don't really have the time to go into the details, but it was amazing. I got home after 5am, then got up at 9am for worship practice. I slept 3 hours in a 57 hour span. Almost 40 straight without sleep. I don't think I'll try that again...ever.

downpour

2006-05-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

It is raining...a lot...again. We've had several downpours in the last few days, along with some lightning and thunder storms. It's sort of a nice change from the heat of last week. But let's save that for another month or so.
I get to go to the Sasquatch festival on Saturday. I haven't been to a concert in quite some time so this will make up for it, and then some.
My soccer team lost 5 to 4 yesterday. It was a very disappointing loss since we had a lead for most of the game and gave up the game winner with about 5 minutes to play. We are now 3-3 with one league game left and then the playoffs. That'll be fun.

i'll be around

2006-05-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

I'm going to Portland this weekend. I'll be missing some fun things here in the Walla's, but I will attending some equally, if not more, fun things in Portland. I haven't seen my sister since Christmas. That's crazy talk.

my hair

2006-05-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

I got my hair cut the other day. It was long, and I wanted it short. Here's some before and after pictures.

Before...

After...

good birthday, but no birthday goal

2006-05-01T16:55:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was my birthday. It was a good one. I had a BBQ at my house which I will be doing frequently during the Summer. The highlight of the BBQ (aside from receiving an excellent gift of money towards new golf clubs to replace my stolen ones from great friends) was a guy named Bill who I had never met before, but came with my friend Junglebird. It was a potluck style BBQ, so Bill (a Whitman student) decided to bring some food from a Whitman event he crashed. He brought two crossants (spelling?), a bagel, and a cup full of smashed pancakes. This was followed by my housemate James later in the day with piece of chicken in one hand and one of Bill's pancakes in the other. I laughed and laughed.
I then played in a soccer game that we unfortunately lost 4-3. I had no birthday goal, but I almost had two great assists that Beezer just couldn't finish. But it was still a fun game.

it was still fun

2006-04-24T17:22:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was really busy, but lot's of fun. I spent most of Saturday filming Joey and Felicia's wedding. I hope the footage turned out well. I didn't have a light on my camera and the lighting at both the wedding and reception wasn't very good.
On Sunday we finally played our first official soccer game after getting a forfeit win and taking last Sunday off for Easter. We lost 4-1, but it was against a team that is likely the best team in the league and has played together for several years. They beat their previous opponent 7-1, so the loss wasn't too bad.
Last night I went over to my friend Caleb's house to play some music (by the way, Caleb legally changed his middle name to Junglebird). I'm playing with him and a couple of other guys at a coffeehouse at Whitman this Friday. I'm just playing for 4 of the songs. It'll be good times.
My birthday is this coming Sunday.

good times on easter

2006-04-17T19:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a good Easter Sunday. All except one of my previous Easters (prior to yesterday) that I can remember have been spent with my extended family in Portland. It's always full of good food and fun. The only other time was when I was in the DR back in 01. Yesterday was still full of good food and fun, even without the Caputo's. After Bite, I went golfing with Micah and Cherise. I was quite disappointed to discover that my golf clubs were stolen out of my shed at some in the past month and a half. However, I was planning to get new clubs and a new bag by summer anyway, so it isn't so bad. Then I watched the movie Clue for the first time. I laughed quite a bit towards the end of the movie. Madeline Kahn is hilarious to me.

they took from me what wasn't mine

2006-04-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

I'm back to infrequent posts after an almost (personal) record setting month of March. Reason being when I first moved into my new house at the beginning of March, I was picking up someones wireless connection and had free internet. However, one sad morning I woke to find that it was gone. It up and vanished like a fart in the wind (name that movie quote, but instead of "It", the quote says "The man" or something along those lines).
Well, baseball season has begun. I'm excited about that although my Orioles's have not been doing well including a sweep by Bob's Red Sox. That's fine though, because I don't really expect much from my team this season. They need some help.

i hurt

2006-03-26T23:20:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I decided to be part of a "Fun Run" in Spokane along with some others from the Home Depot. This last week I joined a city league soccer team with Heather and Andrew. By the end of May, I'm going to be a running machine. But after todays first soccer practice/scrimmage with another team, I am in pain. My legs are a little sore since I've only been used to running straight ahead, not in every which angle with the addition of kicking. Mostly, my lower back is sore. It's been a little sore for several weeks, but today really made it hurt. Hopefully it's nothing serious.

i feel like I'm taking crazy pills

2006-03-18T12:11:00.000-08:00

I keep getting so confused as to what day of the week it is. I go to work on Thursday, then when I'm off I still expect it to be Thursday, but it's not. Then I go to bed on Friday, and when I wake up I think it should be Saturday, but it's still Friday.
My co-workers are fun to work with, but as I expected, they are fairly crude as well. For instance, Al (with the curly mullet) made a crude joke. John then replied to him saying, "Don't say that kind of shit in front of the Christian." I found that amusing.

creature of the night part 2

2006-03-14T19:16:00.000-08:00

Last night went pretty good for my first night shift ever. The time goes by really quick. No, Micah, I did not get beat up or knifed or even slapped around. Somehow the word got out to a few of my co-workers that I'm a "religous" person before I ever said anything about it.

creature of the night

2006-03-13T17:22:00.000-08:00

Tonight is my first night of working graveyard shifts at the Depot. I tried to prepare by staying up until 3:30am this morning and sleeping until 1:30pm this afternoon. Hopefully that'll keep me going until 6:30am tomorrow when I get off work.

so long, stinktown

2006-03-10T15:31:00.000-08:00

Tonight is my last cashiering shift at Home Depot. Starting Monday I'll be working the graveyard shift stocking shelves and such. I get to drive fork lifts around, so I'm looking forward to that.

she tripped on a cone of irony

2006-03-08T22:37:00.000-08:00

Home Depot set up a line of cones over a section of floor that has been damaged in order to warn customers so they won't trip or turn an ankle or other things of that nature. A young girl decided to weave throughout the cones like an obstacle course. She tripped over a cone and fell.

a lime snow cone, for free?

2006-03-05T22:52:00.000-08:00

I just found out that I have free wireless internet at my house, meaning a neighbor has it and I reap the benefits.
I just got back from Portland tonight. It was a great trip. A highlight was last night at the Builders and the Butchers show when we all left the venue in which they were playing and walked down the street singing with them as they played until we ended up in VooDoo donuts. It was a good one.

get there!

2006-02-27T19:44:00.000-08:00

I'm basically moved into my new house. I'm just not sleeping there yet because I need someone to help me get my bed there, which should be done tomorrow. It's a nice little house. It comes with cable included. I thought this would be really minimal cable, but it's not. We get all the main cable channels. I don't plan on watching TV often, but it will be nice to have it.

changes

2006-02-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

I move to a new house on Wednesday. I start a new position at Home Depot the following Monday. I'll be in Portland on the days in between.

sinking in my dream

2006-02-16T19:22:00.000-08:00

I had a dream a couple of nights ago. I was a passanger in a car that was driving on a highway that wrapped around the side of a mountain with the mountain wall on the left and a large body of water down below on the right. I looked in the water and saw a semi truck (just the truck, no cargo attached) floating there. I began to sink. Then a crain from the shore nearby reached into the water and grabbed the truck just as it was submerged and pulled it to shore. A great relief swept over me. Then suddenly, as we turned a corner, there was semi's (all without cargo) scatered all over the road. They were all on there sides or upside down as though they had been tossed on the road like dice. I looked back at the water and saw more semi's spread out and sinking as far as I could see. There was no crain helping them. When I woke up I was distressed, more so than I have ever been because of a dream. It was a worse feeling than having a nightmare. The rest of my sleep that night was broken and scattered, always waking to the memory of than dream.
What does it mean?

a house, some video making, and an old man-frog?

2006-02-13T12:10:00.000-08:00

On March 1st I am going to be moving into a house with my friend James. It's a two bed, one bath house with a living room, dining room, kitchen and a decent backyard. All utilities are included along with basic cable, all for the affordable price of $700 a month. I'm really excited about this arrangement more so than either of my two other living arrangements I've had since moving here.
I just met a guy named Jefferey Townsend (not the friend of Chris W who was at New Song for awhile). This one is a guy who has a video production company here in town. They mainly do commercials for both TV and internet. He used to work in Hollywood as a Production Designer. He's done several major films including Sleepless in Seattle. I'm probably going to be following him around on some film shoots and learn what I can learn from him. I'm pretty excited about that.
I just saw a guy across the street. At least I think it was a guy. From his shoes on up he had the appearance of an older looking business man with a suit and tie, until you got to his head. He was carrying an umbrella that covered his head from my view. The part of this story that seperates it from normality is that the umbrella was a giant frog's head with eyes that stuck out the top, thus making it look like the old man had a giant frog's head.

credit cards and Gob scooters

2006-02-09T11:52:00.000-08:00

A quick recap of the worst Super Bowl in history that inspired my last entry. The Seahawks (my favorite sports team) lost to the Steelers. Actually the Seahawks lost to the refs and the Steelers got the credit for the victory. That's what made me so mad about the game. But I'm over it now. I can move on in life.
I just applied for a credit card that will help me finish school and build credit. Both are goals that I am now finally putting into action.
I was working at Home Depot the other day when I looked up from my register to see an old man (probably in his 70's) speed out from one of the aisles and out the door on a Gob scooter. If you don't know what that is, you must watch Arrested Development. Also, I think a Gob scooter is the solution to Whipple's car troubles.

sea sick

2006-02-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

I realized how big of a football fan I really am tonight. My favorite team since childhood just lost the Super Bowl and it totally made me depressed. I keep telling myself "Seriously, Caputo, get over it. It's a freaking game." But it just doesn't take.

i quit

2006-01-24T15:14:00.000-08:00

I put in my two weeks at Big 5 today. I'm very happy about that. Having only one job will be a good thing. Home Depot depot is working out for me surprisingly better than I had originally anticipated. They are giving me more hours and just recently gave me a $0.50 raise.
I am currently burning DVD's of the video announcements I've made in order to sell them as a fundraiser to buy the church a video camera. That's all.

lost

2006-01-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am hooked. I just watched the first season of Lost and nine episodes of season two in a span of a week. Two more episodes and I'm caught up. Now I can actually do productive things with my time again.
Speaking of time, I think I'm going to make some room in my schedule for school work by quitting my Big 5 job. It appears as though I'll be getting more hours at Home Depot so I think I can handle it financially, but still have a little extra time. I've thought about doing it one of the last two days, but have sort of chickened out. I guess I'm just not confident that I can manage it financially, though the facts say otherwise. Maybe I'm just writing this for others to see so I have accountability. Now that I say I'm going to do it, I better do it.

make some dilemmanade

2006-01-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

This morning I poured myself a bowl of cereal for breakfast. It was the poor man's version of cinnamon toast crunch. I finished off the box, which only filled half my bowl, then threw the box away. As I opened the milk to pour upon my cinnamon toasted goodness, I noticed an unpleasant stench arise from carton. Although the expiration date had not yet passed, the milk was definately not drinkable. I poured the remainder of the milk out and then turned to my dry bowl of cereal. What was I to do? There was no milk for my cereal and the box in which I could have poured my dry cereal back into was already destroyed and in the garbage can. This was a dilemma indeed. I assessed my options. I decided immediately that the amount of cereal was not worth saving until I was able to purchase milk, leaving my opttions to: 1) Throw it away; or 2) Find some way to eat it. I figured option 2 was at least worth a shot. I took the safe route at first and began eating the cereal dry as though the pieces were miniature square shaped cookies. I quickly grew tired of dry cereal and would have rather not eaten it at all, so I took path number 2: Add a substitutionary liquid. Water was never really an option. Instead I added the only other drinking liquid I had available to me: Paradise Punch. As I poured the juice, I thought of all the stories I've heard about lactose intolerant kids who have to eat their cereal with juice. As I took my first bite, I felt pity for those kids. Then, as I thought about it more, I didn't remember Paradise Punch ever being an option in any of those stories. I threw the rest away.

now I must leave

2005-12-27T10:25:00.000-08:00

It's been a good 9 days in Portland, but now I must go back. This is the first time visiting Portland where I am actually looking forward to returning to Walla Walla. As much as I love Portland, it just isn't my home right now. But I have definately enjoyed the company of family and friends.

plans and changes

2005-12-20T11:36:00.000-08:00

Original Plan: Go to Portland for the Caputo get together on Sunday the 18th, then return to the Walla's on Monday afternoon for a 4:30pm work shift followed by work the next three days and then returning to Portland on the 22nd and staying til the 27th.
Revised Plan: Call work and tell them that I will miss Mondays shift and most of Tuesdays due to nasty weather in the gorge. Then work Wednesday and Thursday and return to Portland on Thursday evening as originally planned.
Current Revised Plan: Work can kiss my booty. I'm staying in Portland til the 27th.

sticky pink devil

2005-12-19T16:36:00.000-08:00

I am stuck in Portland right now. I should have been at work in Walla Walla about 10 minutes ago, but that didn't really work out. However, I do need to get back before I come back to Portland on Thursday, so I am going to leave tomorrow morning regardless of the conditions in the gorge. I'm not expecting much fun out of the trip, but I'm going to do it anyway. I bought chains today, so at least I have those to help me along.

that's a lot of frozen...ness

2005-12-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

It has now been below freezing in the Walla's for approximately 270 consecutive hours. That's a lot of cold. Seriously, it's so cold here, I saw a penguin drinking a slurpee the other day. No joke. Of course, by penguin I mean dog, and by drinking a slurpee I mean licking its butt.